Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-05-Speech-4-053"
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"en.20020905.3.4-053"2
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"Madam President, there is no doubt about the importance of universities and education. In fact, education itself is so important that Prime Minister Blair has said in the past that he only has three policies: education, education and education. But the high profile of education in the political arena makes universities and other institutions especially vulnerable to external pressure. Not for nothing do universities become one of the first targets of demagogues and dictators. The free thinkers and the independent spirits are soon removed.
Democracies also have a problem here because our educational establishments rely predominantly on the state for their funding and he who pays the piper seeks to call the tune. As a result we have seen increasing interference in our educational establishments.
This is also the case with the European Union. As more and more money destined for academia comes through the European institutions, the European piper is indeed now calling the European tune.
As I travel around British universities speaking to students, I see a rash of ring of stars flags and EU literature. But more worryingly, under the Jean Monnet programme I see the orthodoxies of the European Union now being taught in political science and in European history courses. Such is the grip of EU money that dissent from the perceived wisdom is treated almost as heresy. Unless the correct version of political history is submitted in their course work and in their examinations students now find themselves penalised in their exam marking.
Thus I view this report with some degree of dismay and trepidation. The European Union has its own key policies and they are integration, integration and yet more integration. That of course is why the European Union is so interested in universities and further education.
I have no doubt that this particular report is well meant but the creation of a European learning area and the prospect of yet more taxpayers' money being filtered through the EU into universities is a recipe for even more political interference. The independence of our universities is far too important for them to be sacrificed on the altar of political integration."@en1
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