New government – same minister

Updated on 4 June with comments from Christina Egelund, Rector Brian Bech Nielsen, and Rune Stubager, professor at the Department of Political Science

When the Danish Prime Minister called a general election in the spring, Christina Egelund (M), the Minister for Higher Education and Science, was already the longest-serving minister since Helge Sander (K), who held the post from 2001 to 2010. 

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, leader of the Moderates, has now asked Christina Egelund to remain in her ministerial post in the new four-party coalition government comprising the Social Democrats, the Socialist People’s Party, the Moderates and the Danish Social Liberal Party. She will assume additional responsibility for digitalisation from her party colleague Caroline Stage. As such, Christina Egelund can now call herself Minister for Science, Higher Education, and Digital Affairs.

“It makes perfect sense to link research, higher education and digitalisation. Technological developments mean that we need to acquire new knowledge and skills. Both within higher education and the labour market. We must approach artificial intelligence with curiosity and care – and ensure that it creates value for real people. I am both proud and humbled to be entrusted with responsibility for a new and important area, whilst at the same time being able to continue my work in research and education,” says Christina Egelund in a press release (In Danish, ed.) marking her new title.

As mentioned, it is rare for the same person to have held the position of Minister for Higher Education and Science for an entire term of office. Since Helge Sander stepped down in 2010, nine different ministers have held the reins of what Rune Stubager, professor at the Department of Political Science, previously described to Omnibus as a revolving-door ministry, lacking political priority or influence, due to the rapid changes in ministers.

He is somewhat surprised that Christina Egelund, who has been a steady and reliable minister, is staying on.

“I’d expected her to have been promoted, but in a way she has been. She has been given a new area of responsibility with digitalisation, and she has been appointed to the government’s coordination committee (In Danish, ed.). At the same time, she has moved up to seventh in the order of precedence within the Council of State (In Danish, ed.), and that is not where you would normally find a Minister for Higher Education and Science,” says Rune Stubager.

According to Rune Stubager, the university and research sector generally welcomes the fact that the minister remains the same and that digitalisation is now part of the portfolio. 

“Universities and research do not feature prominently in the government platform. One billion is being allocated to research, and there are two lines about additional student places, but otherwise, there is very little mention of the universities. It’s not a government platform that prioritises the sector as such, but given the attention we received during the last term – which many in the sector viewed negatively – it might be a good thing that there’s simply a brief but positive mention,” says Rune Stubager.

Particularly, the Master’s Reform has caused quite a stir in the academic community since Christina Egelund was first appointed minister in 2022. The reform was agreed upon in 2023 and involves shortening a portion of master’s degree programmes from two years to one year and a couple of months.

AI, on the other hand, features prominently in the government’s policy platform, and since it forms part of the digitalisation agenda alongside education and research, this will naturally be reflected in universities as well, according to Rune Stubager.

“But the most important thing is that it’s a minister with knowledge of the sector who is staying on. She seems to have our best interests at heart, and she has been given a seat on the coordination committee, where the funds are allocated. There, she can put forward the sector’s perspectives,” says Rune Stubager.

Rektor Brian Bech Nielsen agrees, and he has already congratulated the new former minister.

“It is a definite strength that we have a minister who knows the sector and who is ready to get to work from day one. The government platform includes new STEM-student places, as well as ambitions to secure more EU research funding, strengthen digital defence and follow up on the recommendations regarding innovation and entrepreneurship, so there is plenty to tackle – and thank goodness for that!” writes the rector on LinkedIn.

“Thank you very much, Brian. I’m also very much looking forward to continuing our excellent collaboration on the most important thing we have: knowledge,” Christina Egelund replies in the comments section.

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Mie Skov Jeppesen.