A snapshot on the state of universities in the Brexit negotiations March 2018 - originally from a presentation at the event Towards a Changing Relationship between European and British Universities? organised by UniLiON in Brussels 22 March 2018

1. Brexit – looking
ahead
Thomas Ekman Jørgensen, European University
Association
1Friday, March 23, 2018

2. Looking ahead
Brexit
2
• Established in 2001
• Non-governmental membership
organisation
• More than 800 individual university
members
• 34 National Rectors’ Conferences Members
• 47 countries
• Independent voice of the university sector
• Forum for exchange, peer learning for
members
Brief Profile of EUA

3. Looking ahead
Brexit
EUA’s work on
Brexit
• Solidarity from the start
• “British universities are and remain an essential part of the
European family of universities, which extends beyond EU
borders. This community of knowledge and learning is strong
and longstanding, and it will surely overcome this crisis” (EUA
24 June 2016)
• Providing the facts
• Outlining possible outcomes (September 2016)
• Fact sheet on UK’s role in research and mobility (December
2016)
• Continuously updated FAQ
• Lobbying for retaining ties with the UK
http://eua.be/policy-representation/higher-education-
policies/brexit-and-european-higher-education

4. Looking ahead
Brexit
Main fact 1: UK is
the leading in
European science
0
200
400
600
800
1 000
1 200
1 400
1 600
GBR DEU FRA ITA ESP NLD CHE POL SWE TUR BEL AUT ISR DNK GRC FIN CZE NOR PRT IRL HUN
Publications (1000) OECD 2015

5. – Looking ahead
Brexit
Fact 2: UK is
important for EU
research
cooperation
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
UK ES DE IT FR NL DK BE SE AT EL PT CH
H2020 project coordinators

6. – Looking ahead
Brexit
Fact 3: UK is
unrivalled as a
destination for
mobile students
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
European mobile students by destination

7. – Looking ahead
Brexit
7
It is all about the
process
• We are entering a new phase
• Phase 1 ended well
• UK continues in Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ until
the end!
• Phase 2 will focus on separation and transition
• Untangling the relationship
• Making the Joint Report into a legal document
• The legal text will not touch the future of
academic cooperation (students and research)
• These issues will be in a separate political
declaration
©European Union , 2018/ Mauro Bottaro

8. – Looking ahead
Brexit
What could be in
the political
statement?
• European Parliament resolution
• 4 pillars: trade, foreign policy, internal security, thematic
cooperation
• Welcomes cooperation in culture and education
• ‘Could consider’ association to the Framework
Programme without net transfers of money or formal
influence
• Council of the EU guidelines to Article 50 team
• More dispassionate on programmes
“any participation of the UK should be subject to the
relevant conditions for the participation of third countries
to be established in the corresponding programmes in the
next Multiannual Financial Framework”

9. – Looking ahead
Brexit
Meanwhile in the
rest of the
Commission –
where will the UK
fit?
• The new programme regulations risk limiting
the space for negotiation
• FP9 should be ‘open to the world’
• Will openness mean more rules (restrictions
on acccess, payment etc)?
• Will there be an open door for the UK
• ... or will the regulation limit the space for
negotiation
• Erasmus is traditionally more open (and there
is more political will)
• ... But the door needs to be open
• UK might end up with limited access, paying
more – but will this be negotiated or
prescribed?

10. – Looking ahead
Brexit
Looking ahead • The immediate future of the negotiations will move
away from academic cooperation
• The programme regulations are the next step
• We will not see the end of it on this side of Brexit...

11. Thank you for your
attention
11
Dr Thomas Ekman Jørgensen ǀ Senior Policy Coordinator
@Thomas_E_Jorgen
thomas.jorgensen@eua.eu