Stenograma dezbaterilor

Joi, 29 noiembrie 2018 - Bruxelles

9.9. Apărarea libertății universitare în contextul acțiunii externe a UE (A8-0403/2018 - Wajid Khan)

A szavazáshoz fűzött szóbeli indokolások

  Alex Mayer (S&D). – Madam President, I welcome this debate and would make three points. Firstly, postgraduate research in the field is vital and risk can never be entirely eliminated, but it is vital that the safety of European students studying abroad remains paramount. Second, we must be vigilant when European universities host foreign branch campuses in countries where governments restrict freedom of speech. Thirdly, it is vital that we get our own house in order.

In Hungary, gender studies courses are being cancelled after a government ban, and the attacks on the CEU continue. Last week I met Professor Betegh, a visiting professor from the CEU, who told me that the university is a hub for state universities and attracts high calibre speakers who Hungarian students would not otherwise come into contact with, and that its move to Vienna would be a huge blow. Academic freedom is not an abstract notion. The right to question all and search for truth is fundamental.

  Andrejs Mamikins (S&D). – Madam President, academic education is a starting point of political awareness. If we want our efforts in promoting democracy to be successful, we need to ensure that the population of the countries we engage with is able to make an informed political choice. The more freedom we give to academia, the more democratic a society we achieve. A democratic society is always a more peaceful and balanced society.

I particularly appreciate the plenary amendments tabled by S&D group that require academic freedom to become a part of the Copenhagen criteria. If a country restricts free academic research we must take it as the first symptom of illiberalism and encourage our partners to refrain from political manipulation of universities and schools. A failure in education brings about a failure in all spheres of public life, and in addition it results in a huge loss in economic opportunities.

Therefore, I support this report and hope that its provisions are fully implemented.

  Rory Palmer (S&D). – Madam President, I want to congratulate my colleague, Wajid Khan, for bringing forward this important report. I think my generation grew up perhaps taking for granted, and benefiting immensely, from freedoms secured by previous generations – democracy, the rule of law, media freedom and indeed academic freedom as well.

In this era today, where all those things are being challenged, in this era of populism, of fake news and of other challenges as well, those of us who believe in those freedoms must stand up and defend them.

Academic freedom is crucial and set against those things are populism and fake news, fake facts – almost a poisoning in places of our public discourse. We must protect that space of free, unfettered scholarship and academic freedom. So I welcome this report. I was pleased to vote for it and I hope we can enact the proposals that it has brought forward.

  John Howarth (S&D). – Madam President, I am delighted to support the work of my colleague, Wajid Khan, in this report which is regrettably necessary. Those of us who have taught or researched understand that academic freedom is something that must be cherished. The notion that the state should in any way dictate what is studied in academic institutions is entirely unacceptable, and I believe incompatible with European values.

We should be prepared to defend academic freedom fiercely. If a Member State or third country are acting to contain this essential freedom of inquiry then they should not be able to benefit from Union funding or collaborative programmes under Horizon Europe.

But we should also be prepared to defend academic freedom from the pressures of the market. It is rumoured that three institutions in my region are under threat for financial reasons. We need to understand that many of the greatest gains for humanity have been made from research with no obvious economic output at the time it was undertaken. We need to defend that pure research ability.