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ENQA and the Bologna Process

General Overview

1999

In the Bologna Declaration (1999) the European Ministers of Education committed themselves to establish the European Higher Education Area by 2010. The Bologna Declaration encourages, among other things, the European co-operation in quality assurance of higher education with a view to developing comparable criteria and methodologies. Other important goals agreed in Bologna are easily comparable degrees, a system based on two main degree cycles (subsequently a third cycle has been included), a common European system of credits and mobility of students and teachers.

2001

In 2001 the European Ministers of Education meeting in Prague invited ENQA to collaborate in establishing a common framework of reference for quality assurance, which would directly work towards the establishment of the European quality assurance framework by 2010.

2003

In 2003, in Berlin, the Ministers recommended ENQA to contribute even more directly to the European quality assurance process. In the Berlin Communiqué ENQA received a double mandate from the Ministers to explore ways of ensuring an adequate peer review system for quality assurance agencies and to develop an agreed set of standards, procedures and guidelines on quality assurance.

2005

In the Bergen meeting of May 2005 the European Ministers of Education adopted the "Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area" drafted by ENQA. The Ministers committed themselves to introducing the proposed model for peer review of quality assurance agencies on a national basis. They also welcomed the principle of a European register of quality assurance agencies based on national review and asked that the practicalities of its implementation would be further developed by ENQA in co-operation with EUA, EURASHE and ESIB, with a report back to the Ministers through the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG). In Bergen ENQA was accepted as a new consultative member of the BFUG.

2007

On 17-18 May 2007, the European Ministers of Education met in London. One of the most notable decisions was the agreement on setting up of a European Register for Quality Assurance Agencies (EQAR). The Ministers emphasised the voluntary and independent nature of the EQAR. They endorsed the setting up of the Register as proposed by the E4 Group, with a report back to the Ministers through the BFUG. The Ministers recognised that there had been progress in the sector of quality assurance in higher education – and especially in the student involvement part of it. The London Communiqué encouraged the successful E4-organised Quality Assurance Forums to continue annually.

2009

The Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve meeting of ministers took place on 28-29 April, 2009. The ENQA Position Paper in View of the Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve conference was prepared prior to the meeting and it was made available in hard-copy for the participants of the conference. The ENQA Position Paper may be found in English and French. A speech held by Bruno Curvale, the President of ENQA, can be found in here (pdf). During the conference, the ministers adopted a Ministerial Communiqué as well as a Bologna Policy Forum Statement, both acknowledging the importance of quality assurance in all aspects of higher education. It was concluded in the meeting that the modernisation of higher education will be continued including the adoption of the European Standards and Guidelines for quality assurance. The ministers approved that the creation of the European register for quality assurance agencies and the establishment of national qualifications frameworks are important links to the overarching European Higher Education Area framework, based on learning outcomes and workload. The ministers emphasised that transnational education should be governed by the European Standards and Guidelines for quality assurance as applicable within the European Higher Education Area. An increased need for transparency tools in higher education was recognised by the ministers. They emphasised that these tools need to be developed in close relation to the principles of the Bologna Process, and those of quality assurance in particular. The ministers encouraged the E4 group (ENQA-EUA-EURASHE-ESU) to continue its cooperation in further developing the European dimension of quality assurance. The European Quality Assurance Register should be externally evaluated, taking into account the views of the stakeholders.

The next ministerial meeting will be the Bologna anniversary conference in Budapest and Vienna on 11-12 March, 2010. The next regular ministerial conferences will be held in Romania in Bucharest on 27-28 April, 2012 and after that in 2015, 2018 and 2020.