The European University Initiative: an idea whose time has (finally) come (again)?

In 2017, after 70 years, an idea resurfaced in a political speech on the future of Europe: The European University. Within months, the idea made its way to the European Union (EU) higher education agenda and was adopted. The resulting European Universities Initiative (EUI) became the EU’s flagship project on higher education, a sector that falls under the subsidiarity principle. How did this old idea gain so much traction in such a short timeframe? This article investigates this puzzle using Kingdon’s Multiple Stream Theory that explains policy change through the coupling of problems, politics, and policy streams that open a window of opportunity for policy entrepreneurs. Based on a content analysis of policy documents supported by interviews with key actors, the study finds that a window of opportunity opened in 2017 due to focusing events in the problems and politics streams–Brexit and French President Macron’s speech at Sorbonne University–that enabled the European Commission to act as a policy entrepreneur and push the idea through the policy cycle. The article contributes to understanding EU-level policy change in higher education and explains how the European Commission plays an active role in an area where it has supporting competencies.