Session II

Mme Reding was not able to join the conference due to conflicts in her schedule – her statement was read to the conference in full.

Mr Secretary General,

I wish to send you and all your colleagues of the Europaeum consortium my greetings and my congratulations on the occasion of your meeting in Paris today.

I would like to emphasis Mme Reding’s remarks: despite what has been accomplished by programmes such as Erasmus and Leonardo, the EU needs to increase its budget for education to a maximum 2 or 3 per cent, and more should be given to certain research programmes. The EU is subsidizing agriculture, it is promoting the free circulation of goods and so forth. It should also be fighting for a Europe of intelligence, of creativity, of university and youth.

Can the university withstand the global culture of pluralism? I can offer three short remarks. I confess I am bringing more questions than answers, but we university people know that such questions may be important.