The 7th Plenary session of the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Education (CDEDU) held from 17-19 March 2025 in Strasbourg yielded significant results for higher education. The advancement of higher education policy formed the point of focus during the session on 18 March.
A key achievement was the approval of the draft Recommendation CM/Rec(2025)XX on the Qualifications and Linguistic Competences of Refugees in Europe, which will be submitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for adoption.
The Plenary also saw the welcoming of the development of a Students’ Rights Charter. This new instrument will promote and protect student rights, focusing on non-discriminatory access, privacy, freedom of expression, and social rights. It will be developed in collaboration with the European Students' Union and is set to be finalised in 2027, with a broad consultation process, with particular attention given to ensuring inclusivity across all student categories.
Further, updates were provided on the Council of Europe Platform on Ethics, Transparency, and Integrity in Education (ETINED). Two important reports were endorsed: one on “Students perceptions of education fraud” and the other on the “State of open school data in European education systems”, the latter carried out in partnership with the UNESCO International Institute for Education Planning. Importantly, the CDEDU noted the foreseen establishment of a Centre for Preventing and Countering Education Fraud in Italy.
The CDEDU adopted a new programme on Artificial Intelligence and Recognition of Qualifications and agreed upon the creation of a Working Group that will address the opportunities and challenges of Artificial Intelligence in credential evaluation, access to education, and safeguarding educational integrity.
Additionally, the CDEDU took note of the work carried out by the Ad Hoc Working Group on Automatic Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications to develop a new Council of Europe legal instrument on automatic recognition.
Finally, the CDEDU welcomed the work of the Working Group on the Democratic Mission of Higher Education and noted that the Report on report on threats to academic freedom will be launched at the 2025 Global Forum on Higher Education at Charles University, Prague, on 3-4 June 2025.
Overall, the 7th CDEDU Plenary marked a productive step forward in higher education initiatives, with a focus on student rights, AI, academic freedom, and the recognition of qualifications, setting the stage for continued progress in the coming years.
