Background Information / press

A new Davos in the making?
By Tsveti Nacheva

An ambitious new initiative of Maastricht University - Forum Maastricht – will work for a better understanding of key European issues. Through annual conferences the Forum is hoping to spark a public debate on the future of Europe. The first event scheduled for 1 July 2004 will give the official start to the Dutch Presidency of the EU. The conference Europe 25: A New Chance? will debate the future of the Union and the choices Europe must make to define itself as a leading global player. Crossroads met with the man behind Forum Maastricht, the President of Maastricht University Prof. Dr. Jo Ritzen.

Crossroads: What is the Forum’s objective?
As a university we would like to make academic ideas available to the wider public. We should contribute to creating a better Europe for the people. Europe has a lot to offer to its citizens but the choices that are made are not always the kind of choices you would like to make. And of course the citizens should be involved. This conference is the way to launch a debate on the direction of Europe in a very provocative manner challenging what is happening in the moment. This is not a scientific conference, but one based on scientific insights and we hope that this in combination with having top speakers will lead to more public interest.

The general line of the conference statements is that Europe is not doing well; definitely not well enough. Many of the choices have to be far more determined and far stronger than trade offs. We would like to have a new Europe and we hope that this argument sticks with the people. The format we have chosen is the one in which there is the highest probability that it sticks. There are no lectures but short presentations and lots of discussion which we hope will be taken over by the press.

Crossroads: What other activities to expect from Forum Maastricht?
We hope it will be recognised as the place you want to be if you want to contribute to Europe. We would very much like to move in the Davos direction, but a Davos with a subset of issues - here we will focus on Europe. We are already planning a conference for next year although we still have to determine the date. The focus will be on migration and Europe with all different elements of migration – in the context of the aging of the population, in terms of integration questions, in terms of responsibility towards the developing countries and brain drain.

Crossroads: Is there regional support for the Forum Maastricht agenda?
That is a great challenge and also a problem. We work completely together with the Maastricht municipality, the Ministry of Education and the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research. But what I found when I came to Maastricht was that there are many organisations who have very little debate among themselves and very little synergy. Fortunately a number of those synergies are being developed and are very promising. I think Maastricht might the white raven in terms of debate internally in the UM. Still there is a challenge to be more open and there is a challenge for the other institutes to be more open and to look for more cooperation. Step by step we are trying as university to integrate them in cooperation agreements. With EIPA this is going to work, with MSM we are in a good discussion in how to cooperate better, also with INTECH and EJC. Of course it is really a matter of culture and openness on both sides.

Crossroads: How do you access your first 18 months in office?
We have made further steps in the direction of becoming more of a European and international university which in this moment is related mostly to the development of Master programs. Secondly, I feel we have been able to achieve more of a culture of openness towards others – the closer cooperation with the universities in Liège and Hasselt is a proof of that. Finally, last year exceptional progress was made in becoming the No. 1 Dutch university in teaching. In average we are rated best. One of the departments which was not yet No. 1 was Economics and fortunately last year we saw it also at the top. The Faculty of Law is not yet there but I believe soon it will be ready to take the lead in that field too. Most importantly, we are very much focussed – in each department – on just doing the best we cand for our students.


The interview of Professor Ritzen by Tsveti Nacheva was printed in Crossroads, newsletter published by the European Journalism Centre.