European Commission working on longer-term support for university alliances
A member of the cabinet of the Commissioner for Education, Roxana Mînzatu
Executive Vice-president for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness @ European Commission
, has said the Commission is working on a new model to provide longer-term support to European universities alliances as part of the EU
European Union
budget for 2028 to 2034.
During an event organised by the YUFE
Young Universities for the Future of Europe
universities alliance in Brussels on 28/11/2025, Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, a member of the Executive Vice-President for Skills' cabinet, explained that the model they are working on could not exceed seven years, as it was the standard duration of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF
Multiannual financial framework
). But it will "at least give you the visibility and permit to plan," she said.
Alliances have been calling for longer-term funding as the current funding approach, which requires applying for new financing every few years, does not allow them to make long-term planning.
Debiais-Sainton also said that the Commission had listened to their requests for the integration of research into the funding of alliances. In the MFF proposal, the Commission has added references to the alliances in the legal texts of both Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund.
"To convince research ministers and finance ministers, we need to collectively demonstrate the concrete added value that the alliances bring: what they offer to research, to economic and competitiveness agendas and what they can achieve that other cooperation models cannot," she added.
Debiais-Sainton listed some examples of the added value alliances bring:
• sharing R&I
Research & Innovation
ecosystems across multiple universities, something unique globally;
• combining the best expertise from different universities, and students can follow top courses across institutions;
• training students to be flexible, multidisciplinary and ready for rapidly changing jobs;
• built on European values like academic and scientific freedom, which "isn't a given everywhere in the world".
Alliances bring agility and ability to young graduates
Debiais-Sainton also highlighted that European university alliances have great potential because the world and the job market are changing rapidly. Companies struggle to find graduates with the right skills, particularly in STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics , and AI Artificial intelligence is transforming entry-level jobs, she said. She stated that graduates needed not only strong expertise but also agility, adaptability and the ability to learn quickly.
Alliances can provide this by combining the best courses and expertise from multiple universities, fostering multidisciplinary teamwork and using challenge-based approaches, Debiais-Sainton said.
"From the very beginning, we have been working together on this challenge-based approach, which is what companies need as well. Society needs this agility, the ability of the young graduates to work in teams, in multidisciplinary approaches to solve challenges."
Alliances are moving towards a new phase
With the new call launched by the Commission to bridge the gap until the next MFF in 2028, she said, "alliances are moving to a new phase, which is about how a majority of your students are going to benefit."
Debiais-Sainton stated that there were many different ways to ensure that a majority of students could benefit, and "this is essential to prepare them for the future, whatever it may bring".
"We strongly encourage you to use this two-year bridge funding to rethink how to grow and expand your work so that a majority of students can benefit. The key is to embed these opportunities—living labs, multidisciplinary approaches, mobility—not only in new joint programmes, but also within existing programmes across all universities.”
She added that the Commission wanted to continue "to cherish the diversity of the models".
Alliances as "proven initiatives of excellence"
Debiais-Sainton also said that member states, especially France, encouraged the continuation of alliances in the next Erasmus programme, describing them as "proven initiatives of excellence".
During the Council of EU ministers for education in Brussels on 27/11/2025, the French representative presented the initial findings of a report produced by the country on the impact of European universities alliances.
The study shows that alliances "are a catalyst for organisational and cultural change in higher education institutions, promote pedagogical experimentation and provide leverage for structuring and boosting European research and innovation. Their missions also meet European public policy objectives, such as the Competitiveness Compass and the Union of Skills".
"Despite these successes, the report shows that the alliances still face major challenges," such as:
- regulatory complexity, for example, in implementing a European degree;
- insufficient and fragmented funding, compounded by uncertainty about the continuation of support at the European level;
- human resources under strain.
To address these challenges, the report sets out three main recommendations:
- The creation of a comprehensive and sustainable funding mechanism to move beyond a project-based approach;
- The coordination of funding provided at European and national levels;
- The establishment of a stable legal framework.
"The ongoing negotiations on European programmes represent an opportunity that we must seize to implement these recommendations and provide sustainable funding within the proposed budget for the alliances and all the missions. In particular, their research and innovation components with Horizon Europe and the new European Competitiveness Fund, complementing Erasmus+ funding," the French representative stated.
YUFE
YUFE is the consortium of Young Universities for the Future of Europe. They were prize-winners of the first wave in 2019 and were renewed in 2022. It regroups ten universities:
• University of Bremen (Germany),
• Maastricht University (The Netherlands),
• Universidad Carlos III De Madrid (Spain),
• University of Eastern Finland,
• University of Rijeka (Croatia),
• University of Cyprus,
• University of Antwerp (Belgium),
• University of Essex (England),
• Sorbonne Nouvelle University (France),
• Nicolaus Copernicus University (Poland).
Vanessa Debiais-Sainton
Head of Department-Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions @ European Research Executive Agency (REA)
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# 52237, created on 05/09/24 at 18:14 - Updated on 23/04/26 at 15:28
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