Convergence and divergence in research, higher education and innovation policies:An analysis of nine European countries

Since the late 1990s, European countries have sought to renew their research and higher education systems along the lines of increasing Europeanization, which has especially been driven by the Lisbon Strategy (2000) and the Bologna Declaration (1999). The European Commission has seen higher education and research as particularly important elements of the Lisbon Strategy. In this vein, it has urged national governments to modernize their national higher education and research systems by ensuring sufficient autonomy, better governance and accountability of universities, with an aim to increase European competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy (European Commission, 2006)