EU Commission takes Erasmus dispute to Vienna
The umbrella organisation of universities and colleges under private law, ÖPUK, has now declared that the EU’s Erasmus programme should not be misused as a means of political pressure. According to a statement, it is ‘strongly opposed’ to the ‘instrumentalisation of international academic exchange for the benefit of political agendas (…) by politicians of all stripes’.
The ÖPUK recognises Erasmus+ as a democratic factor and points out that the EU Commission has provided 26.2 billion euros for this programme alone in the 2021-27 timeframe. The desired ‘participation in democratic life’ is emphasised as one of the main objectives for the current period. Now, however, a private university is being refused Erasmus funding under Austrian law. The ‘liability’ of the Hungarian owner Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) is being used as an argument in Brussels – the think tank’s ‘proximity to the corrupt Orbán system’ is being criticised.
The MCC acquired the private modular university on Kahlenberg in Vienna, which specialises in tourism, in 2023. This networking is proving fatal because the EU Council excluded students (and researchers) from the Hungarian universities subject to the model change from the exchange programmes at the end of 2022 – a political act against which half a dozen affected universities have since taken legal action before the ECJ. Students are being penalised for the ‘systemic corruption’ that the Orbán government is accused of in the rule of law proceedings. The ÖPUK has the following to say about this transverse legal interpretation by Brussels: ‘Exerting financial pressure on universities because – legally compliant – new ownership structures do not suit the political plans of the funding bodies is unacceptable.’