On June 26th, the European Commission published the results of the first Call for European Universities Alliances. For non-European readers – and possibly a few Europeans: The Call for proposals for European Universities (formerly known as the “Macron Initiative” aims for the emergence by 2021 of 24-32 ‘European Universities’ as *) flagships of a internationally competitive European Education Area, *) high quality education and research, *) multilingualism, *) seamlessly recognized student mobility, *) strong links in the teaching-research-knowledge transfer chain.
In this first round, 17 Consortia saw their proposal approved – out of 54 applications. A quick view at distribution shows – no surprise – that Western Europe (!!only three from the UK -> Brexit scare!!) is overrepresented in memberships and Central-Easter is underrepresented.
This may present a tough problem to the Commission for the second Call: if they allow the unbalance to persist, there will be a legitimate outcry. But if they try to correct the balance, it will distort the level playing field between the two Calls.
