Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on mobilising the brainpower of Europe: enabling higher education to make its full contribution to the Lisbon Strategy
Date: 2005-11-24
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: education policy, educational administration, higher education, knowledge economy, university

24.11.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 292/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States,
meeting within the Council, on mobilising the brainpower of Europe: enabling higher education to
make its full contribution to the Lisbon Strategy

(2005/C 292/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REPRESENTA-
TIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING
WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

Whereas:

The European Council Conclusions of 22 and 23 March
2005 (1) relaunching the Lisbon Strategy call for an emphasis
on knowledge,
innovation and the optimisation of human
capital to deliver the key priorities of jobs and growth. The
Conclusions underline the need for better investment in univer-
sities, modernised management of universities and university
and industry partnerships.

The Joint Interim Report 2004 of the Council and the Commis-
sion on ‘Education and Training 2010’ (2) explains that the
European Higher Education sector should pursue excellence
and become a worldwide quality reference to be in a position
to compete against the best in the world. The Report points
the Bologna Process has resulted in progress in
out
that
reforming
including
measures to increase mobility, facilitate greater transparency
and make degrees more readily comparable.

aspects of higher

education,

some

NOTE THAT:

TAKE NOTE of the Commission's Communication on ‘Mobi-
lising the brainpower of Europe: enabling universities to make
their full contribution to the Lisbon strategy’ (3) as an important
contribution to the debate on how to raise the quality of
higher education across Europe as a means of
increasing
Europe's competitiveness.

SHARE the view that Member States should:

1. enable higher education institutions in Europe to improve
their performance in terms of attainment, access and
research in comparison to other regions and countries in
the world;

2. enable higher education institutions to adapt to changing
circumstances in order to enhance their quality, attractive-
ness and relevance to society and the economy;

3. assist the development of governance in higher education
institutions and ensure that they have sufficient autonomy;

4.

improve the sustainability of funding for higher education
institutions, by increasing investment and diversifying the
sources of investment, as necessary;

— Higher education is a matter for individual Member States
to organise and resource, in accordance with national prio-
rities, legislation and practices.

5. strengthen the social dimension of higher education, parti-
cularly by widening access to a broad range of socioeco-
nomic groups whilst working to reduce student dropout
rates;

— In a knowledge-based economy and society, higher educa-
tion should be seen in close conjunction with research and
innovation.

(1) Doc. 7619/1/05.
(2) Doc. 6905/04.

6. encourage institutions to develop stronger partnerships with
the society around them, including local communities and
the business world.

(3) Council doc. 8437/05 + ADD 1.

C 292/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

24.11.2005

UNDERLINE the importance of:

6a. considering investment in higher education as an invest-

1.

2.

the

adapting, where necessary,
regulatory framework
within which higher education institutions operate, with a
view to developing a more flexible relationship between
individual
authorities
responsible for the strategic direction of higher education
systems, thereby helping them to modernise and adapt to
the changing needs of society and to be accountable for
their decisions;

and Member State

institutions

enhancing the
education to
attractiveness of higher
students through high quality facilities, better information,
greater diversity in teaching and learning, particularly by
means of ICT, higher quality and better preparation of indi-
viduals so as to ensure their successful academic careers,
their sustainable integration into the labour market and
their active participation in society;

3. widening access

to higher education, particularly for
people from disadvantaged backgrounds, helping indivi-
duals to achieve their potential and enabling a greater
variety of paths to higher education, making lifelong
learning a reality;

4.

5.

encouraging diversity within higher education systems and
institutions and also developing centres of excellence
which can contribute to the process of reform through
collaboration with other institutions and bodies;

education institutions

encouraging higher
to develop
sustainable partnerships with the broader community and
industry, in order to meet the changing needs of society
and the labour market;

6.

involving all stakeholders in the preparation and imple-
mentation of reforms;

ment in the future of society;

7.

examining the level of resources devoted to higher educa-
tion and reviewing the possibilities for securing additional
funds through a variety of means, including both public
and private support as appropriate;

8. providing incentives for reform, for instance, by targeting
investment to improve the quality of teaching and learning,
research, innovation, management and student services.

INVITE THE MEMBER STATES TO:

— address the issues raised in this Resolution and report on
progress in their contributions to the 2008 Joint Interim
Report on the implementation of
the ‘Education and
Training 2010’ Work Programme.

INVITE THE MEMBER STATES AND THE COMMISSION TO:

— make use of peer learning and the next Joint Interim Report
on the implementation of
the ‘Education and Training
2010’ Work Programme to address the issues raised in this
Resolution;

— address the needs of higher education through more effec-
tive use of Community programmes such as Socrates,
Leonardo and future education and training programmes,
the European funding instruments of the European Invest-
ment Bank Group and the structural funds, where appro-
priate;

— encourage international cooperation between higher educa-
tion institutions, particularly through their participation in
Community programmes such as Tempus and Erasmus
Mundus.