Französische Studenten gegen Einfluss des Privatsektors auf Universitäten[en][fr] 

In May 2006, the Commission issued a communication making detailed recommendations on how to modernise higher education in Europe. In its most contested suggestion, the report urged member states to give universities more autonomy and accountability and encouraged governments to "open up [universities] to the business community". 

A law aimed at granting more autonomy to French universities, presented on 24 May 2007 by the minister for research and higher education, Valérie Pécresse (EurActiv 8/06/07), was adopted by the French parliament in August 2007 and is set to be implemented over the next five years.  

Once the law is implemented:

• French universities will have more autonomy to decide upon their budget and staff (by creating foundations to collect money and devising their own recruitment processes); and;  
• universities will be able to open their administration to external staff, allowing representatives of the business world to take part in university governance.

A French plan to implement EU recommendations on reforming higher education (see EurActiv 03/08/2007), which promises universities more money and independence, has raised opposition among students and university staff. UNEF, the French national student union, has called on all universities to join the 30-odd higher education institutions that are already taking part in a nationwide demonstratation on 20 November 2007.

The union says it is alarmed by the "financial and political disengagement" of the state, which it says leads to the threat of privatisation. It is demanding that changes be made to the law. 

Among the proposed changes, UNEF wants to maintain the current levels of student representation on university boards, guarantee the transparency of university staff recruitment processes, limit the recruitment of contractual staff, and increase the education budget for 2008.

Juliette Griffond, in charge of communication at UNEF, the French national student union, told EurActiv why students are afraid of the alleged privatisation. 

"We are not against business funding, but against the business sector having decision-making powers regarding university curricula and diplomas. Just imagine if there is a diploma that corresponds to one single enterprise and job and then that enterprise shuts down. The employee and his diploma would have no value after that."

Asked whether the current diplomas correspond to the needs of business and whether students can easily find a job after graduation, she underlined that "the current unemployment rates in France do not depend on the quality of university education and the diplomas students have", adding that "university autonomy will not improve education, as the quality of education is more a question of budget and reform of the university pedagogy." 

"Current university education gives young graduates a certain 'package' of qualifications and capacities, after which each enterprise needs to train the young graduates internally to correspond to the enterprise's specific needs. It is important that university education is not too professionalised and doesn't simply allow one profession afterwards. Nowadays, people change job frequently and need to be able to adapt to change," added Griffond.

When the French bill was introduced, the European University Association (EUA) said it welcomed the move to give French universities more autonomy as "a critical aspect of higher education reform." "If we don't decide who to employ and what to spend our money on, universities are never going to be able to change," said EUA secretary general Lesley Wilson.