The European Universities Initiative and National Higher Education Governance in Interaction: The Case of the Arqus European University Alliance

ABSTRACT

Taking a perspective that combines policy studies and comparative law, this article examines how European University Alliances (EUAs), originating from the European Universities Initiative (EUI), dynamically challenge the national legal frameworks for higher education and traditional notions of institutional autonomy. The article finds the EUI has acted like a magnifying glass on governance and legal issues that have existed for some time, but have gained new attention as a result of the activities of the EUAs. Challenges confronted by the EUAs are discussed such as how to legally and politically harmonize understandings of institutional autonomy, which differ across nation state; a challenge that is heighted when an EUA seeks to establish a single legal entity. Using the Arqus EUA as an example, the article analyses the influence of the EUI on the higher education laws of the nine states members of this EUA are based in (Austria, France, Germany/Saxony, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, and Spain) highlighting the diverse yet discernible impact that the EUI has had on national higher education laws and governance thus far. The article presents the EUAs as incubators for genuine European integration and legal coordination. A new layer of governance is identified reshaping national higher education systems by challenging traditional frameworks of autonomy, regulation, and coordination between national and supranational levels.