European higher education in the world

The main recommendations of EESC's opinion are:

• The EC should go beyond what is highlighted in its communication, as the proposed set of actions will not be enough to assist EU universities in facing current global challenges such as fierce competition or the rapid development of e-learning programmes.
• The EC is not bringing anything substantially new in its communication to face those challenges.
• Mobility of EU students and teachers in third countries must be further promoted. In parallel, the EU should facilitate the access of third countries students and teachers to EU universities.
• A "European school" should be created that would be a cluster for EU academic and research excellence.
• EU Member States should refrain from budget cuts in the Education sector which have been jeopardising tomorrow's economic growth in the EU.