The Guild and ERASuD call for Europe to fully seize the opportunity to integrate the Global Gateway strategy and the Team Europe approach into the legal basis of the implementation of the Global Europe Instrument from the start of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). It is critical that the EU’s international partnerships are strengthened through education and research, as articulated in the fifth pillar of the EU Global Gateway. To achieve this, references to the Global Gateway must go beyond the recitals and be embedded in the operative articles of the regulation, notably those concerning programme objectives, principles, geographic programming and implementation. This would provide a clear legal basis and align partner-country led investments with shared global challenges that have an impact on humanitarian needs and poverty reduction.
Brain circulation should be added as a principle of Global Europe, and knowledge-based collaboration with Global Europe partners should be mainstreamed through synergies with Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe. Education and research are a priority of Global Gateway that needs bottom-up funding to deliver quality and impact. Fostering a broad, multi-disciplinary knowledge exchange in our partnerships is needed to distinguish Europe as an international partner on the world stage. Without this underpinning, all other Global Gateway priorities will lose the important added value of connected Europe’s talent and cutting-edge to the rest of the world.
The regulation must directly address and leverage the capacity of research-performing organisations and higher education institutions, ensuring the meaningful engagement of universities in low- and middle-income countries and Europe in international partnerships, alongside the private sector, civil society and local authorities.
Finally, long-term partnerships require predictability. Global Europe should avoid mechanisms that unilaterally reduce budget allocations or suspend partnerships and risk destabilising cooperation and should include research and higher education representatives as observers in relevant governance structures.
The Commission’s proposal for the Global Europe regulation presents a unique opportunity to align funding instruments with the ambitions of the EU Global Gateway strategy. It is crucial the EU grasps this opportunity, ensuring that research and higher education can truly render the EU’s international partnerships sustainable, people-driven, and mutually beneficial for the long term.
Secretary-General Jan Palmowski