Citation
(2004), "Report calls for less fragmentation in European higher education and research", Education + Training, Vol. 46 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2004.00446aab.009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Report calls for less fragmentation in European higher education and research
Report calls for less fragmentation in European higher education and research
The assumption that education is a core national-government responsibility and should be preserved from external interference is being challenged as teachers, lecturers and students increasingly spend time studying in EU member states other than their own. Moreover, the fragmentation of European higher education and research is inefficient as it hinders the emergence of a few large-scale centres of excellence. This is the conclusion of an experts' report analysing the EU's quest for sustainable growth with more and better jobs, continuing price stability and greater economic and social cohesion in an enlarged European Union. The experts, chaired by André Sapir, of the Université Libre de Bruxelles and including the Commission's own group of policy advisers, suggests that Europe's unsatisfactory growth over recent decades results from its failure to transform itself into an innovation-based economy.
The report, commissioned by European Commission president Romano Prodi, calls for more investment in knowledge. This could be achieved by increasing government and EU spending on research and postgraduate education, allocating research grants according to the highest scientific standards, creating an independent European Agency for Science and Research, and encouraging private-sector research and development through tax credits. The report suggests that neither member-state governments nor the EU should try to pick winners or adopt too much of a top-down approach. Public support for industrial research and development should be based on clearly articulated public needs and avoid covert subsidization of individual enterprises.
The report is available on the Internet, at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/lisbon_strategy/pdf/sapir_report_en.pdf