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Higher Education & Research

:: What is the Bologna Process? ::

The Bologna Process was launched by the Ministers of Education from 29 countries who came together in 1999 at the University of Bologna. Taking part in the Bologna Process is a voluntary decision made by each country to endorse the principles adopted in the successive bi-annual Ministerial meetings, and the only legally binding document associated to the process is the Lisbon Recognition Convention. The Bologna Process is thus not based on any intergovernmental treaty. The process is loosely structured and pushed forward by cooperation between the 46 countries participating in the process.

The process aims at:
By 2010 higher education systems in European countries should be organised in such a way that:

  • it is easy to move from one country to the other (within the European Higher Education Area) – for the purpose of further study or employment;
  • the attractiveness of European higher education is increased so many people from non-European countries also come to study and/or work in Europe;
  • the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) provides Europe with a broad, high quality and advanced knowledge base, and ensures the further development of Europe as a stable, peaceful and tolerant community.

These goals are divided into 10 so-called action lines:
By 2010 higher education systems in European countries should be organised in such a way that:

  • adopt a system of easily readable and comparable degrees
  • adopt a system with three main cycles (undergraduate/graduate/doctoral)
  • establish a system of credits (such as ECTS)
  • promote mobility by overcoming obstacles
  • promote European co-operation in quality assurance
  • promote European dimensions in higher education
  • lifelong learning
  • involvement of students
  • enhancing the attractiveness and competiveness of the European Higher Education Area to other parts of the world (including the aspect of transnational education
  • research and the synergy between the EHEA and the European Research Area

It is not foreseen that by 2010 all European countries should have the same higher education system. On the contrary, one of the very valued features of Europe is its balance between diversity and unity. The Bologna Process tries to establish bridges that make it easier for individuals to move from one education system or country to another. Therefore, even if e.g. degree systems may become more similar, the specific nature of every higher education system should be preserved. The developments within the Bologna Process should serve to facilitate “translation” of one system to the other and therefore contribute to the increase of mobility of students and academics and to the increase of employability throughout Europe.

The Structure of the Bologna Process

The implementation of the decisions by the ministers responsible for higher education is carried out on different levels; international (European), national and institutional.

At the European level work takes the form of ministerial conferences, Bologna Follow-up Group meetings, seminars and working groups. The seminars carry the unofficial label “Bologna Seminar” and are part of the “Bologna Work-programme” that is set up after each ministerial conference. A list of seminars 2007-2009 can be found here, outcomes and reports of earlier seminars can be found at the Bergen website and at the London website. In the Bologna seminars, discussion takes place on the various issues of the Bologna Process, obstacles to implementation thereof and possibilities for cooperation. The outcome of these seminars is of great relevance to the whole Process, and is often quoted in the Ministerial Communiqués.

Ministers of Education have entrusted the management of the process between Ministerial meetings to the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG). The BFUG produces the Work Programme, which constitutes a series of seminars, a number of working groups and other activities relevant to all involved in the Process. The BFUG meets twice yearly. It is chaired by the country which has the rotating EU Presidency (currently Slovenia), and is made up of representatives from the Ministries of the 46 Bologna countries, the European Commission, and the following European Organisations as Consultative Members: EI Pan-European Structure, the Council of Europe, ESU (European Student’s Union), EUA (the European University Association), EURASHE (The European Association of Institutions in Higher Education, UNESCO-CEPES (UNESCO’s European Centre for Higher Education), ENQA (European Association of Quality Assurance in Higher Education), and Business Europe. Progress in the implementation of the Bologna Process is reported in the so-called “Stocktaking report”, but EUA and ESU also produces one report each, the “Trends” and “Bologna with student eyes” reports. These reports can be found here.

Bologna 1999

After the signing of the Bologna Declaration, a follow-up structure has been organised and it was decided that the Ministerial meetings should take place every two years and the first was held in Prague in 2001. A general report was written in order to monitor implementation of the objectives of Bologna declaration and report on this to the Ministers of Education in Prague. Furthermore, different countries have organised the so-called “Bologna seminars” which covered various important topics. The European University Association and the European Students’ Union (ESU, former ESIB) sent one message each to the Prague Ministerial Summit.

Prague 2001

In May 2001, in Prague, new countries joined the Bologna process: Croatia, Cyprus, Liechtenstein and Turkey. The ministers adopted the so-called Prague Communiqué, which sets guidelines for the next two years, until the Ministerial Conference on the Bologna Process in Berlin in 2003.

It is very important to stress that the Prague Summit introduced several new elements in the Process:

  • students were recognised as full and equal partners in the decision-making process and ESU became a consultative member of the Bologna follow-up group (together with the Council of Europe, European University Association and EURASHE),
  • the social dimension of the Bologna Process was stressed,
  • the idea that higher education is a public good and a public responsibility was highlighted.

In between 2001 and 2003, a great number of “Bologna seminars” were organised. A General report was written by Mr. Pavel Zgaga (former Minister of Education of Slovenia).

Berlin 2003

At the Berlin Ministerial Conference in September 2003, 7 new countries were accepted into the process (Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Holy See, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”). Thus the total number of countries involved increased to 40. It was also decided that all countries party to the European Cultural Convention are eligible to take part in the Bologna Process provided they apply for accession and submit a satisfactory plan for implementation of the Bologna goals in their higher education system.

Bergen 2005

At the Bergen Ministerial Conference in May 2005, 5 new countries were welcomed (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) as new participating countries in the Bologna Process bringing the total number of participating countries up to 45. It was also decided to enlarge the circle of consultative members to the Education International (EI) Pan-European Structure, the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), and the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE), now Business Europe. The Bergen meeting confirmed the shift from future plans to practical implementation.

London 2007

The last ministerial conference was held in London in May 2007 and at that meeting ministers welcomed Montenegro as part of the process, bringing the number of participating countries to 46. Furthermore ministers adopted a strategy for the “Global Dimension” of the process and gave the E4-group (European University Association, EUA, European Student’s Union, ESU, EURASHE and ENQA) a mandate to set up a Register for Quality Assurance Agencies.

The BFUG may convene ad hoc working-groups as they deem necessary. Since the London Ministerial Meeting, the following working groups have been set up:

  1. The Data collection working group
  2. The Employability working group
  3. The European Higher Education in a global setting working group
  4. The Stocktaking Working Group

Apart from this there are a number of coordination groups:

  1. The Lifelong Learning coordination group
  2. The Mobility coordination group
  3. The Qualifications Frameworks coordination group
  4. The Social Dimension coordination group

Next Ministerial Conference 2009

The next ministerial conference will be held in Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29 of April 2009. The conference is hosted by the Benelux countries.

EI and the Bologna Process

EI Pan-European Structure is part of the Bologna Follow-up Group and participates actively in the work of the Bologna Process. EI has especially contributed in the area of Mobility of staff and students by organising one official seminar on mobility of staff and students and by its current work on a Mobility Campaign to increase the number of mobile staff and students. This work is undertaken in close cooperation with the European Students’ Union.

EI is also working actively with the Global dimension strategy, trying to stress the importance of the OECD/UNESCO Guidelines on Quality Provision in Cross Border Higher Education, as well as stressing the importance of a partnership approach to the work with the Global dimension.