16th May 2007. European universities will this week demand greater autonomy and increased funding in order to enable Europe to compete with the rest of the world. In a declaration to be presented to the 46 education ministers who will gather in London from 17-18th May for the Bologna Ministerial conference, by the European University Association (EUA), (the representative organisation of more than 750 European universities and the national rectors' conferences), universities will outline their vision for 'European Universities beyond 2010: Diversity with a common purpose'. Based on the recommendations made at the EUA's recent convention in Lisbon, 'The EUA Lisbon declaration' outlines how universities across Europe plan to play a wider role in helping society meeting the needs of the 21st century. 'Autonomy is one of the key issues in the declaration,' says EUA secretary general Lesley Wilson. “If we can't decide who to employ, and what to spend our money on, we are never going to be able to change.' EUA also believes that more autonomy would give universities more flexibility to adapt to our changing society and would boost university-business knowledge transfer and attract more private funding for universities.