University alliances can still aspire towards Emmanuel Macron¡¯s vision of a united European University, a conference has heard.

At present, more than 430 universities across the continent make up 50 alliances under the European Universities initiative. In October, the European Commission opened a call for new partnerships, with the goal of reaching 60 alliances with more than 500 members.

Progress has been slower than hoped: the commission¡¯s original aim,?set out in late 2017, was to establish at least 20 fully-fledged ¡°European universities¡± by 2024, described as ¡°bottom-up networks of universities across the?European Union?which will enable students to obtain a degree by combining studies in several EU countries¡±.

Josep Garrell, president of the European University Association (EUA), said alliances could still pursue ¡°one final goal, that is to create one cross-border university¡±.

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¡°The first step is to really work on a European degree,¡± he told the?Times Higher Education?Europe Universities Summit, held at Constructor University in Bremen. ¡°Why not promote this kind of big university that will represent the European higher education landscape globally? Let¡¯s take it step by step.¡±

¡°If you talk to different governments from different countries, probably you will get different answers. Sometimes the political landscape in the country doesn¡¯t permit this kind of reform,¡± he continued. ¡°It should not be mandatory but probably it¡¯s good to try to promote this kind of big university.¡±

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The EUA considered itself a ¡°critical friend¡± of the European Universities initiative, Professor Garrell said. While ¡°nobody can go against the promotion of the international collaboration of universities¡±, he noted several reasons for caution, among them the risk of creating a ¡°two-tier university system¡± that disadvantaged institutions not belonging to an alliance.

Universities should also avoid ¡°not recognising, not supporting and not promoting other types of international collaboration between universities¡±, he added. ¡°One size does not fit all ¨C we need to keep this in mind.¡±

Care should be taken to ¡°manage the different legal frameworks and funding conditions¡± of member states and individual institutions, Professor Garrell said. The initiative is currently funded through Erasmus+, with a budget of €1.1 billion (?942 million) for the 2021 to 2027 budgetary period, with some universities also receiving funding from regional and national governments.

¡°If some members of the alliance have more money and more resources, this is going to cause tensions within the alliances,¡± he noted, before addressing the long-term financial sustainability of the scheme. ¡°If after this phase alliances do not receive additional funds, how many of these strategic partnerships will remain in the future?¡±

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Welcoming the commission¡¯s recent?blueprint for a European degree, Professor Garrell stressed: ¡°The universities really need legal reforms in order to do what they are supposed to do with the alliances.¡±

Despite the challenges posed, the EUA head said the alliances would generate new opportunities and create ¡°a new frontier for the universities in Europe.¡±

¡°The initiative is an excellent way to shake the system,¡± he said.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com