In Europe and across the globe, academic freedom -- and its close relative, institutional autonomy -- find themselves increasingly under pressure. For the European University Association, it is essential to support universities as central actors in the protection and promotion of academic freedom. In this position paper, EUA offers concrete and practical guidance on how universities can protect and strengthen academic freedom. Complementing EUA's existing work and contributions to related expert and policy discussions over recent years, this text formulates key principles that highlight the essential role of academic freedom for universities and for societies. It also proposes a number of guidelines to frame and reinforce efforts by university leadership, individual academics and university communities to ensure that academic freedom is a lived daily reality. Indeed, EUA calls on its members across Europe to commit to the protection and promotion of academic freedom at their universities, by developing and, crucially, implementing their own institutional guidelines and policies. The Association also reiterates certain key actions in support of academic freedom that can be taken by governments and public authorities Academic freedom experts and practitioners guided the development of this text, which was endorsed by the EUA Council on 31 January 2025.