The new academic year was officially opened by rector magnificus Silvia Lenaerts. Prior to her speech, European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra spoke about this year's theme: green growth. The cuts to education and science were also raised several times.

As the cortage walked in and took seats in the reserved rows in the Blue Hall, a soft piano sounded with a familiar tune: Brabant by Guus Meeuwis. Without vocals, the slogans of a pro-Palestine protest could sometimes be heard outside the hall. The group Eindhoven Students 4 Palestine seized the moment to make themselves heard, shouting slogans like, "TU/e, take your responsibility." It sounded a bit distant, despite the fact that they were right next to the hall. Inside, the opening went on as usual.

"Let's make sure the focus is on who is speaking here on this stage," Barry Fitzgerald (CEC) began the opening of the programme, to which there was loud laughter from the room. That attention was then certainly on the first speaker, Wopke Hoekstra, the former CDA leader recently nominated by the cabinet for a new term as Eurocommissioner for Climate. "I think I hear something," he began his speech, referring to the protest next to the hall. "It reminds me a bit of being in a Zoom call and my children, one floor above me, are demolishing the house."

China problem

"For me, Eindhoven is the innovation capital of Europe, maybe even the world," Hoekstra said. A brief history of the city, which seemed to have almost lost its glory in the 1990s, followed. And the way the region looks today was all but a given. There was typical Dutch feat of vision, innovation and entrepreneurship involved. "Eindhoven has not just come back, it has risen to a completely different league," Hoekstra said. "You guys are a magnet for people, companies and ideas. You have seized the opportunities."

Hoekstra zoomed out to the possibilities outside Brainport, to Europe. He named the 'China problem'. From electric cars to electrolysers for green hydrogen. China is flooding the European market, thanks to huge state support, at a price that cannot be competed with. This needs to change soon. "It is disrupting our economy and increasing our dependency. If you look at the European government now, it lacks innovation and entrepreneurship to achieve sustainable economic growth."

Single market

A single European market was therefore the solution to growing competition from China, according to Hoekstra. But the road to it is littered with bureaucracy. He gave the audience key points needed to achieve a strong European market. A "fair level playing field" was one of them: a balanced economic playing field where Europe and China were equal to each other. "We need to diversify our supply and nurture the industry in Europe."

According to Hoekstra, it should become easier to do business across Europe, for example by standardising laws and regulations between countries. As an example, he mentioned the various quality standards of electric charging stations, a barrier for entrepreneurs.

Of course, this unified European market needs to be financed. "What does that cost?", Hoekstra summed up like a typical Dutchman. Not only governments have to pull out their wallets, the private sector in particular has to be ready to invest. "We have to give them that opportunity and for that we have to bridge the gap between public and private," he said

Call to The Hague

Short panel discussions then covered green growth, innovation, sustainability and the startup climate. Although a real discussion was lacking; the speakers came to speak one by one and had little time to respond to each other.

Long-term thinkers

At the end, Rector Silvia Lenaerts delivered her Rectorial Address. In it, she cited philosopher Roman Krznaric. "His vision is a response to the rapidly changing world we live in. He says: "if we succeed in being long-term thinkers, we can become the good ancestors that future generations deserve. Here in Eindhoven, we want to be these long-term thinkers. What we do today, we do for our future generations.

For the full Cursor text go to the website.

For the English version go to the cursor page.

Source: TU/e Cursor, Wesley Klop
Photo: Bart van Overbeeke