24 Amendments of Klaus BUCHNER related to 2018/2117(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
- having regard to the Lima Declaration on Academic Freedom and Autonomy of Institutions of Higher Education, adopted by the World University Service in September 1988
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
- Having regard to General Comment Number 13 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its Twenty-first session held on 15 November-3 December 1999 (E/C.12/1999/10),
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas the right to education is fundamentally important for the enjoyment of all other human rights and for achieving sustainable development; whereas this right can only be enjoyed in an atmosphere of academic freedom and autonomy of institutions of higher education;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. whereas the Lima Declaration on Academic Freedom and Autonomy of Institutions of Higher Education defines academic freedom as the freedom of members of the academic community - covering all persons teaching, studying, researching and working at an institution of higher education - individually or collectively, in the pursuit, development and transmission of knowledge, through research, study, discussion, documentation, production, creation, teaching, lecturing and writing;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas this definition must be grounded in core democratic values, including access and anti-discrimination principles, accountability, critical and independent thinking, institutional autonomy and social responsibility;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. Whereas autonomy is a necessary precondition for education institutions to fulfil their proper functions; whereas academic freedom requires constant and vigilant protection from undue pressure from the State or commercial interests;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas academic freedom – including its constituent freedoms of thought, opinion, expression, association, travel, and instruction – contributes to creating the space in which any open and stablepluralistic society is free to think, question and share ideas;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas answers to issues in society should be found through reason, evidence and persuasion; whereas attacks on academic freedom undermine studying, research, teaching, and public discourse, eroding academic quality and social, political, economic and cultural development;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas every year hundreds of attacks on universitiethe academic community and education institutions are increasingly vulnerable to interference, pressure or repression from States or the business sector; whereas every year hundreds of attacks on higher education institutions and their members are reported around the world, including killings, violence and disappearances, imprisonment, wrongful prosecution, loss of position and travel restrictions; whereas violations of academic freedoms are also occurring within Member States of the European Union and its closest partners;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas cuts in public funding for education, including higher education, and the subsequent need for alternative sources of income puts academic freedom at risk, particularly when such external funding stems from autocratic regimes abroad or multinational corporations;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas the effective realisation of the right to education and the guarantee of academic freedom require States to ensure an adequate and reliable level of funding for education; whereas policies of financial and economic austerity have gravely undermined academic freedom and continue to do so around the world, including within the European Union;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas claims of violations of academic freedom are rarely brought underaddressed within a human rights lawframework, reflecting, in part, a lack of familiarity with issues of academic freedom among human rights advocates and, in part the fact that claims often refer to other rights being violated, such as freedom of expression or opinion; whereas, as a result, standards in this area are underdeveloped and violations of academic freedom underreported;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas there is a general need both to raise awareness of the importance of academic freedom as a tool to promote democracy, respect for the rule of law and accountability, and to create opportunities to improve the capacity for its advocacy and defence;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas it is important to identify attacks on academic freedom as part of a global phenomenaon, and to encourage the recognition of academics and students being targeted not only as individuals whose rights are being violated, but also as human rights defenders who are being attacked;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas many at-risk academics and students are not able to obtain access to the opportunities provided by EU programmes for academic mobility and human rights defenders, as a result of not meeting the application criteria or of having great difficulty in following the general application procedures, requirements and schedules;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) explicitly recognise the importance of academic freedom in public statements, policies and actions, including recognition of the principles that the right to academic freedom is an essential human right, that the autonomy of education institutions should be protected at all times, that ideas are not crimes and that critical discourse is not disloyalty;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b
Paragraph 1 – point b
(b) publicly highlight the problems of attacks on academic freedom, including their negative consequences, and the responsibility of states to protect higher education from undue interference both from the State but also corporate interests;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(c a) support equal access to the academic community, regardless of ethnicity, caste, disability, nationality, religious belief, gender identity, sexual orientation or other status; pay particular attention in their dealings with third countries, to supporting the elimination of gender-based discrimination and all forms of violence and to help realise gender equality and the right to education for all;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – point g
(g) foster work on research and advocacy aimed at reforming legislation and regulations imposing undue restrictions on academic freedom or the academic autonomy of higher education institutions, and to promote institutional autonomy as the best way of protecting systems of higher education from state or business interference or attacks;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h
Paragraph 1 – point h
(h) 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, particularly violent attacks on institutions and members of the higher education community, also including discriminatory policies or practices, undue restrictions on research or expression, wrongful prosecution or detention, and restrictions on the right to form and join trade unions;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i
Paragraph 1 – point i
(i) revisit existing support mechanisms for human rights defenders to develop the capacity to identify and assist in cases involving attacks on academic freedom, including through physical protection, legal and visa support, medical support, trial and prison monitoring, advocacy and lobbying, and long-term support during exile; in particular, calls on the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights to include the promotion of academic freedom and the support to members of the academic community at risk, among its priorities;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point j a (new)
(j a) ensure that its macro-financial assistance programmes to 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;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)
(k a) support ongoing normative efforts at regional and international levels, including through the adoption of an international declaration on academic freedom and the autonomy of higher education institutions; encourages the European Union and its Member States to take an initiative on academic freedom at the United Nations Human Rights Council;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point k b (new)
(k b) ensure continued, high-level support to the European Inter-University Centre and the Global Campus on Human Rights and Democracy, as a flagship of the EU's support to human rights education worldwide;