Aveiro (Portugal), 7 February 2025. The Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) and the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities (CRUP) held a bilateral meeting yesterday at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) with the aim of strengthening the Iberian axis at international level, reinforcing academic cooperation and promoting the international visibility of universities in both countries.
The meeting was chaired by the presidents of both organisations: Eva Alcón, President of CRUE and Rector of Universitat Jaume I, and Paulo Jorge Ferreira, President of CRUP and Rector of the University of Aveiro, and was attended by rectors from Spanish and Portuguese universities.
During her address, the President of CRUE, Eva Alcón, highlighted the importance of the CRUP–CRUE bilateral meeting within the framework of Iberian cooperation “to discuss key issues for the future of Spanish and Portuguese universities, as well as for the future of European alliances”. Topics addressed included micro-credentials and the promotion of joint degrees, as well as “the need to hold a Summit of Rectors from both countries in order to convey to our governments the importance of strengthening their commitment to universities as a means of boosting competitiveness and safeguarding the future of our regions”, she noted.
Alcón also referred to several milestones in institutional cooperation in higher education and research, such as the establishment of a shared office in Brussels, the Iberian Knowledge and Higher Education Agenda, and the Iberian Advanced Computing Network. She further mentioned mobility programmes, participation in the Horizon Europe Programme and, more recently, the European Universities Initiative, in which Spain and Portugal currently share 20 alliances, 17 of them involving universities.
A Context of Growing Internationalisation
Within this broader context of increasing internationalisation of university systems, the President of CRUE underlined the need to adopt joint positions on “an important decision that lies ahead, related to the European degree”. To this end, Alcón encouraged the development of proposals that, from an Iberian perspective, “can contribute to the action plans for the implementation of a European degree”.
Representing CRUE at the meeting were also Rosa Visiedo, Vice-President and Rector of CEU San Pablo University; Francisco Oliva, member of the Executive Board and Rector of Pablo de Olavide University; Amaya Mendikoetxea, member of the Executive Board and Rector of the Autonomous University of Madrid; Antonio López, President of Crue–Secretariats General and Rector of the University of Santiago de Compostela; Nuria González, President of Crue–Sustainability and Rector of the University of León; and María Teresa Lozano, Secretary General of CRUE.
