In the two selection calls organized in 2019 and 2020, under the umbrella of the European Universities Initiative, the European Commission has identified 41 European university alliances proposing visionary projects to develop inter-institutional frameworks for cooperation and strategic collaboration in the fields of education and research. In this context, nine of the ten higher education institutions in Romania that are part of such consortia formed, at the end of 2020, a network of Romanian universities implementing Erasmus+ European universities projects. These are: The Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, the University of Bucharest, the "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi, "Iuliu Hatieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, the University of Petrosani, the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and the West University of Timisoara. The network was set up at the initiative of the West University of Timisoara, selected under the second wave of projects supported under the umbrella of European Universities. WUT also provides network coordination.

The purpose of this network is twofold:

• exchange of best practices in the implementation of the Erasmus+ European universities projects between the nine higher education institutions;
• the formation of a representative nucleus of romanian universities that will take part in defining the future of european higher education, in order to use the experiences and results of the activities of the nine European alliances for the benefit of all students and academics in Romania by transferring best practices or contributing to the development of public policies in the field.

Considering the importance of the representation of students in such an initiative, the National Alliance of Romanian Student Organizations has become a partner of the above mentioned network from the initial stage of its organization.

Three major topics of interest were identified for all nine universities involved in the network from January to March 2021: microcredentials, joint degree programmes and virtual mobility. It was also concluded that the successful implementation of the activities undertaken in the framework of consortia of which these universities are part of can become a incubator for the transfer of best practices to other universities in the country.

To this end, the network delivered the conclusions of the working groups on the above mentioned topics at the beginning of March and launched an invitation to dialogue for the following Romanian institutions: Ministry of Education (Directorate-General for Administration of the University Institute, Directorate General for International relations and European Affairs, National Center for the Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas), the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, the national Authority for Qualifications and the Erasmus National Agency in Romania.

On March 31st 2021, a virtual round table was held bringing together representatives of all institutions invited to a virtual round table, together with those of the network universities and partners. The most important outcome of the meeting was that there was general agreement on the need for joint, collaborative action on the challenges and opportunities of the Erasmus+ European Universities initiative for those implementing these projects in particular, but also for the whole of Romania's higher education system in general.

After a constructive discussion on the three topics addressed, the participants assumed firm commitments to develop legislative and public policy initiatives in order to maximize the opportunities offered by European Universities. The first results of this process will be seen in the development of legislation on joint degree study programs, which have been impossible to organize in Romania due to inexistent legislation and which is a priority for university internationalization processes. In this context, in April, the existing working groups at the level of the RO European Universities network will be welcoming representatives of the above-mentioned central institutions with the purpose of addressing these issues together. The activities of the working groups continue throughout the next months, for the purposes of creating a national framework for recognizing microcredentials, a methodology for implementing joint degree study programmes in Romania and legislation for recognizing virtual mobilities as digitalization and internationalization indicators in higher education. The RO European Universities network moves towards an inclusive university, beyond the idea of universities as ivory towers of knowledge, and towards networking and cooperation as institutional development strategy. Additionally, the member universities strive to lead the way in engendering systemic changes at national level in the field of higher education, moving beyond their objectives of implementing European Universities projects