Commission's civil servant says not all alliances would be directly eligible for ECF calls

A civil servant working at the European Commission's department in charge of the European universities alliances said they were exploring, with other Commission departments, how alliances might contribute to the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), making clear that the funding would be competitive and not all alliances would be directly eligible.

During the 2026 EUA Funding Forum, which took place in Brno, Czechia, on 15 and 16/10/2026, Ioana Dewandeler, Policy Officer for Higher Education - European Universities at DG EAC, said: "Whatever funding comes from there (ECF), it will be competition-based... There will be competitive funding, and not all alliances would be immediately eligible. This is not a position that we are defending; I think this is obvious."

Dewandeler stated that…