Semipermeable boundaries

A decade ago, half the young Europeans who had completed doctorates in the United States came home afterwards; yet now, only a quarter do so. None of us should want to put up barriers against the movement of academics; scholarship should know no boundaries. European academic institutions need to be able to attract the best to return.

Return? So, "scholarship should know no boundaries" notwithstanding, it turns out that this guy is only worried about getting European-born scientists back to Europe. Scholarship without boundaries should mean attracting good scientists, no matter where they are born, and letting scientists work where they want and where they are most productive.

The quote above is by Lord Patten (sic), Chancellor of the Universities of Oxford and of Newcastle, UK, former EU commissioner, in Nature.