HRK joins with five EU counterparts to call for "significant expansion" of EU R&D and higher education

The German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and its Belgian, French, Dutch, Polish and Spanish counterparts have issued a joint call to their governments and the European Commission to “significantly expand” European cooperation in research and higher education and to provide adequate funding to do so.

In a joint statement issued on 07/04/2026, the rectors’ organisations said: “The economic and geopolitical situation requires even stronger investment in research and education at European level than previously planned.”

Speaking at an event in Berlin on the same day, HRK President Walter Rosenthal said: “The European Union relies on its innovative capacity and competitiveness to remain capable of acting autonomously in an increasingly politically fragmented and uncertain world. Research and education are strategic resources and provide essential foundations for economic strength, technological autonomy, democratic stability and social cohesion. It is essential that the next multi-annual financial framework and the future EU programmes for research and education are designed with a view to…