On Thursday, 19 December, the European Commission published a report on the final outcomes of the six pilot projects for developing a European diploma that would be automatically recognised throughout the EU. This experiment—which involved more than 140 higher education institutions, 17 ministries, 20 national quality assurance agencies, student organisations, and economic and social partners from every EU country—supports the ‘Blueprint for a European degree’ proposal that was unveiled by the European Commission last March (see EUROPE 13380/3) in order to contribute to both [improving] Europe’s competitiveness and building a strong symbol of the shared European identity, notably by reinforcing common academic values.
The document presents an examination of the obstacles to transnational collaboration and joint programmes. It was also a matter of assessing the suitability of both the first draft of the co-created European criteria—which was published in the call for proposals for various joint bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and micro-credentials programmes—and the suitability of the criteria in various fields of study, including engineering and the arts.
The tests were also guided by the development of a digital ‘European diploma’ label and the development of recommendations for future actions leading to the project’s realisation.
According to the report, introducing a European diploma would offer universities and students as well as businesses and Member States substantial benefits. The report attests that a qualification recognised throughout the European Union could enable the transnational development of skills, open up the possibility of working on international and interdisciplinary teams, encourage multilingualism, support mobility, and provide better chances of getting a job.
Nevertheless, around 50 obstacles have also been identified. Among the main examples put forward are a set of incompatible rules on curriculum structure, mandatory languages of instruction, recognition of blended or online learning, timelines and accreditation requirements, and even diploma templates and the thickness of the diploma paper. Incompatibilities as to the number of semesters that students can spend abroad were also revealed.
The report also provides information on the work carried out by four Erasmus+ pilot projects that tested EU cooperation instruments, such as a possible European legal status for alliances of higher education institutions.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/ew4 (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)