This publication is part of the OECD programme of work on higher education policy and was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union.
The OECD project team is grateful for the support of Thomas Pritzkow at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), Rainald Wurzer at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (FH Potsdam), and Joscha Dapper and Dr. Marko Müller at the Ministry for Science, Research, and Culture of the State of Brandenburg (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung, und Kultur, MWFK). Together with the OECD project team, the DG REFORM, FH Potsdam and MWFK teams formed the advisory group for the project “Analysis and advice for a renewed tertiary education strategy for Brandenburg and guidance on categorisation of scientific continuing education”, setting the direction for the project and providing regular advice and feedback on the project’s activities and outputs.
The OECD project team is particularly grateful to Dr. Moritz Püstow, Dr. Jannike Ehlers, and Björn Zunker, respectively Partner, Senior Associate and Associate, at KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH for providing an excellent initial draft of this report and taking the time to participate and share their legal expertise in numerous meetings involving HEIs, EC and MWFK organised within the framework of the project. The OECD project team commissioned KPMG Law to investigate how the different categories of continuing education and training are reflected in the EU legal framework and to develop recommendations aimed at increasing legal certainty.
Special thanks also go to Horst Rambau, a German tax advisor with expertise on HEI operations from Rambau & Ilgart Partnerschaft mbB, and Bernhard von Wendland from the European Commission, a senior expert on state aid law and research and innovation policy, for advising the OECD project team and KPMG Law in the preparation of this report. Horst Rambau developed a first draft of the questionnaire to HEIs, drafted a note on the legal and tax framework governing the provision of CET in Brandenburg, and participated in several meetings organised along the project. Bernhard von Wendland kindly shared his authoritative knowledge of state aid policy as related to higher education in two meetings and through in-depth feedback and comments on the initial draft of this report.
The OECD project team is also thankful to the Presidents and Vice-presidents of Brandenburg’s eight public HEIs – Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, European University Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder, Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, University of Potsdam, Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde, University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, and Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau – and their staff responsible for continuing education and training for sharing their time and insights during the project’s workshop or in individual interviews.
The OECD project team would further like to thank the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) and the German Rector’s Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz) for sharing their important insights about continuing education and training at German HEIs in individual interviews. The OECD project team would like to also thank experts from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition for commenting on the initial draft of this report.
This report was prepared by the OECD’s Directorate for Education and Skills using extensively the initial draft developed by KPMG Law. Margarita Kalamova was the project leader responsible for co-ordinating the study, jointly with Rainald Wurzer from FH Potsdam. Thomas Weko, Senior Analyst and Team Leader, Higher Education Policy team, Paulo Santiago, Head of the Policy Advice and Implementation Division in the Directorate of Education and Skills, and Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills, reviewed the publication.
Timothy Jones translated the initial version of the report from German into English. Roger Smyth and Cassandra Morley edited the report; Cécile Bily and Marika Prince provided administrative support to the project. Cassandra Morley and Rachel Linden assisted with the publication processes.