The Ghent University (UGent), alongside other Flemish universities, has submitted a formal complaint to the European Ombudsman. The complaint, lodged via the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR), addresses the European Commission's lack of clarity regarding the integration of human rights and other international legal obligations in participation within European research projects, specifically in relation to Israel. Meanwhile, UGent continues to actively work on terminating ongoing collaborations with Israeli institutions that are not aligned with its human rights policy.
Through this joint complaint, the Flemish universities aim to obtain answers to three key questions: how the European Commission fulfills its international legal obligations, what assessment framework is used for the participation of (Israeli) entities in Horizon Europe projects, and when financial sanctions can be imposed on a university withdrawing from a project.
“"The complaint should provide more clarity for every university or organization participating in a Horizon Europe project that wishes to consistently apply its human rights policy. Today, there is a lack of a sufficiently clear European framework for universities that want to incorporate human rights considerations into their international research collaborations."
In addition to the complaint, UGent is continuing its efforts to withdraw from research projects with Israeli partners that are incompatible with its human rights policy. Following the successful withdrawal from the European research project OSTEONET, UGent has initiated withdrawal procedures for five additional projects. For four of these projects, withdrawal now appears feasible after consultations with the involved research consortia and the European Commission. However, the university notes that not all partners are willing to cooperate with a withdrawal.
For one of the five projects, WheatWatcher, withdrawal is scientifically unfeasible. This project involves developing a digital system for monitoring soil and plant health using sensors and machine learning, where UGent plays an essential role with unique expertise that cannot be taken over by other partners within or outside the project. Nevertheless, the university continues to take the necessary steps to implement its human rights policy.
The earlier withdrawal from OSTEONET demonstrated that it is possible to terminate collaborations within Horizon Europe based on human rights considerations. With the new withdrawal procedures and the joint complaint to the European Ombudsman, UGent aims to build on that result and bring about structural change, thereby continuing to translate its human rights policy into concrete actions.
