Realising the European Higher Education Area

On June 19, 1999, a year after the Sorbonne Declaration, ministers responsible for higher education from 29 European countries signed the Bologna Declaration. They agreed on important joint objectives for the development of a coherent and cohesive European Higher Education Area by 2010.

In the first follow-up conference held in Prague on May 19, 2001, they increased the number of the objectives and reaffirmed their commitment to establish the European Higher Education Area by 2010.

On September 19 this year, ministers responsible for higher education from 33 European countries met in Berlin to review the progress achieved and to set priorities and new objectives for the coming years, with a view to speeding up the realisation of the European Higher Education Area.

The following are some important principles and priorities on which ministers agreed:

Social aspects. Ministers re-affirm the importance of the social dimension of the Bologna Process. The need to increase competitiveness must be balanced with the objective of improving the social characteristics of the European Higher Education Area, aiming at strengthening social cohesion and reducing social and gender inequalities both at a national and European level.

In that context, ministers re-affirm their position that higher education is a public good and a public responsibility. They emphasise that in international academic co-operation and exchanges, academic values should prevail.

Knowledge-based economy. Ministers take into due consideration the conclusions of the European Councils in Lisbon (2000) and Barcelona (2002) aimed at making Europe "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion" and calling for further action and closer co-operation in the context of the Bologna Process.

A Europe of Knowledge. Ministers agree that efforts shall be undertaken in order to secure closer links overall between the higher education and research systems in their respective countries. The emerging European Higher Education Area will benefit from synergies with the European Research Area, thus strengthening the basis of the Europe of Knowledge.

The aim is to preserve Europe's cultural richness and linguistic diversity, based on its heritage of diversified traditions, and to foster its potential of innovation and social and economic development through enhanced co-operation among European Higher Education Institutions.

Quality assurance. The quality of higher education has proven to be at the heart of the setting up of a European Higher Education Area. Ministers commit themselves to supporting further development of quality assurance at institutional, national and European level. They stress the need to develop mutually shared criteria and methodologies on quality assurance.

They also stress that consistent with the principle of institutional autonomy, the primary responsibility for quality assurance in higher education lies with each institution itself and this provides the basis for real accountability of the academic system within the national quality framework.

Therefore, they agree that by 2005 national quality assurance systems should include:

1. A definition of the responsibilities of the bodies and institutions involved. 2. Evaluation of programmes or institutions, including internal assessment, external review, participation of students and the publication of results. 3. A system of accreditation, certification or comparable procedures. 4. International participation, co-operation and networking.