Six years after the launch of the European Universities Initiative (EUI), the European Affairs Committee of the French Senate entrusted the rapporteurs Ronan Le Gleut and Karine Daniel with the task of carrying out an initial assessment of this scheme. 

Based on the evidence gathered from a series of interviews and consultations with almost 50 French higher education institutions, the rapporteurs were able to draw up a highly positive assessment of the EUI, which acts as a vehicle for transforming French and European higher education. 

In their report (in French), the rapporteurs also highlighted persisting barriers to the advancement of European University alliances, such as funding uncertainty, fragile governance structures, and the complexity of implementing joint programmes and degrees, as shown by the recent public debate on a European degree hosted by the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council (for more details, see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, November 2024). 

Against this background, they proposed the following recommendations: 

• Institutionalising European University alliances to ensure their long-term sustainability while consolidating their economic model 
• Paying more attention to research, so that the alliances could play a more active role in the development of the European Research Area 
• Reviewing the governance and legal status of alliances  
• Supporting joint programmes and diplomas, with particular emphasis on the European degree label or diploma 
• Mainstreaming the alliance model offering all interested higher education institutions an opportunity to join the EUI.