Defence of academic freedom in the EU's external action. Recommendation to the Vice President/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the own-initiative report by Wajid KHAN (S&D, UK) on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on Defence of academic freedom in the EU’s external action.

According to UNESCO, academic freedom is defined as the right, without constriction by prescribed doctrine, to freedom of teaching and discussion, freedom in carrying out research and disseminating and publishing the results thereof, freedom to express freely their opinion about the institution or system in which they work, freedom from institutional censorship and freedom to participate in professional or representative academic bodies.

The academic community and educational institutions are increasingly vulnerable to interference, pressure or repression from states, the business sector or other non-state actors.

However, autonomy is a necessary precondition for education institutions to fulfil their proper functions. Academic freedom requires constant and vigilant protection from undue pressure from the State or commercial interests.

In view of this, the report recommends that the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy:

• explicitly recognise the importance of  academic freedom in public statements, policies and actions relating to the EU’s external action, including recognition of the principles that ideas are not crimes and that critical discourse is not disloyalty, but rather essential parts of a democratic society and its development, that the autonomy of education institutions should be protected at all times;
• recognise that claims to academic freedom fall under existing human rights law, derived from the right to education and the rights to freedom of expression and of opinion;
• demonstrate support for the institutions, staff and students that are at risk or have been the victims of coercion or violent attacks and publicly condemn such attacks, by raising the issue at all levels;
• support equal access to the academic community, regardless of ethnicity, caste, disability, nationality, religious belief, gender identity, sexual orientation or other status;
• highlight that attacks on academic freedom can also take the form of cyberattacks;
• raise academic freedom at different levels of political dialogue, including in human rights dialogues and consultations with partner countries;
• encourage all states to do as most EU Member States have already done and endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration and its accompanying Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict;
• work with the UN, the Council of Europe, international agencies, civil society and higher education communities to create mechanisms for monitoring and reporting attacks, threats and undue restrictions on higher education;
• engage and encourage regular dialogue with university communities and organisations whose mission it is to protect higher education communities and promote academic freedom, in order to develop the best policy frameworks, initiatives and advocacy strategies for academic freedom;
• contribute to the development of capacities for prompt, thorough and transparent investigations of violations of academic freedom :
• step up diplomatic efforts with partner countries through bilateral and multilateral engagement in relation to incidents of concern involving threats or attacks on academic freedom;
• revisit existing support and protection mechanisms for human rights defenders to develop the capacity to identify and provide assistance, including emergency protection and support;
• ensure that the EU’s macro-financial assistance programmes for third countries and the policies of European financial institutions do not undermine academic freedom by supporting policies that reduce the allocation of national income to the education sector;
• create new initiatives within existing and future programmes – possibly as synergies developed and funded by the Union through its non-education and research budgets, for new EU-funded programme actions to support the placement of at-risk academics, student researchers and full degree students with international protection status in European higher education and research institutions;
• support ongoing normative efforts at regional and international level, including through the adoption of an international declaration on academic freedom and the autonomy of higher education institutions;
• encourages the EU and its Member States to take initiative on academic freedom at the UN Human Rights Council.