The University of Warsaw, as the 4EU+ member, takes part in a new EU project on devising a model of a high-level and formalised strategic cooperation for European University alliances. The project will start on 1st March and run for one year.

The ESEU (European status for ECIU University) project seeks to overcome legal obstacles to a more complex transnational cooperation of European higher education institutions through the design of an institutionalised partnership model. The initiative is coordinated by the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU), and involves Una Europa, EU-Conexus, Charm-EU and the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation. The project will begin on 1st March and last for one year.

The project responds to one of the key initiatives put forward in the European Commission’s strategy for universities, aiming at developing a legal statute for alliances of higher education institutions. The legal statute would allow the alliances to act under one common personality, facilitating, among others, the implementation of joint programmes and the award of joint degrees.

“At present, European University alliances that consider establishing a legal entity have to choose from a plethora of legal forms regulated by different national jurisdictions. Each of these forms carries both limitations and advantages, that is why the very process of developing a pan-European institutional framework for European Universities will bring benefits to alliances and guide them in their choices. I am pleased that our university experts will be involved in this initiative,” Prof. Sambor Grucza, the UW Vice-Rector for Cooperation and Human Resources and the member of the 4EU+ Management Committee, said.

In April 2021, the Alliance gained legal personality with the establishment of a not-for-profit association “4EU+ European University Alliance e.V.” under German law. The Association’s headquarters are in Heidelberg, Germany.