Vidal pushes reform of European university network funding

French education minister calls for ‘ad-hoc’ funding of EU’s transnational networks of institutions

The French government was instrumental in the creation of the EU’s European University Initiative for transnational institutional cooperation on research and education. Now the country’s research and higher education minister Frédérique Vidal has said the bloc’s funding for the scheme must change so it can help drive up standards in universities.

In a 2019-20 pilot phase of the EUI, 41 networks of up to 11 institutions were awarded project-based funding from the EU’s Erasmus+ academic mobility programme and Horizon 2020 R&D programme to help them cooperate. This included support for joint campuses and qualifications in areas ranging from fine arts and coastal sustainability.