EUROPE: The moment in time investment is now important education

After a year of leading the European Student Council, the umbrella organization of 45 national unions of students from 38 countries, participated intensely in higher education policy at all levels of the last six years, I am convinced that boosting investment in higher education is now. Ironically, only a few European governments realize that.
Over the past year we have been working very hard in the Student Union (ESU) to change the views of the European governments when the commoditization of higher education.
We witnessed student protests organized from north to south and from east to west, as governments choose to raise taxes or administrative fees or penalties for installing study time prolonged. Some countries, however, are rowing back from tuition fees or student contribution to maintaining a zero attitude.

Germany had to make cuts along each budget line, but safeguarded education, giving an example that investment in education has to do with priorities and long-term prospects: it is not the financial crisis, is not about the Bologna process - whatever the minister says.
In connection with the Bologna process, this is an area where the ESU obviously intensify its work again next year, the next ministerial conference in April 2012 in Bucharest.
Last year, the ESU has managed to find the enthusiasm to implement the change between the signatory countries that made the process so successful in the early years of Bologna. Governments suffer from reform fatigue; others, in my opinion, never had any other aim than simply being part of the club.
A big challenge for ESU and for all consultative members of the Bologna process, will promote the implementation process further and strive for concrete measures of application.
Some of the signatory countries need this momentum to begin work on the action lines of Bologna. Others who need to complete your application in a holistic manner, and others need to support those who face particular problems on the application so that all European students can finally enjoy the real benefits of an area of European higher education available.
In the last year I have also seen a change of attitude in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Education and Culture.
I assume and demand, taking into account the discussions in various consultations with stakeholders and other events committee, the next version of the modernization agenda for higher education will be more comfortable than his student predecessor. And now is the time!