European Universities

What is the European Universities Initiative? 

The European Universities Initiative is one of the flagship programmes of the European Union to build a European Education Area, co-developed by higher education institutions, student organisations, Member States and the European Commission.

European Universities are transnational alliances that will become the universities of the future, promoting European values and identity, and revolutionising the quality and competitiveness of European Higher Education.

As of October 2025, there are 65 European Universities Alliances funded by the EU. There are also 8 universities alliances that have received the Seal of Excellence in 2024,  a quality label awarded to proposals of universities alliances that did not receive funding through Erasmus+ due to budgetary constraints. Despite not having received Erasmus+ funding, several universities alliances have already started their activities.

UNICA members in the European Universities Alliances

40 out of the 56 UNICA member Universities take part in European Universities alliances. In other terms, 23 out of the 65 existing funded alliances have at least one UNICA member University as partner. One UNICA member university is also part of one of the Alliances that was granted the Seal of Excellence.

Check out the list of UNICA members taking part in European Universities Alliances

What UNICA does in the context of the Alliances

With 40 UNICA members participating in the Alliances (including 4 Associate Members) and one member in an Alliance holding a Seal of Excellence, the network still counts 15 members outside the initiative (7 of which are not eligible for full participation). This situation presents both an opportunity and a responsibility for UNICA: the opportunity to support its members in navigating the initiative, and the responsibility to foster inclusion by ensuring that those outside the initiative remain informed and engaged. UNICA also acknowledges that alliances and alliances have different, yet, complimentary objectives, with the former aiming for deeper integration among members​ and cohesive educational experiences, while the latter, due the nature of informal collaboration among members, can be more active in advocacy & policy efforts.

For these reasons, UNICA has decided to embrace an “umbrella” role, which allows the network to be:

  • Inclusive, meaning it brings together a wide range of actors (directly and indirectly involved), representing different voices;
  • Compreehensive, because it connect different themes, models, and approaches;
  • Observing, as the network watches developments from outside with the aim of identifying emerging trends, gaps, challenges, and opportunities;
  • Monitoring, because it can track progress and impact over time, offering evidence-based insights and feedback that inform both policy and practice.

… alliances emerged through the initiative of the European Commission, and thereby funding was conditional upon pre-established priorities and political goals (…), whereas networks emerged from a bottom-up organic approach that is closer to the idea of a (labour) “union” of Universities, which – in that sense – enjoy relative independence – namely to voice concerns and establish priorities before government representatives and decision-making bodies.

Excerpt from the Conference Report of the UNICA Days in Brussels 2025, dedicated to the role of university networks in the context of the European Universities Alliance (Feb 2025)


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