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Doc. 9641
16 December 2002
Higher education in South Eastern Europe
Recommendation 1540 (2001)
Reply from the Committee of Ministers
adopted at the 821st meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (11 December 2002)
1. The Committee of Ministers has considered Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1540 (2001) on higher education in South Eastern Europe and fully shares the view of the Assembly that “higher education provides an opportunity for interaction between national identities and the promotion of common interests, for the benefit of students, society and, more generally, future generations”.
2. The Committee of Ministers draws the Assembly’s attention to the fact that the Council of Europe has conducted, for the benefit of countries of South Eastern Europe, during 2001 and the first half of 2002, 127 activities in all of its fields of action. Among these, there are 19 activities in 2001 and 12 activities this year which directly concern the field of education, ranging from teacher training to meetings of the Higher Education Coordination Board and Conferences of Education Ministers (see Appendix 1 to this reply).
3. The Committee of Ministers attaches the highest importance to maintaining the consistency, regularity and coherence of the action undertaken in this field by the Council of Europe. The recommendation mentions in paragraph 7 the work on history teaching, saying that “such an approach is particularly necessary in the training of future teachers at all levels”. The Committee of Ministers cannot but endorse this point of view. Indeed, understanding and tolerance should be taught already in school, for many reasons. Appendix 1 lists activities on history teaching and teacher training in South Eastern Europe. Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation Rec(2000)24 on the Development of European Studies for Democratic Citizenship recognises that education plays an essential role in strengthening genuine democracy based on pluralism and mutual tolerance.
4. Paragraph 8 of the recommendation mentions student mobility. This aspect is considered through the so-called Bologna Process. In this context, the Committee of Ministers would like to recall the recommendations it made to its member states concerning mobility, namely:
– Recommendation R(96)7 on regional academic mobility,
– Recommendation R(90)15 with a view to fostering on mobility of researchers in Europe,
– Recommendation R(95)8 on academic mobility.
These recommendations stress the necessity for European governments to encourage academic mobility and interaction at regional and European levels in order to achieve better understanding and greater unity in Europe.
5. On 16 April 2002 the Education Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina expressed their intention to sign the Bologna Declaration.
6. As for the contribution of other organisations to the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe (paragraph 10 of the recommendation), the Council of Europe has conducted its activities, as can be seen from Appendix I, in co-operation with the European Commission, United Nations, Unesco, Office of the High Representative (OHR) and the World Bank.
7. The Committee of Ministers has also asked its Committee for Higher Education and Research (CD-ESR) to give an opinion on the Recommendation, which is attached to this reply as Appendix 2. The Committee of Ministers shares the views expressed.
8. The Committee of Ministers has also called on its member states from South Eastern Europe to take practical steps to join the Bologna Process and on the European Union member states to step up co-operation with the network of universities in South Eastern Europe through various transnational programmes and to encourage international financial institutions to support projects for reorganisation and legislative reform of higher education infrastructure and functioning in the region.
Appendix 1
List of completed activities in 2001 and 2002
“Education for Europe: diversity, mobility, and education policies”
Consultation meeting on Higher and General Education Legislation in Kosovo (FRY) in co-operation with World Bank (10-12/01/01, 11-13/07/01, 21-24/08/01 and 11/09/01);
Meeting of the Higher Education Coordination Board of Bosnia and Herzegovina in co-operation with OHR, Unesco, European Commission (12-14/02/01, 23-24/03/01, 7-9/05/01, 11-14/06/01, 17-18/09/01, 26-27/11/01, 16/01/02);
Public information Campaign on draft education laws for Kosovo (FRY) in co-operation with World Bank (8-11/10/01);
Seminar on quality assurance in higher education; an introduction to quality assurance for Rectors, Vice Rectors and deans of all five Serbian universities (Beograd, Kragujevac, Novi Sad, Nis, University of Arts) and representatives of the Ministry of Education and alternative higher education NGOs (24-26/11/01);
National Seminar on Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) to consult a draft strategy (FRY) in co-operation with the UN (12-15/12/01);
Consultations (and drafting meetings) on Framework Education legislation for Bosnia and Herzegovina; the aim being to consult the stakeholders on a preliminary draft framework law outlining general principles in education in accordance with European standards and supporting provisions to implement those principles (which would, inter alia, limit ethnic segregation and assure equal rights to all communities) (09/01/02, 27/02-2/03/02, 25/03/02, 15-17/04/02; 13/05/02);
Conference of the Education Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (in co-operation with OHR) (19-20/03/01, 22/05/01, 05/03/02);
Teacher Training Programme in BiH (05-09/09/01, 21-28/05/01, 25-27/01/02, 14-16/03/02)
Regional Seminar on “Teaching national history in secondary schools in South East Europe” (BiH) (13-15/06/02)
“History textbooks and teaching resources in South East Europe” (06-08/06/02)
Conference of the Education Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Entity Ministers of Education adopted a Declaration of intent to sign the Bologna Declaration (in co-operation with OHR) (05/03/02, 16/04/02);
Conference of Education, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Kosovo (FRY) (10-12/06/02).
Appendix 2
Opinion adopted by the CD-ESR Bureau on Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 1540 (2001) on higher education in South Eastern Europe
The CD-ESR Bureau welcomes Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1540 (2001) on higher education in South Eastern Europe and fully shares the concerns of the Assembly in paying particular attention to the development of higher education in Europe and in linking this development to the overall reform of higher education in Europe known as the Bologna Process and aiming to establish a European Higher Education Area by 2010.
This corresponds entirely to the CD-ESR’s priorities in both the intergovernmental and the bilateral part of its programme. The Council of Europe and the CD-ESR contribute actively to the Bologna Process through its steering bodies as well as through input to the activities and policy development of the Bologna Process. In April 2002, the Council of Europe organized a conference on Recognition Issues in the Bologna Process that was a part of the official work programme of the Process.
The CD-ESR Bureau strongly supports the Assembly’s call on member states in South Eastern Europe to take practical steps to join the Bologna process and to implement the policies outlined in paragraph 13 of the Recommendation, and the CD-ESR takes this opportunity to reiterate its willingness to offer further assistance in implementing these goals.
To date, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have indicated their interest in adhering to the Bologna Process. While these applications cannot be decided until the next Ministerial conference of the Bologna Process, to be held in Berlin in September 2003, the Council of Europe is offering its assistance in adjusting the relevant higher education laws and policies towards the standards of the Bologna Process.
The Bureau would also like to point to the role of the CD-ESR in building a bridge between the countries formally party to the Bologna Process – currently 33 – and the states party to the European Cultural Convention that are not members of the Process but that can nonetheless benefit from it. The participation of both Ministry and academic representatives in the CD-ESR will help preparing the applicant countries for access to the Process.
The Council of Europe is also actively assisting in the reform of higher education legislation, in which the advice given is largely based on the policies of the Bologna Process. A new higher education law for Kosovo has been submitted to UNMIK and is under consideration in the Kosovo Assembly, while work on higher education legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is under way. The Council of Europe has also offered its assistance in the reform of higher education legislation in Serbia.
In particular, the CD-ESR would like to underline the role of the Council of Europe/Unesco Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (Lisbon Recognition Convention) and its subsidiary texts in setting the European standards for the recognition of qualifications.
The CD-ESR Bureau agrees with the Assembly in welcoming the signing of the Framework Agreement in Skopje in August 2001. It recalls that the Council of Europe has offered assistance in revising the legal framework of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” with a view to implementing the Framework Agreement in the relevant legislation and underlines that this offer remains open.
The CD-ESR is therefore fully prepared to continue its action in favour of higher education in South Eastern Europe and its integration into the Bologna Process aiming to establish a European Higher Education Area. It cannot, however, fail to point out that for this action to be fully effective, some additional resources will be needed in terms of both staff and programme funds.