A quarterly publication of AQU Catalunya
What appears to be a misunderstanding of the principle of equality has led to standardising regulations that needlessly undermine the powers and capabilities of universities and regional governments.
Universities in Spain have very limited autonomy, which has been repeatedly demonstrated by the University Autonomy Scorecard compiled by the European University Association (EUA) since 2011. The fourth edition, published in 2023, places Spain’s Higher Education System in the lowest quartile: It ranks 28th out of 35 in organisational autonomy, 24th in financial autonomy, 27th in staff policy autonomy, and 19th in academic autonomy. The Spanish University System Organic Act (LOSU) was a golden opportunity for modernisation, but it was largely squandered.
Problems getting the LOSU drafted and approved led to a conservative piece of legislation that falls short of advancing university autonomy in the key areas covered by the US Scorecard. In fact, it introduces a number of restrictive measures with a marked tendency towards standardisation. However, these rules could be used to expand autonomy where possible. Nevertheless, the proposed regulations put forward by the State Administration seem to be moving in the opposite direction. What appears to be a misunderstanding of the principle of equality has led to standardising regulations that needlessly undermine the powers and capabilities of universities and regional governments.
The Spanish University System Organic Act (LOSU) was a golden opportunity for modernisation, but it was largely squandered.
There are now two State government proposals on the table that bear a striking resemblance to what Spanish politician Romanones is quoted as saying before Parliament, “You make the laws, but leave the regulations to me”, which is an apt description of the current state of affairs.
The bill amending Royal Decree 640/2021 and other related regulations aims to review and, to some extent, tighten the criteria for opening new universities. This move is entirely justified, given how many private universities have sprung up in certain Autonomous Communities. Among the new measures is a requirement for Autonomous Communities to request a mandatory and binding report from their quality agency, if they have one, or otherwise from Spain’s National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA). It may seem reasonable thus far, although it gives agencies a supervisory role that is not theirs according to the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). The same article goes even further into the realm of misguidedness, reflecting a lack of belief in and/or understanding of quality assurance, by stating that agencies must create a specific evaluation committee and, even more troubling, defining the profile of its members and their selection process (by lottery from a single national pool of eligible persons). The European Higher Education Area is founded on mutual trust between quality agencies that act according to common criteria (ESG), but have full technical independence and autonomy. If these criteria are no longer upheld, the system will lose confidence in them. An agency in this situation could fail the ENQA evaluation and therefore see its registration with EQAR compromised, which is a prerequisite for conducting official assessments in Spain.
If the current proposal is approved, it would incorrectly regulate the entire State and would also wrongly enable ANECA to accredit Catalan associate and full professors. This could seriously jeopardise the future quality of our teaching staff.
The second and very real example is the draft decree regulating the ANECA accreditation procedure for permanent teaching staff (PPL). The PPL has been developed extensively in Catalonia and also significantly in the Basque Country, but is virtually non-existent elsewhere in Spain. Catalonia has successfully established a comprehensive academic career path through contracts, with associate and full professors working side by side with senior lecturers and tenured professors on an equal footing and free of any tension. The LOSU has sought to extend this model statewide (albeit unnecessarily, given that it was already possible under the Organic Act on Universities) and encourages other regions to develop this dual system. In recognition of the work carried out in Catalonia and the Basque Country, the LOSU makes the following statement clear in Article 85: “Access for teaching and research staff to permanent teaching positions and, where applicable, promotion within this contractual modality shall require prior accreditation in accordance with the regulations of the Autonomous Community” and also that “The Autonomous Communities shall govern the accreditation procedure. This accreditation shall be carried out by regional quality agencies or, where applicable, by ANECA”.
In other words, each community is responsible for regulating access to PPL positions and the “where applicable, by ANECA” part clearly refers to communities without their own agency.
Therefore, if the current proposal is approved, it would incorrectly regulate the entire State and would also wrongly enable ANECA to accredit Catalan associate and full professors. This could seriously jeopardise the future quality of our teaching staff, especially considering the objective differences that can be seen today after over twenty years of the Catalan Universities Act and our own accreditation system being in place.
These two draft decrees raise many other concerns, but those outlined above are grounds enough to warrant serious apprehension about the application of the ‘Romanones approach’. AQU Catalunya has submitted all relevant considerations and arguments to the Ministry, but it is ultimately the Catalan Higher Education System as a whole that can make its voice heard and bring about change.