On Wednesday 30 April, the Member States’ representatives to the European Union (Coreper I) approved a number of texts ahead of the ‘Education, Youth, Culture and Sport’ Council on 12 and 13 May. The conclusions on inclusive practices in education and a Council of the EU recommendation aimed at setting up a European system for quality assurance and recognition in higher education were approved.
However, this text could still be amended to harmonise certain wording with a resolution linked to the European diploma project, which was not adopted.
This resolution concerned the creation of a ‘European diploma’ label and the next steps towards a common diploma (see EUROPE 13531/2). It was part of the Action Plan presented by the European Commission in March 2024 (see EUROPE 13380/3), which aims to enhance the attractiveness of European higher education and facilitate the automatic recognition of diplomas.
All but one of the Member States support the proposal. Hungary blocked the adoption of the resolution, officially citing the need to preserve the scope for action reserved for national education policies. However, according to several sources, this could be an attempt by Hungary to obtain wording that would enable the country to reintegrate European funding.
Since the end of 2022, Hungary has been subject to a partial suspension of European funds, including Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe, due to concerns about the Rule of law and the governance of certain universities. Around €20 billion remains frozen. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)