Revive the directive on cross-border associations to make cooperation easier across the EU

This potential directive, proposed in 2023, would have enabled the establishment of non-profit associations that could work freely across all EU member states, regardless of where they are registered. Now, this option has been taken off the table, despite having received support from the European Parliament.

Cross-border cooperation is at the heart of Europe’s universities. Such cooperation enhances the quality of learning and teaching and it is often a prerequisite for excellence in research. In the past decade, Europe has seen a deepening of this type of cooperation, in particular – but not only – through the European Universities Initiative and the hundreds of universities that take part in it.

The possibility of establishing associations operating at a European level would reflect and facilitate this increasingly deep cooperation between Europe’s universities. Concretely, cross-border associations could be a route to creating legal entities for European Universities alliances, as promoted by the European Commission.

In sum, cross-border associations hold significant potential for European higher education and research, as well as for strengthening the resilience of Europe’s democracy. The European University Association therefore calls on the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the European Commission to continue their work to make this option a reality.