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Resolution 1906 (2012) Final version
The consolidation and international openness of the European Higher Education Area
1. The Parliamentary Assembly reaffirms
its support for the Bologna Process and the European Higher Education
Area (EHEA) as a guarantor of sustainable social development based
on knowledge and research. It welcomes the significant role that
the Council of Europe plays in this process as well as the continued
efforts of member States to set up an effective system of higher
education in Europe that meets the challenges of the 21st century.
2. However, the Assembly considers that further action is required
to consolidate the EHEA and make it more open and attractive. Europe
has a lot to offer, but also a lot to learn from other regions of
the world and there is a need to take due account of the global
context and the influence it has on higher education in Europe.
3. Higher education should provide students with competencies
that enable them to enter sustainable employment, become active
citizens in democratic societies and be capable of rising to the
challenges they will be faced with in life. Europe should remain
a place where talent and knowledge are retained, developed and valued,
and where excellence in higher education and research attracts students
from diverse origins and backgrounds. Teachers and researchers need
to be better prepared for greater international co-operation.
4. Effectiveness of international co-operation depends on academic
mobility. Yet many governments have a policy of reducing immigration
and seem unwilling to make exceptions for academic mobility. The
stated goals of the EHEA and national immigration policy need to
be reconciled. This matter is particularly important since almost
half of the EHEA member States are not part of the Schengen Area.
5. Greater bilateral and multilateral co-operation between EHEA
and non-EHEA countries on a larger policy development level and
on the level of individual institutions should be encouraged.
6. The Assembly reiterates its support for the principles that
determine EHEA membership, such as commitment to academic freedom,
institutional autonomy and student participation, and calls upon
the public authorities of countries wishing to enhance co-operation
with EHEA members, or wishing to become a member of the EHEA, to
ensure respect for these fundamental values through their policies
and practice, and to resist any attempt to restrict or control academic
freedom through government interference
7. The successful implementation and functioning of the EHEA
depends on the active participation and support of all stakeholders
in the Bologna Process. Governments, higher education institutions
and student associations are represented in the Process, while national
parliaments are not yet part of it. The latter must be fully involved
in the Process. In addition, the Parliamentary Assembly and the
European Parliament should be represented at the Bologna Process
ministerial conferences.
8. National parliaments should provide all the necessary political
support to ensure implementation of the EHEA. Policy making in this
area should be aimed at widening the geographical space of countries
sharing the goals of the Bologna Process, and making the EHEA more
open and more attractive to global co-operation initiatives. In
addition, stronger parliamentary involvement should help gain support
from interior and foreign affairs ministers in charge of defining
immigration policies both domestically and at European level, to
enhance academic mobility.
9. The Assembly therefore asks the member States of the Council
of Europe to:
9.1. ensure that the
Council of Europe remains an active partner in the Bologna Process
and that it contributes, through the External Dimension of the Process,
to co-operation with other countries;
9.2. continue to support the development of the EHEA and ensure
coherent implementation of the Bologna objectives throughout the
EHEA, and in particular:
9.2.1. carry
out the structural reforms which are still required (including review
of legislation and national regulations, and the completion of the
qualifications frameworks), encouraging involvement of all stakeholders;
9.2.2. seek greater co-ordination and provide mutual support
to reduce differences in implementation paces;
9.2.3. consider the possibility of providing scholarships or
flat rate contributions per student to top up the investment by
those students who cannot afford to get access to higher education
by their own means, ensuring, at the same time, strict oversight
of the distribution of scholarships;
9.3. foster mobility and exchanges of students, teachers, researchers
and university managers, and to this effect:
9.3.1. take measures to further reduce administrative barriers
to international mobility, such as those which obstruct the granting
of visas, of social security coverage and of residence and work permits
for staff;
9.3.2. ensure proper recognition of qualifications acquired abroad
upon return following a mobility scheme;
9.3.3. provide adequate funding and ensure access to such funding
through mobility schemes at European level;
9.4. implement the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation
System (ECTS) and take measures to improve compatibility and comparability
of degrees, and in particular:
9.4.1. harmonise
the ECTS points in substance, including clear and standard credit measurement
in terms of student workload and unambiguous linkage to learning
outcomes;
9.4.2. implement the Europass Diploma Supplement scheme;
9.5. encourage the effective implementation of the principles
and provisions of the Council of Europe/UNESCO Convention on the
Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the
European Region (ETS No. 165) and intensify co-operation with countries
seeking accession;
9.6. develop communication and disseminate all relevant information
on the EHEA both externally and internally;
9.7. strengthen co-operation and partnership with countries
outside the EHEA, encouraging the exchange of new ideas and the
sharing of good practice.