EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel visited the European University of Technology (EUt+) in Sofia

Cooperation, exchange of experience and knowledge are the cornerstones of the European policy in the field of higher education, research and innovation. It is for this reason that the Technical University of Sofia and the European University of Technology (EUt+) are pioneers, missionaries and innovators in this respect, she noted. The establishment and the work of the EUt+ is fully in line with the New European Innovation Agenda, which aims to build interrelated ecosystems between universities, companies, NGO-s, national and local authorities based on innovative solutions. 

Mariya Gabriel also announced that the European Commission had launched a new European Network of Innovative Higher Education Institutions, which incorporates 37 universities, two of which are also EUt+ members – Riga Technical University and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, the network being open to new members.

The next stage in the development of the European University Alliances aims to ensure the cooperation between them and the dissemination of the results achieved, which will further create added value for society. Commissioner Gabriel had a meeting with the Rectors of the eight EUt+ partner universities who had met in Sofia for the EUt+ Sofia Week and familiarised herself with the current results attained in the joint work. The Rectors of the partner universities shared with Commissioner Gabriel the ambitious vision of EUt+ to build a pioneering institutional model for developing a radically human-centred model of technology, and outlined the significant progress the alliance has made towards this vision over the past two years. Commissioner Gabriel highlighted the commitment of the European Commission and Member States to the European Universities initiative and congratulated the EUt+ alliance for its level of ambition and the commitment of each of the eight partner universities towards the creation of an integrated European University of Technology that will educate and empower technologically responsible citizens across the Union. 

Rectors and Vice-Rectors representing each of the partner universities signed, in the presence of Mariya Gabriel, a Declaration that reinforces the commitment of the alliance towards the realisation of its mission. The declaration ends with the powerful statement that "We are not single universities with their own identities, but equal campuses of EUt+ working toward a common vision."