2018/2117(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Motion for a resolution
Citation 2

— having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, particularly Article 13 thereof,

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

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 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas this definition must be grounded in core democratic values, including access and anti-discrimination principles, accountability, institutional autonomy and social responsibility; there can be no democracy without the academic freedom that enables informed debate;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
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 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas this definition must be grounded in core democratic and higher education values, including equitable access and anti-discrimination principles, accountability, institutional autonomy and social responsibility;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas ~~this definition must be grounded in core democratic values, including access and anti-discrim~~concepts derived from political correctness should not impinge on this definaition ~~principles, accountability, institutional autonomy and social responsibility~~and whereas the concept of academic freedom should under no circumstances become a pretext for political activism;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas academic freedom is a key element to advance to sustainable development, in particular to the achievement of the SDGs enshrined in the 2030 Agenda, where quality education, scientific research and innovation occupy a central place;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
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 18 #

Motion for a resolution
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 anyone in an open and stable society is free to think, question and ~~share ideas~~produce, consume and disseminate knowledge;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
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 ~~stable~~pluralistic society is free to think, question and share ideas;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
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 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

C a. whereas academic freedom gives the professoriate the privilege to a free search for truth and knowledge and the right to impart those truths and knowledge to others, including students, the academy, and the general public, unfettered by political or ideological pressure;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas answers to issues in society should be found through reason, evidence and persuasion; whereas attacks on academic freedom undermine research, teaching, and public discourse, eroding academic quality and social, political, economic and cultural development; whereas for several generations the socialist and liberal ideology, both of which constitute materialism, have been exerting hegemony – often by means of unacceptable pressure – on almost all universities in Europe, to the detriment of freedom of thought;

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. ~~whereas answers to issues in society should be found through reason, evidence and persuasion;~~ whereas attacks on academic freedom undermine research, teaching, ~~and~~ public discourse and the right to education, eroding academic quality and social, political, economic and cultural development; whereas answers to issues in society should be found and developed through reason, evidence and persuasion;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
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 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

D a. whereas the right to education, teaching and research can only be fully enjoyed in an atmosphere of academic freedom;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas ~~every year hundreds of attacks on universitie~~the 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 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas every year hundreds of attacks on ~~univers~~members of higher education communities are reported around the world, including killings, violence, and disappearances, wrongful imprisonment/detention, wrongful prosecution, ~~loss of position and travel restrictions~~wrongful dismissal/loss of position/expulsion from study, restrictions on travel or movement, and other extreme or systemic threats; whereas these types of threat are frequent and widespread;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas every year hundreds of attacks on ~~universitie~~higher education institutions and scholars are reported around the world, including killings, violence and disappearances, imprisonment, wrongful prosecution, loss of position and travel restrictions;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

E a. whereas, especially in fragile contexts, students, educators and education facilities can become deliberately or indiscriminately targets of attacks due to airstrikes, shelling or armed combats; whereas they can also become targets of violence by state security forces and non-states armed groups for political, military, ideological, sectarian, ethnic, or religious reasons; whereas, according some estimates of independent NGOs, notably the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), between 2013 and 2017, there were more than 12,700 attacks, harming more than 21,000 students and educators in at least 70 countries;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
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 3 #

Motion for a resolution
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 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

E a. whereas foreign education institutions within the European Union face attacks from national governments and encounter violations of their academic freedom;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the attempts to control or silence higher education institutions or their scholars, students and staff extend well beyond the individuals and institutions directly targeted and affect society at large by shrinking the space for the inclusive democratic participation and empowerment of all citizens and depriving future generations of high-quality academics and researchers;

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the attempts to control or silence higher education institutions or their scholars, students and staff extend well beyond the individuals and institutions directly targeted and shrink the space ~~for the inclusive democratic participation and empowerment of all citizens~~available for research and teaching;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the attempts to control or silence higher education institutions or their scholars, students and staff extend well beyond the individuals and institutions directly targeted and shrink the space for the inclusive democratic participation, free speech and empowerment of all citizens;

Amendment 34 #

Motion for a resolution
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

G. whereas ~~claims of~~ violations of academic freedom are rarely ~~brought under~~addressed within a human rights ~~law~~framework, 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 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas there is a general need both to raise awareness of the importance of academic freedom and to create opportunities to improve the capacity for its advocacy and defence especially for so- called conservative academics – who are neither liberal nor socialist – who often live in conditions of intimidation if not exclusion;

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
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 38 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I

I. whereas it is important to identify attacks on academic freedom as part of global phenomena, 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; whereas a robust response is needed at the international and national levels, from within higher education itself as well as civil society and the public at large;

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I

I. whereas it is important to identify attacks on academic freedom as part of global phenomena, 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~~while refusing to debase the vocation of academic by presenting it as pro-human rights activism, which would amount to politicising the profession;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)

- having regard to the Venice Commission Opinion 891/2017

Amendment 40 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I

Amendment 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I

I. whereas it is important to identify attacks on academic freedom a~~s part of global phenomena~~nd recognise them as a threat all around the world, 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 42 #

Motion for a resolution
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 43 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)

I a. whereas the attempts to close the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest and attacks on academic freedom, including the blocking of gender studies in Hungary, reflected in the Parliament's resolution of 12 September 2018, demonstrate a wider failure to adequately address and guarantee academic freedom in accession to the EU;

Amendment 44 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)

I b. whereas academic freedom is under threat in candidate countries as demonstrated by the case of Mustafa Erdoğan in Turkey;

Amendment 45 #

Motion for a resolution
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 ~~as a result of not meeting the application criteria or of having great difficulty in following the general application procedures, requirements and schedules~~;

Amendment 46 #

Motion for a resolution
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 47 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

K. whereas funding limitations restrict the actions of organisations and universities in the EU that already support students and scholars who are at risk or flee their countries as a result of the threat of persecution for their academic engagement; whereas these organisations and universities require more assistance for their actions and initiatives;

Amendment 48 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

K. whereas funding limitations in EU programmes restrict the actions of universities in the EU that already support students and scholars who flee their countries as a result of the threat of persecution for their academic engagement;

Amendment 49 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

K. whereas fun~~ding limitations restrict the actions of universities in the EU that already support students and scholars who flee~~iversity budgets must be devoted above all to teaching the new generation from their countries ~~as a result of the threat of persecution for their academic engagement~~concerned, and whereas by definition only limited resources may be allocated to teaching students from elsewhere;

Amendment 5 #

Georgios EPITIDEIOS

Motion for a resolution
Citation 8

— having regard to ~~the reports by national, European and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and, in particular,~~ the Principles of State Responsibility to Protect Higher Education from Attack,

Amendment 50 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital L

L. whereas the EU is committed to promoting and protecting human rights, democratic institutions and the rule of law worldwide; whereas the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy calls for a more effective EU human rights and democracy support policy, including increasing the effectiveness of Human Rights Dialogues, improving the visibility anhuman rights are often exploited for political ends, including in academia, and whereas the EU should lim~~pact of human rights country strategies, focusing on effective implementation of the EU Human Rights Guidelines and improving public diplomacy and communications on human rights~~it its action in this field, which is wide open to abuse;

Amendment 51 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) explicitly recognise the importance of academic freedom in public statements, policies and actions, ~~including recognition of~~recall that academic freedom should guarantee freedom of expression and of action, freedom to disseminate information and conduct research, distribute knowledge and truth without restriction, recall that this freedom extends to academics' freedom to express their views and opinions, even if controversial or unpopular, in the areas of their research and professional expertise and that this may include an examination of the functioning of public institutions in a given political system, and a criticism thereof, while recalling the principles that ideas are not crimes and that critical discourse is not disloyalty;

Amendment 52 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) explicitly recognise the importance of academic freedom in public statements, policies and actions, including recognition of the principles that ideas are not crimes and that critical discourse is not disloyalty; adds that this also applies to so-called politically incorrect opinions, which very often attract critical pressure, sometimes violent pressure, within European universities;

Amendment 53 #

Motion for a resolution
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 54 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) explicitly recognise the importance of academic freedom in public statements, policies and actions, including recognition of the principles that ideas are not crimes and that critical discourse is not disloyalty but an essential part of a democratic society and its development;

Amendment 55 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) explicitly recognise the importance of the defence of academic freedom in the EU’s external action in public statements, policies and actions, including recognition of the principles that ideas are not crimes and that critical discourse is not disloyalty;

Amendment 56 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)

(a a) recognise that claims to academic freedom fall under existing human rights law as independently as well as interdependently derived from the rights to freedom of opinion, expression and the right to education since these rights already include a protection for academic freedom;

Amendment 57 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)

(a a) underline that academic freedom, as an element of the right to education, includes the liberty of individuals to fulfill their functions without discrimination;

Amendment 58 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)

(a a) recognize the essential role of academic freedom in educational advancement and its importance and contribution to the development of man and modern society;

Amendment 59 #

Motion for a resolution
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~~by national authorities or private actors, and recall the responsibility of states to guarantee academic freedom, act in conformity with it as well as proactively protect higher education institutions, academics and students from attacks regardless of their origin and nature;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 a (new)

- having regard to its resolution of 12 September 2018 on the situation in Hungary,

Amendment 60 #

Motion for a resolution
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; express concern regarding the vulnerability of the academic community to untoward political pressures which could undermine academic freedom;

Amendment 61 #

Motion for a resolution
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 62 #

Motion for a resolution
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 and individual scholars;

Amendment 63 #

Motion for a resolution
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~~academic freedom;

Amendment 64 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b a (new)

(b a) raise academic freedom at different levels of political dialogues, including in human rights dialogues and consultations with partner countries;

Amendment 65 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b b (new)

(b b) ensure that EU institutions and Member States’ representatives visiting third countries are briefed on the situation of academic freedom;

Amendment 66 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c

(c) demonstrate support for the institutions, ~~academics~~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, including through statements, visits, invitations to public appearances and trial and prison monitoring and specific references to individual cases of members of higher education communities at risk;

Amendment 67 #

Motion for a resolution
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 68 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)

(c a) recognise and provide concrete support for the increasing number of academics and intellectuals who have to leave their countries and to those who are forcibly displaced because of conflicts and global challenges, such as climate change;

Amendment 69 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)

(c a) step up the efforts to protect foreign education institutions within the European Union from attacks from foreign powers as well as from attacks from within the Member States;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)

- having regard to the International Covenant on Civiland Political Rights,

Amendment 70 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c b (new)

(c b) highlight that attacks on academic freedom can also take place through cyberattacks as academics today make more and more use of internet and social media to express their ideas and opinions;

Amendment 71 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c c (new)

(c c) Highlight that in today`s changing world political repression combined with economic insecurity ha multiplied the challenges for knowledge production and critical thinking;

Amendment 72 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d

(d) support the production, dissemination and use of relevant information, as well as the organisation of workshops and training courses, in order to raise awareness and improve the capacity to advocate ~~and~~, defend academic freedom and to keep public trust in the credibility of science;

Amendment 73 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d

(d) support the production, dissemination and use of relevant information, as well as the organisation of workshops ~~and~~, training courses, and action campaigns in order to raise awareness ~~and~~, improve the ~~capacity to advocate and~~advocacy capacity and mobilise key stakeholders to defend academic freedom;

Amendment 74 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d a (new)

(d a) encourage all states to endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration and its accompanying Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, as most EU Member States have already done, which is a guidance on the responsibility to protect core values, especially academic freedom and institutional autonomy, in the context of violent and coercive attacks on higher education;

Amendment 75 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d a (new)

(d a) step up diplomatic efforts with partnercountries 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;

Amendment 76 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e

(e) work with UN, international agencies and civil society to create a mechanism for monitoring and reporting attacks, threats and unreasonable restrictions on higher education and individual scholars, and to strengthen and promote monitoring in order to raise awareness~~, hold perpetrators to account and improve efforts to prevent and respond to attacks on academic freedom~~;

Amendment 77 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e

(e) work with UN, international agencies ~~and~~, civil society and involve students to create a mechanism or a project for monitoring and reporting attacks on higher education and individual scholars, to strengthen and promote monitoring in order to raise awareness, hold perpetrators to account and improve efforts to prevent and respond to attacks on academic freedom;

Amendment 78 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e

(e) work with UN, Council of Europe, international agencies and civil society to create a mechanism for monitoring and reporting attacks on higher education and individual scholars, to strengthen and promote monitoring in order to raise awareness, hold perpetrators to account and improve efforts to prevent and respond to attacks on academic freedom;

Amendment 79 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)

(e a) engage and encourage regular dialogue with university communities as well as organisations whose mission 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;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 b (new)

- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Amendment 80 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f

(f) contribute to the development of capacities for prompt, thorough and transparent investigations of violations of academic freedom, particularly in situations involving violent attacks; improve efforts to prevent and respond to attacks on academic freedom, as well as undertake all reasonable efforts to hold perpetrators to account;

Amendment 81 #

Motion for a resolution
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 one of the best ways of protecting systems of higher education from state interference or attacks and preserving higher education against politicisation and ideological manipulation;

Amendment 82 #

Motion for a resolution
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 83 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h

Amendment 84 #

Motion for a resolution
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; encourage partner countries to set a framework for academic freedom and institutional autonomy and to monitor the implementation of these fundamental rights; ensure that any international cooperation agreements with partner countries respect these principles;

Amendment 85 #

Motion for a resolution
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 86 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h a (new)

(h a) include the defence of academic freedom in the Copenhagen criteria aimed at preventing the attacks on academic freedom demonstrated in Member States such as the case of the CEU in Hungary;

Amendment 87 #

Motion for a resolution
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 88 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i

(i) revisit existing support mechanisms for human rights defenders, who must operate within a strict framework, in accordance with the legislation of their country, and without trying to replace it or exempt themselves from it, 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;

Amendment 89 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i

(i) revisit existing support and protection mechanisms for human rights defenders in order to develop the capacity to identify and ~~assist~~provide assistance, including emergency protection and support, 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;

Amendment 9 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas UNESCO defines academic freedom 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’; whereas the concept of 'libertas academica' is an extremely old principle dating back to the Middle Ages, i.e. to the very origins of European universities, and whereas this freedom of universities is still guaranteed, even today, in some countries under academic privilege statutes, which limit the right of law enforcement agencies to operate on the premises of a university (such as Article L712-2 of the French Education Code);

Amendment 90 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j

(j) review existing programmes and resources for academic mobility and other forms of education and research cooperation, including their criteria, application procedures, requirements, timeframes, and schedules, for the purpose of eliminating obstacles which might preclude otherwise qualified at-risk academics or students from being able to obtain access to programme opportunities, placements or other resources; promote the existing projects financed by the EU, such as the 'Academic Refuge', which strive to raise greater awareness of the importance of academic freedom in the higher education sector and the consequences for society at large when this freedom is repressed;

Amendment 91 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j

(j) review existing programmes and resources for academic mobility, ~~including their criteria, application procedures, requirements and schedules, for the purpose of~~for the purpose of identifying and where possible eliminating obstacles which might preclude otherwise qualified at-risk academics or students from being able to obtain access to programme opportunities, placements or other resources;

Amendment 92 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j

(j) review existing programmes and resources for academic mobility and circular mobility, including their criteria, application procedures, requirements and schedules, for the purpose of eliminating obstacles which might preclude otherwise qualified at-risk academics or students from being able to obtain access to programme opportunities, placements or other resources;

Amendment 93 #

Motion for a resolution
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 94 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k

Amendment 95 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k

(k) create new initiatives within existing programmes, such as Erasmus+ and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of new EU-funded programmes to support the placement of at-risk academics and students with international protection status at European higher education and research institutions; promote innovative programmes, involving independent institutions, to help those who would like to carry on with their work in their countries despite the risks and enhance the skills of those who are forced to flee so that they will be able to get back and help re-building their societies;

Amendment 96 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k

(k) create new initiatives within existing programmes, such as Horizon 2020, Erasmus+ and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of new EU- funded ~~programme~~actions to support the placement of at-risk academics ~~and~~, researchers and full degree students with international protection status at European higher education and research institutions, potentially developed and funded in synergies with funding from non- education and research budgets and funds of the Union;

Amendment 97 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k

(k) create new initiatives within existing and future programmes, such as Erasmus+, the Instrument for Pre Accession (IPA III) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of new EU- funded programmes to support the placement of at-risk academics and students with international protection status at European higher education and research institutions;

Amendment 98 #

Motion for a resolution
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 #