19. Points out that mainly public and also private funding is of primary importance for the modernisation of higher education systems; emphasises that investment in higher education in Europe is crucial to overcoming the current economic crisis; calls on the Member States and higher education institutions to expand scholarship and funding programmes for those institutions and to develop innovative methods of funding mechanisms which can contribute to more efficient functioning of higher education institutions, complement public funding without increasing the pressure on households and make higher education accessible to all; expresses ...[+++] regret at the significant cutbacks to education budgets in several Member States, as well as the constant increase in education fees, which is leading to a significant increase in the number of vulnerable students;

– having regard to the Commission Communication of 20 September 2011 entitled ‘Supporting growth and jobs – an agenda for the modernisation of Europe's higher education systems’ (COM(2011)0567) and the accompanying staff working document on recent developments in European high education systems (SEC(2011)1063),

68. Emphasises the need for the higher education system in each Member State to provide higher-quality teaching so that increased mobility opportunities for students do not go hand in hand with a worsening of the ‘brain drain’, which is now a genuine social problem in some Member States;

A. whereas the economic crisis – and its consequences in terms of the imposition of austerity measures and budget cutbacks –, demographic changes, rapid technological change and the resulting demand for new skills pose serious challenges to, and call for far-reaching reforms in, Europe's higher education systems, which must not have a detrimental effect on the quality of education;

69. Points out that the persistent disparities between western and central-eastern European higher education systems must be addressed through real integration measures, with a view to encouraging and supporting cross-border collaboration between higher education institutions; calls on the Commission, therefore, to develop a strategy and draw up a professional financial action plan for reducing these significant regional disparities;

The EU and the US should continue to work together to renew and reinforce the current agreement on Higher Education and Vocational Training which expires at the end of 2005, aiming to enhance people-to-people exchanges and develop policy-oriented measures on issues such as quality and compatibility of education and training systems, access to lifelong learning for all, and opening up education and training systems to the world.