University leaders see opportunities in EU’s competitiveness agenda

But the future role of academia hinges entirely on which governing and societal vision ultimately prevails

Research and innovation are at the heart of Europe’s new competitiveness paradigm. Policy makers in Brussels are framing this agenda as a response to an emergency, or even a “polycrisis” of geopolitical tensions, security threats, political and economic instability, climate change and the artificial intelligence race. Their answer is to boost Europe’s economic growth and reduce dependencies, for example on raw materials or strategic technologies from other countries and regions. 

Universities as key actors in the competitiveness agenda

Universities are key actors in the competitiveness agenda, through research and innovation, as well as higher education. University leaders from across Europe are embracing the agenda, while warning against the risk of instrumentalisation of their institutions, as a recently published report from the European University Association (EUA) shows. 

As our analysis of European policy developments over the past decade shows, competitiveness is not a totally new concept for the EU. Indeed, it has surfaced and resurfaced in policy debates at several points since the early 2000s. The difference now is the global context, combining the climate crisis with fractious geopolitics, as well as political instability and threats to liberal democratic values in key countries across the world. This makes the competitiveness agenda much more than just an economic issue, as underlined in the European Commission’s Competitiveness Compass from early 2025:

«What is at stake for Europe is not just economic growth, but the future of its model. […] Our freedom, security and autonomy will depend more than ever on our ability to innovate, compete and grow. […] As Mario Draghi has warned, if Europe accepts a managed and gradual economic decline, it is condemning itself to a “slow agony”». 

To better understand what this new policy paradigm means for the higher education and research sector, we spoke to university leaders from across Europe in a series of workshops and interviews. And indeed, many of them agree with the need to put research, innovation and education at the heart of this agenda. That said, they see different opportunities and challenges depending on their own institution’s profile and mission. For example, while some see security and defence as a new domain for their institution to engage in, others refrain from it due to ethical and historic concerns. 

Interdisciplinarity and sustainability as strategic strengths

Moreover, universities with a strong portfolio in research and innovation linked to key emerging technologies have an advantage in comparison to larger comprehensive universities, where certain parts of the institution may need more protection from policies driven by competitiveness. Nonetheless, the demand for interdisciplinarity stands out as a big opportunity for universities to contribute by playing to their strengths – as the only actors that combine different disciplines across research, innovation and education. One area where we see universities’ unique added value is in how they address the challenge of making our planet more sustainable, which could become Europe’s competitive niche over the coming decades. 

Working with the future

Looking beyond the immediate outlook for EU policies, we also explored several possibilities for how the EU’s competitiveness drive might play out well into the future. To do so, we used strategic foresight and futures thinking to formulate three forecasts. Each of these describes a different possible scenario for Europe and its universities, set in the year 2035:

1 – Europe’s resurrection

The promises of the competitiveness agenda come to fruition and Europe experiences a political and economic revival having found its competitive edge as a leader in technologies for sustainability. 

2 – Tech oligarchy under US hegemony

Nationalist and antidemocratic forces are taking over government in key countries in Europe. Due to its dependence on US tech giants for new technologies, Europe becomes a vassal state of the USA.

3 – Fragmented society

Political power is fragile and paralysed. The economy is volatile and society is fragmented into those who have the social and economic capital to develop skills needed to survive in this fragile world, and those who do not. Old systems and institutions remain in place but are too weak to cater for people’s needs. Parallel systems, i.e. local or online communities, develop, where people try to help each other and find solutions to daily problems.

Universities’ changing role across scenarios

In each forecast, universities’ role in society is the changing element. In both the Europe’s resurrection and Tech oligarchy forecasts, research, innovation and education are considered important by those in power, albeit in service of two fundamentally different societal and political visions.

Under the first forecast, universities benefit from comparatively high autonomy in a democratic political system, but public funding is steered towards research and innovation in key technologies. They are seen as key contributors to Europe’s competitiveness and as a part of the economic system, meaning that there are also expectations for universities to deliver on strategic knowledge and skills.

In the second forecast, authoritarian leaders see universities as important to control and use. Considerable parts of the academic community are marginalised, particularly if they are critical towards the system. Some go underground, while others become ideological supporters of the new order.

The third forecast, Fragmented society, universities lose their broad societal relevance altogether. Without the support of a functioning state, the academic community shrinks in size and influence to serve just a limited number of people, who do not have much capacity to initiate broader societal progress due to a lack of cohesion. 

Scenarios as strategic foresight tools

While the first forecast, Europe’s resurrection, might be the most attractive future of the three for many in the European university community, it does also have drawbacks. Notably, these drawbacks would come from the impact of longer-term trends that we see today, if Europe does not manage to tackle them. For example, combatting climate change and labour market shortages caused by demographic decline. These are areas that require international cooperation as well as different internal policies in areas such as migration, integration, the labour market and support for children and families.

As with any forecast, none of these three are predictions. They were developed looking at drivers of change and signals identified in the present, which were then given different ways to play out in the future. These alternative futures are tools that can inspire reflection and action in the present. As such, universities can strengthen their preparedness and resilience for an unknown future by focusing on what they can influence today.

What universities need, and need to do

While nobody can predict exactly what the future holds, one thing that is clear is what European universities need to thrive. In other words, to fully contribute to the EU’s competitiveness agenda, universities need the right framework conditions, including:

• An adequate level of institutional autonomy to take decisions in organisational, staffing, academic and financial matters.
• Sufficient and sustainable core public funding at European and national level, to ensure that universities can deliver on all their missions and across subject areas. (Therefore, European funding focused on competitiveness must be accessible, flexible and manageable for universities, and take account of different practices within institutions.)
• Interdisciplinarity, facilitated across Europe, national higher education and research systems, and within institutions themselves. 
• International openness remaining the default, while stepping up necessary knowledge security.

Leadership challenges in the competitiveness era

As the European institutions embark on new legislation for research and innovation, as well as a long-term budget focused on competitiveness, these points should be on the table and discussed together with university sector representatives. Yet, while these framework conditions are fundamentally important, the competitiveness agenda also poses a challenge for university leadership. How can they adequately prepare their institutions so that they meet the challenges ahead?

To a large extent, doing so depends on each university’s local environment and partners. Smaller institutions, specialised in areas of more direct relevance to competitiveness, might have an advantage here, while large, comprehensive universities must balance their immediate impact on competitiveness with protecting knowledge in smaller areas with less concrete utility  for the economy. In this process, internal communication will be crucial, so that the role of the university for competitiveness is a common effort built on common values.