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Academic Freedom Monitor 2024 : Analysis of de facto state of academic freedom in the EU - Country overview
Academic freedom is widely recognised as a fundamental value of contemporary higher education and science, and as a prerequisite for well-functioning democratic societies. However, in recent years, major concerns have been expressed by various stakeholders about the state of academic freedom in the European Union. ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾ launched an annual EP Academic Freedom Monitor in 2022, to help improve the promotion and protection of academic freedom in the European Union. This report presents ...
Academic freedom is widely recognised as a fundamental value of contemporary higher education and research, and is often presented as a prerequisite for well-functioning democratic societies. However, in recent years, major concerns have been expressed by various stakeholders about the state of academic freedom in the European Union. ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾ launched an annual EP Academic Freedom Monitor in 2022, to help improve the promotion and protection of academic freedom in the European Union ...
Private financing of innovation in the EU
For its new mandate, the European Commission has put innovation and its commercial development at the heart of enhancing European Union competitiveness. The priority builds on the Draghi and Letta recommendations emphasising the need to boost the EU's competitiveness to ensure its long-term sustainability and prosperity. For this purpose, the Commission also aims to revisit the EU's innovation funding programmes to improve their effectiveness and attract additional private investment in innovation ...
What if orbital debris destroyed satellites?
Space technologies are playing an increasingly critical role in communications, defence and research. As more satellites are launched, there is a growing risk of collision, and of satellites becoming military targets. Satellite-debris collisions have the potential to destroy not just one or two but many satellites, preventing the use of those orbits for years. Although de-orbiting satellites at a faster pace may be a solution, orbital debris falling back to Earth can cause environmental harm. Europe ...
EP Academic Freedom Monitor 2024: Key findings and policy options
The 2024 edition of the European ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾'s Academic Freedom Monitor consists of two studies, to be published shortly, with joint key findings and policy options that are summarised in this briefing. The first study, 'Analysis of the state of de facto academic freedom in the EU', examines various measurements of academic freedom across the EU Member States. It also analyses the main threats to academic freedom and their impacts in 10 Member States through a qualitative data analysis, with input ...
Benefit of an EU strategic innovation agenda - Cost of non Europe
For the European Union to compete globally while continuing to ensure progress in environmental, social and fundamental rights, more strategic and collective action is imperative. In a world where some leading global businesses have a market capitalisation of more than €3 trillion, an integrated economic, financial and fiscal policy framework is needed to encourage innovation and growth, including for successful SMEs. As the recent Letta and Draghi reports highlight, this requires clear political ...
Commitments made at the confirmation hearings of the Commissioners-designate 2024-2029
Commitments made at the confirmation hearings of the Commissioners-designate 2024-2029
What if Europe championed new AI hardware?
Europe could gain competitive edge by supporting the development of new hardware for artificial intelligence (AI). Current state-of-the-art hardware is not optimised for machine learning, and both academic and private sector research is already leading to new designs. At the same time, the need for more time- and energy-efficient machine-learning hardware is increasing as more consumers and companies want access to machine-learning applications. The European Union (EU) has the opportunity to leverage ...
Cryptographic security: Critical to Europe's digital sovereignty
By the 2030s, quantum computers might compromise traditional cryptography, putting digital infrastructure at high risk in the European Union (EU) and around the world. Specifically, it is expected that quantum computers' unique capabilities will allow them to solve complex mathematical problems, such as breaking the traditional cryptographic systems used universally. The confidentiality, integrity and authenticity of sensitive data – including health, financial, security and defence information – ...
EU space policy: State of play
On 9 July 2024, the successful maiden flight of the new heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 reinstated the EU's autonomous access to space. This came after several months of reliance on private United States launchers as a result of the temporary unavailability of an EU rocket. In recent years, the space sector has witnessed the conjunction of three trends. First, the space economy has grown globally, also because of competitive private actors. Second, as a consequence, space is now increasingly congested ...