The EHEA’s primary objective is to create more comparable, compatible and coherent higher education systems in Europe.

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was officially launched in March 2010 with the signing of the Budapest-Vienna Declaration, marking the culmination of efforts by member countries under the Bologna Process that began in 1999 with the signing of the the Bologna Declaration by 29 countries. 

 

The Declaration sets out the following goals:

  • adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees
  • adoption of a system essentially based on two main cycles, undergraduate and graduate
  • establishment of a system of credits, such as in the ECTS system
  • promotion of mobility by overcoming obstacles to the exercise of free movement by students, teachers, researchers and administrative staff
  • promotion of European co-operation in quality assurance
  • promotion of the necessary European dimensions in higher education 

. By 2010, 49 countries had joined the EHEA, ensuring a unified approach to higher education reforms across the continent. The rights of the Russian Federation and Belarus have been suspended as of 11 April 2022.   

To become a member of the EHEA, a country must sign and ratify the Council of Europe European Cultural Convention.  Every two or three years there are Ministerial Conferences organized to assess the progress made within the EHEA and to decide on the steps to be taken. The last Ministerial meeting took place in Tirana on 29-30 May 2024. To accede Ministerial Declarations and Communiqués, click here.

 

The Council of Europe’s contribution to the Bologna Process 

 

The Council of Europe’s contribution to the establishment of the European Higher Education Area focuses on: 

  • the Council of Europe’s work on the recognition of qualifications, in particular through the ENIC network (in collaboration with UNESCO) and the  Lisbon Recognition Convention, as well as in the area of recognition of refugees' qualifications through the European Qualifications Passport of Refugees, as well as qualifications frameworks
  • active participation in the steering bodies  (Bologna Follow Up Group and Bologna Board)
  •  its work on the the fundamental values of higher education through its Higher Education Programme and the participation in the EHEA working groups 
The Council of Europe is the consultative member of the Bologna Process. It provides regular reports to the BFUG on its work in higher education. 

Report to the BFUG meeting in September 2024