Commissioners propose closer higher education ties with third countries
European Commissioners Viviane Reding and Chris Patten will present a memorandum to the Commission on 18 July, proposing the strengthening of cooperation with third countries in the area of higher education, particularly through intensifying exchanges and promoting Europe as a centre of excellence. In order to strengthen exchanges with third countries, the Commission would like to see the agreements which include incentives to conclude multilateral partnerships between universities which define the content of the courses to be provided to the students received and secure recognition for work completed during the stay. The Commission is also proposing virtual mobility arrangements, enabling distance learning. So as to facilitate student exchanges, the Commission is considering increasing the number of long term grants for third country students wishing to undertake all their studies in the EU. These would aim to encourage those who will in any case go abroad to do so. The Commission intends to promote the Community as a centre of excellence through advertising the Union's teaching and training assets and strengthening studies on the European Union in third countries. This could be done by extending the network of European Union study centres and Jean Monnet chairs. The Commission also wants to encourage European universities to establish joint courses and joint diplomas on European integration. A pilot programme for Latin America will introduce a programme of post graduate grants, allowing future decision makers in Latin America to develop closer ties with Europe. The programme could benefit from as much as 40 million euro. It is proposed that the new strategies set out in the memorandum will be funded through existing programmes and allocated budgets wherever possible