Commissioner Vassiliou at the European University Association conference
The Commissioner delivered the keynote speech at the conference's closing session in Palermo, Italy on 23 October. She spoke about the growing diversity of Europe's higher education and about the future role of universities. She said: "Europeans everywhere should have access to higher education; but not all institutions should deliver the same programmes and appeal to the same students. (…) We need excellence in every corner of higher education: we need high performing teacher training institutions, professional and vocational schools, lifelong learning centres, etc."
The conference, hosted by the University of Palermo, was centred on the theme of diversity in higher education and the growing need for higher education institutions to develop a clear insitutional profile and focus on what they do best. Key objectives of the three-day event were to help participants, including univerisity leaders from across Europe, to better understand the drivers of change in higher education and share experience in sharpening institutional profiles.
