The Bologna Declaration
On 25 May 1998 the ministers responsible for higher education in France, Italy, the UK and Germany signed a joint declaration in conjunction with the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Sorbonne University in Paris. More countries than these four wanted, however, to join the work, aimed at increasing clarity and comparability within and between the various European education systems. This led to a meeting in Bologna in the summer of 1999. There what came to be known as the Bologna Declaration was signed by 29 countries; all the EU Member States, the EFTA countries (European Free Trade Association) and most of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. The aim was to continue development of European cooperation within higher education and primarily to promote the mobility of students between the different educational systems and labour markets of Europe.
Not legally binding
ambition on the part of the participating countries. Nevertheless, the Declaration does address issues that are taken up in other legislation, such as the EC directives on recognition of qualifications and the Council of Europe and UNESCO Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (the Lisbon Convention). Despite the fact that the Bologna Declaration is not a legally binding document and that the process is a purely an intergovernmental cooperation, it has proved to contain considerable dynamic force and has led to extensive changes in higher education in many of the participating countries.
