The Guardian - The Green League

On 27 June, the Irish Presidency and officials from the European Parliament (EP) and the European Commission finally reached a political agreement on the EU’s long-term budget for the next seven years (2014-2020).
After several failed attempts for a compromise, the newly-reached agreement puts an end to the difficult and long-drawn negotiations going on since February. The European Council decided on 8 February to cut the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) from its previous level (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, February 2013), which led to the Parliament rejecting the deal in March (see ACA Newsletter, March 2013). The resulting negotiations didn’t so much focus on numbers than on giving the budget more flexibility, allowing money to be swiftly reallocated where needed in times of changing economic realities.
Even though the new agreement does not reflect all the priorities defended by the Parliament these past months, the president of the EP, Martin Schulz, agrees it is better than nothing. The deal includes more flexibility on payments and commitments and guaranties that the funds for the next seven years will be entirely spent, which was not the case in the previous budget, where some EUR 50 billion were reimbursed to member states. The package also includes a binding revision clause, allowing it to review the spending midway through the budget. Furthermore, an agreement was reached on early payments for youth employment, research, education (namely Erasmus) and SMEs. It was also agreed that in the future the EU’s long-term budgets would span over five years, rather than seven.
The MFF, which foresees a EUR 960 billion investment in growth and jobs over the next seven years, now has to win a majority vote during the next Parliament’s plenary session, taking place from 1-4 July in Strasbourg. The final budget will take effect as of 1 January 2014. 

At the beginning of June, ACA’s Dutch member organisation – the Nuffic (the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education) – announced that it will be forced to close down part of its world-known Neso offices (Netherlands Education Support Offices) in the near future. The measure will become “inevitable”, as a result of a 30% government-imposed cut into the budget for Neso activities. ACA shares Nuffic’s disappointment with the Dutch government’s plans, which however still need parliamentary approval.
It remains to be announced which of the ten offices will be closed down, but it is nevertheless very clear that the Nuffic remains committed to its overseas activities. Along these lines, Nuffic’s Director-General, Freddy Weima, recently declared “We will do everything in our power to make sure our Neso activities remain as effective as possible despite the cutbacks. To this end, we will be entering into negotiations with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the research universities and universities of applied sciences”, showing that the organisation is by no means ready to give up.
Starting from 2001, the Nuffic Nesos have been established in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Dutch higher education institutions, in locations of strategic importance for the Dutch higher education system. Since 2008, Nesos have been active in a total of ten countries, all of them emerging economies that were deemed to offer good opportunities for Dutch research universities and the universities of applied sciences. The Nuffic Nesos are currently located in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea. These offices play a key role in promotion and information provision, but also fulfil other specific tasks (e.g. involvement in Brazil’s prestigious “Science without borders” initiative). In 2012, about 10 500 students from the various Neso countries were enrolled at Dutch higher education institutions, an increase of almost 24% compared to 2007. 

The two newest members of ACA, The Turkish Centre for European Union Education and Youth Programmes and Education and Testing Service Global (ETS Global), were warmly welcomed to the ACA family on 12 June, following ACA’s 20th Anniversary Conference in The Hague. The two members are actually not that new to ACA, as they have been actively participating in ACA’s events and have been in close collaboration with some of ACA’s existing members.
The Turkish Centre for European Union Education and Youth Programmes, founded in 2003, has been operating as the Turkish National Agency for the EU’s education and youth cooperation programmes (e.g. Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci) since Turkey’s official participation in these programmes in 2004. It is currently responsible for the implementation of the Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action programmes in Turkey and will perform the same function in the new programme for 2014-2020. With much in common, the Turkish member and ACA members are looking forward to more intensified cooperation, as well as the sharing of knowledge and best practices in internationalisation and mobility within the ACA network.
Similarly, ACA looks forward to strengthening its knowledgebase and global network with the addition of ETS Global as an Associate Member. ETS Global is a subsidiary of the US-based organisation ETS which was founded in 1947 and is best known for its testing instruments, such as TOEFL, TOEIC and GRE. Beyond the development of testing services, ETS Global has been involved in major international assessment projects on learning outcomes (e.g. OECD’s PISA and AHELO), student mobility, and the performance of universities. 
In the past two decades, ACA has developed into a highly respected knowledge centre on (European) mobility policies, thanks to the support of its membership network of 24 national organisations that are chiefly responsible for internationalisation and mobility matters in their respective countries. Therefore, with the admission of each new member, ACA does not only get bigger and stronger, but also much wiser.
Congratulations to The Turkish Centre for European Union Education and Youth Programmes and Education and Testing Service Global (ETS Global)! Congratulations to ACA! 

The European Commission released the long-anticipated Communication on the internationalisation of higher education, entitled European Higher Education in the World, on 11 July 2013. As revealed earlier in the ACA Newsletter May edition, the Communication encourages the European Union’s member states and higher education institutions (HEIs) to develop comprehensive internationalisation strategies. Such strategies, according to the Communication, should embrace student and staff mobility, internationalisation of curricula and strategic academic partnerships as integrated elements.
On the EU level, funding incentives and policy support, through the EU’s new Erasmus+ Programme (formerly known as Erasmus for All) within the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020, are promised in support of the new policy direction. Specifically on funding, the Commission pledges to: 

• provide increased financial support for mobility to and from non-EU countries, reaching up to 135 000 learners and staff; and allow  up  to 15 000  non-EU  researchers  to  start  or  pursue  their  careers  in  Europe through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) in Horizon 2020;    
• support  international  HEI  consortia to develop joint master and doctoral degrees through Erasmus+ and MSCA respectively, and provide high-level scholarships for up to 60 000 graduates to take part;
• support strategic partnerships for cooperation and innovation, including up to 1 000 capacity-building partnerships between EU and non-EU HEIs.

It will also continue to fund on-going initiatives to increase the transparency and attractiveness of European higher education, such as the U-Multirank project, various higher education portals and alumni networking initiatives. In terms of policy support, the Communication sees the need to strengthen evidence-based policymaking through research and dialogues with experts. To facilitate cooperation with third countries, it will also continue system-to-system dialogues with policymakers of targeted partner countries (e.g. China, Russia and Brazil). Some attention has also been drawn towards “blended mobility” opportunities arising from recent developments in MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and digital learning technology. A specific initiative for the promotion of digital learning and better use of ICT (Information Communication Technology) and OER (Open Educational Resources) in education will be presented in autumn 2013.