Abstract: | It is a generally recognized fact that the period of expansion of the university system that prevailed in Europe during the 1960 ‘s has by now come to an end. Economic and financial conditions have considerably changed. As a consequence most governments have felt that the financial support given to their universities must inevitably be limited. While in some countries the student figures are still increasing, mainly for demographic reasons, in others thèy are stagnating or even beginning to fall owing to deteriorating job prospects for university leavers. University governing bodies are experiencxing difficulties in coping with this situation. They must try to keep or to regain the necessary amount of flexibility in their administrative and financial decisions; they have to reconsider their principles of selection of students, and ensure that, in spite of a restricted budget for teaching, research does not suffer. These problems were discussed during the 16th Semestrial Conference of the Standing Conference of Rectors and Vice‐Chancellors of the European Universities (CRE), held from 27 to 28 April 1978 in Salamanca, Spain. We present below an edited version of the final report of this meeting, reflecting the conclusions of this conference. |