EUROCADRES represents European professionals and managers. A large number of our members have a university degree. Some of them are working in higher education or are dealing with education, science and research. We believe that the goals identified by the Education Council for the educational systems should apply to universities: high quality, widened access and openness to the word.

We would like to emphasise that the whole society, including private and public sectors enterprises and organisations, need more and more knowledge that universities and research institutions have to provide for. Dissemination of knowledge covers the whole area of pure, applied and social science. Strengthening exchanges and cooperation between the universities, the research institutions and the whole society must be supported.

The role of the universities is not only in research and science including education of researchers. In developing knowledge, universities have great impact on the education of skilled professionals for the working life.

The democratic access to university education must be guaranteed, and efforts should be strengthen in order to facilitate the participation of under-represented social groups. Furthermore, we would highlight the role of the social partners, together with the educational community in order to take into account the working environment and the professional life. It is very regrettable that the social partners are excluded from the Bologna process. This lack must be corrected.

The Development of higher education depends on the development of the lower levels of the educational system. If basic education and secondary education do not function efficiently, possibilities for universities to develop excellence are limited.

1. The European higher education

We share the general approach of the Commission presented in the introduction (chapter 2) and in the chapters related to the European universities today (chapter 3) and to the European challenges (chapter 4). A first list of questions is presented in the summary and some of them are detailed in chapter 5. But this chapter 5 covers only a part of the challenge that the European higher education has to face. For this reason we would like to highlight the following points first:

1.1.     The challenges summarised in chapter 4.1, in particular the European dimension of the labour market, the expectations concerning students' mobility, but also the continuing brain-drain need to be addressed. The situation differs according to sectors and to countries, and is particularly sensitive in the acceding and candidate countries. There are very few data available concerning the mobility of highly qualified people. It is necessary to gather data and information, to analyse the trends in order to follow-up and to monitor the developments. New initiatives should be taken to this end, at the national levels and be coordinated at the European level.

1.2.     It will not be possible to develop a Europe of knowledge without establishing a real European area of recognition of qualifications and diplomas. The Communication briefly refers to the Bologna process (summary and chapter 4.2), but seems to ignore the Bruges-Copenhagen initiative for vocational training (which should also include a part of higher education) and the draft directive (Ref.: COM(2002) 119 final) for regulated professions, which is dealing with professional recognition, but which will have a lot of consequences on higher education. These initiatives must not be conducted separately. Academic recognition is very often the basis for professional recognition. Synergies between academic and professional recognition should be recognised and strengthen. It is essential to have an integrated approach. For these reasons EUROCADRES calls for the establishment of a European forum or body in order to promote a coherent framework in all fields (regulated or not regulated) of recognition of qualifications and diplomas (including accreditation processes) It should be based on existing national experiences and involve the various concerned partners. (Along the same line, in his opinion on recognition of professional qualifications, 18/9/2002 (SOC/113), the European Economic and Social Committee  "strongly advocates the setting-up of a joint European platform or round table ... with the objective to draw up guidelines for co-ordination of recognition...").

1.3.     At the beginning of the communication, it is stated that the word "universities" covers all higher education institutions including "Fachhochschulen", "polytechnics" and "grandes écoles". The various characteristics and approaches of these institutions have to be taken into account in order to meet the various needs of the whole society. They have to be considered for the development of higher education policies.

2. Ensuring that the European universities have sufficient and sustainable resources (chapter 5.1)

The objective of the Barcelona summit to increase the effort in favour of research up to 3% of the GDP must not be delayed. The Communication rightly raises the need for special effort concerning the acquisition of human resources for research. Therefore, an important and decisive consequence of the Barcelona objective must be to formulate realistic and long-term plans for the expansion of strong research units. We support the Commission's proposal for Member States to introduce multi-annual Finance Act grants to a higher extent that provide familiar and stable frameworks for long-term planning for universities.

The democratic access to higher education is a key element of a knowledge society. Public funding through national or local budgets must provide the necessary means for the development of higher education. Additional funding can be seen as complementary but cannot replace this public responsibility. In particular, GATS negotiations should be managed carefully and make sure that the WTO and the related agreements should not have any negative consequences on education policies.

Life long learning is a great challenge to universities. This task of continuous education is not found in the European commission's communication. Universities have an important role in the development of skills and knowledge of adults. Collective agreements at company and at sectoral levels can support these developments. It is necessary to stimulate co-operation between universities and industry. Such processes will lead to additional resources. Responsibilities need to be precisely defined and universities must have a clear vision of their policies and of their objectives. It cannot be limited to funding by patents.

The reduction in failure and dropout rates among students is necessary. To this end it is necessary to analyse the reasons, which are various, and to discuss the solutions with the concerned partners. In particular, the freedom of choice of students must be guaranteed with appropriate guidance systems. A medium term vision of the development of jobs and occupations is necessary and has to be based on relevant forward-looking studies. In this field, it is necessary to develop co-operation between the stakeholders at universities side and the social partners.

The differences concerning the duration and the funding of similar studies between countries, must be seen within their various national educational systems. Exchange of experiences and information should lead to convergences. We do think that an integrated approach should include the Bologna process and the other related initiatives, and lead to a real European area of recognition of qualifications and diplomas (see our previous comment, point 1.2).

Efforts must be strengthened for the dissemination of the results of research and for developing coordinated research processes in universities, in research institutions and in companies. In particular, joint collective structures, research units, should be developed in order to establish such links and co-operations. It is particularly important for small and medium sized enterprises, which do not have their own research departments. In addition it is important to launch initiatives aimed at drawing the attention of enterprises to the knowledge resources that new graduates represent and to the need to have a more innovative and research oriented attitude.

3.  Consolidating the excellence of European universities (Chapter 5.2)

There is a double need: on the one hand for a coherent policy, universities need to have a long term oriented management of their means , on the other hand they need to be able to react quickly to the changing expectations of their environment. This requires an appropriate effort concerning human resources focusing on intellectual capital and also a good quality of management. Exchanges of experiences in this field and evaluation of the results should be facilitated.

Undergraduate studies should not be neglected. Without a high quality of undergraduate teaching, there would be difficulties in recruiting and training young people for further studies and researches. Developing inter-disciplinary capabilities is needed for education for research and for professional activities. From the beginning the studies should combine different disciplines and create the basis for a wider approach to various scientific and technical areas.

The European union can contribute to the development of excellence by strengthening its funding capacity (research programmes, education and training programmes, structural funds) and by facilitating effective networks involving universities and research centres in various countries. Therefore, a challenge continues to exist in disseminating the results of research and supporting an important flow of knowledge to enterprises. (See above, end of point 2)

International mobility is a key element to achieve scientific excellence and to improve the attractiveness of scientific activities. A number of obstacles remains, related to practical conditions, to administrative problems, to difficulties when returning. The lack of recognition of qualifications (see above point 1.2) is an important obstacle to overcome. In any case international mobility has to be facilitated and organised.

With reference to university opportunities for creating attractive career conditions for both male and female researchers, this is related to the given economic and working conditions. Too often scientific careers are based on fixed term contracts and temporary projects. Too often, salaries of scientist (in particular in the public sector) are rather low compared to their level of knowledge, long working days and demanding work. Better and more permanent solutions would increase the attractiveness of scientific activities. A stable and supportive environment is needed, internationally oriented, with an organisational and governing structure that guarantees professional legitimacy of priorities and decisions.

These elements would certainly facilitate women's access to scientific activities. In addition more guidance should be provided to students, and more attention should be paid to the working conditions including family friendly working time arrangements.

4.  Broadening the perspective of European universities (Chapter 5.3)

Universities have important roles to play in order to contribute to economic, social and cultural development at local and regional levels.

Along the line of the analysis presented by the Commission we think that important initiatives must be taken in order to make European universities more attractive for researchers and students from outside Europe. They need to reach levels of excellence comparable with the best in other continents. Increased means are necessary to this end. Better information on the activities and characteristics of universities and their networks is needed. Teaching in various languages should be developed. In addition more dynamic exchanges between European universities would improve their common attractiveness.

Against this background, as mentioned above recognition of qualifications and degrees including accreditation processes remains a key issue (see point 1.2).

EUROCADRES: May 2003 (Ref. : 03-816Ce)