The value of “accepting that our Constitution is not a static and inert legal text” was referred to by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, G. Gerapetritis, in his intervention on the bill for non-profit universities. Speaking in the capacity of the Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as the academic teacher, Mr. Gerapetritis said that the systematic and synthetic reading of Article 16 of the Constitution clearly allows the establishment, not in the form of the recommendation which is expressly prohibited, but in the form of establishment of an existing university institution.

He pointed out, however, that “in any case, constitutional revision is necessary and beneficial” so that Greece ceases to be “the deviation in relation to the overall universal international acquis”. As he characteristically said, the constitutional review is necessary because it has to set the framework within which higher education will operate and the safety nets proposed by the bill, “but they should also become a constitutional requirement”.

Mr. Gerapetritis, who reiterated the government’s political commitment “that we will continue to strengthen the public university and especially the regional universities”, referred to the parameters of “importance” that this legislative initiative has for the country. The first is that students who leave are retained, when we know what this drain means in human and financial capital. The second is that with the new bill Greece becomes a university hub and foreign students are attracted, and in addition there is a fiscal dimension: “The assessment made by the National Bank of Greece in the study, published in 2017, spoke of a direct benefit of at least 1, €8 billion per year, which will be through higher exports and lower imports of education services.

Fifty billion euros, NGE estimates, in the next decade of the implementation of non-state-non-profit universities, and an increase in GDP. by one to two percentage points for the decade, and then half a point…” said Mr. Gerapetritis, pointing out that these resources should, in an important part, be channeled to public education.

Mr. Gerapetritis made special mention of the return of university students who are currently working abroad: “The estimate is that we have 22,000 Greek university students abroad… It is estimated that around 0.2% of the Greek population is currently teaching in foreign universities and research centers… Ten times above the European average… Six out of ten Greek professors are abroad… Do you know what the European average is? Only one professor to be in a foreign university… According to research by the Technical University of Istanbul, in 2026, Greece will be the second country with the most teaching staff in the United States, after Israel, in terms of population . A huge human capital that the current government and the Greek state must give them real incentives to return to their homeland” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.