The influence of the European Union through the European Semester on the configuration of the state and university model in the Spanish context

Abstract

This article analyses the influence carried out by the supranational body of the European Union (EU) on the reconfiguration of state policies, including higher education policies. With a focus on the Spanish context, this study examines the European Semester, an instrument used by the EU to issue guidelines on economic, employment and competitiveness policies to member states since the 2011euro crisis, and its influence on higher education reforms and the adoption of neoliberal policies. The method for this study involved an examination of policies related to the European Semester that were approved in Spain between 2011 and 2021. The results demonstrate how Spain, under the government of the Popular Party and following the launch of the European Semester, approved political forums that involved an approximation of the State to minimalist positions and neoliberal postulates. Similarly, the field of higher education, and the European Semester, indirectly created a mechanism through which the EU influences the conception of higher education policies, guiding universities to allow member states to become more competitive and financially knowledgeable.