The Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities (CRUP) reaffirms its unequivocal support for strengthening Europe’s education, research, and innovation programmes, which are essential pillars of Europe’s competitiveness, social cohesion, and strategic autonomy.
In an international context marked by growing geopolitical instability, technological competition, and pressure on academic freedom, Europe cannot afford to scale back the ambition of its scientific and educational cooperation instruments. On the contrary, it must recognise knowledge both as a strategic asset and as a public good indispensable to the development of democratic societies and to safeguarding the well-being of their citizens.
Portuguese universities therefore advocate robust, predictable, and sustained investment in the European programmes that have demonstrated the greatest impact in developing talent, generating knowledge, fostering innovation, and bringing peoples and institutions closer together. The choices made in the immediate future will be decisive for Europe’s ability to act as a cohesive, autonomous, and competitive bloc, capable of upholding its values and interests in a rapidly changing world.
Erasmus+ is one of the most tangible and successful examples of the European project. By promoting the mobility of students, academics, researchers, and technical staff, it contributes to skills development, inclusion, employability, European citizenship, and the internationalisation of higher education institutions.
The next Multiannual Financial Framework must provide Erasmus+ with the necessary resources to meet growing demand, rising costs, and the need to broaden participation, particularly among students and institutions with fewer opportunities. In this regard, CRUP supports the European call for an increased allocation for the Erasmus+ programme for the 2028–2034 period.
The European University Alliances are today among the most transformative initiatives within the European Higher Education Area. They foster structural cooperation between institutions, strengthen the links between education, research, and innovation, promote joint programmes, attract talent, connect regional ecosystems, and consolidate a truly European dimension within universities.
These alliances cannot depend on fragmented, uncertain, or insufficient funding. To fulfil the high expectations placed upon them, they require long-term, stable, and adequate financial mechanisms that will enable them to consolidate results, engage more students and researchers, and extend their impact across the entire European higher education system.
It is therefore a matter of deep concern that the report recently issued by the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE Committee) on the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) removed explicit references to the higher education sector and, in particular, to the European University Alliances.
The substantial reduction of Article 21 is especially troubling, as it removes references to skills shortages and to the need for investment in skills, talent development, and joint actions between universities, industrial policies, and innovation systems. A shortage of highly qualified labour may reduce—or even compromise—the effectiveness of the European Competitiveness Fund, making the direct involvement of higher education institutions indispensable in addressing this challenge. Furthermore, the proposed removal of Article 30 exacerbates these concerns by eliminating explicit references to higher education institutions and the European University Alliances, thereby weakening the legal and political basis for their participation in an instrument specifically intended to strengthen European competitiveness.
Excluding or marginalising higher education in the design of the European Competitiveness Fund would run counter to the European Union’s objectives of competitiveness, resilience, and strategic autonomy. There can be no lasting European competitiveness without strong universities, world-class research, advanced education, and international cooperation networks.
Europe must invest coherently across the entire knowledge chain: from education to research, and from innovation to the social and economic valorisation of results. Separating these dimensions would diminish Europe’s capacity to respond to the major scientific, technological, social, and democratic challenges of our time.
Portuguese universities are committed to contributing to a Europe that is better prepared, more competitive, more inclusive, and more open to the world. To achieve this, it is essential that the European Union provide its education, research, and innovation programmes with the necessary resources and recognise universities as central partners in building its common future.
CRUP therefore calls on the European institutions to restore and strengthen, throughout the legislative process, the explicit recognition of higher education institutions and the European University Alliances within the framework of the European Competitiveness Fund, which should include specific measures to finance the education, research, and innovation activities of the European University Alliances as pillars of European development and sovereignty.
Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities,
May, 11th, 2026