In March 2010, the European Higher Education Area was officially launched, proclaiming the culmination of a ten-year timeframe projected at Bologna in 1999, when the education ministers of 29 European states signed a declaration that would fundamentally influence the future of their higher education systems. Forty-seven countries, including all EU Member States and other countries as far afield as Kazakhstan, now take part in the so-called 'Bologna Process'. Remarkably, this vast enterprise, which has led to rapid and sweeping changes in almost all higher education systems in Europe, has taken place outside the framework of the European Union and the Council of Europe. In fact, as this important legal analysis shows, it appears that with the Bologna Process the Member States have tried to sidestep the EU's growing influence on higher education. Although the Bologna Process has generated an impressive literature addressing what it might mean, where it suddenly came from, and how it has become so powerful, until now the legal implications of the process, and its tense relationship with EU law, have been left almost entirely unexamined. This work fills that gap. Among the often controversial issues raised are the following: ; avoidance of the democratically legitimate procedures of the EU's institutional framework for cultural reasons connected with state sovereignty; the scope of EU legal competence for various kinds of activities in the educational sector; specific areas of overlap between EU law and the Bologna Process and their implications; voluntary intergovernmental cooperation as a paradigmatic global shift of internationalization policies in education; the idea that the university is being redefined, from a social institution to an industry; the increasingly influential role in the process, by means of funding and coordination, of the European Commission; financial support programmes and devices to enhance credit and degree recognition; students as recipients of services; and teachers and the free movement of workers. The author describes how the scope of the Bologna Process was significantly broadened during a series of meetings during the decade, analyses the relevance of the case law of the European Court of Justice and provides a detailed description of the adoption of the process into the national laws of France, Germany and the United Kingdom. A concluding normative assessment scrutinizes the process on the basis of democracy, transparency and accountability. As the first study of the legitimacy of Bologna from a European law perspective - and by extension of the 'Europeanization' of higher education, including the role of the EU, EU law, and law in general - this is a critically important contribution to a contentious debate that clearly holds great significance for the future of law and society. Educators and education policymakers are sure to read and study it with interest.

This book outlines the development of the Bologna Process, reviewing how it came into existence and the milestones reached over the past decade. It provides a critical examination of the state of implementation of its main policy action lines - such as comparable degree structures and quality assurance systems - and assesses its impact in fostering greater student mobility, widening participation in higher education, and developing lifelong learning. The impact of the Bologna Process as a driver of reform is set against challenges in implementing agreed goals. And the authors point to the diversity of results across the 47 signatory countries, highlighting problems with the use of instruments at the institutional level. The book also discusses how the Bologna Process has become a focus of attention for higher education policy-making around the world, presenting examples of the policy initiatives it has inspired. Finally, it considers the lessons to be learned from this European experience, and the challenges to be met in the future.

The book analyses the Bologna Process as an effort to harmonise Europe’s higher education in the context of global competition. It includes original documents from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, up to the Bergen ministerial meeting of the Bologna Process in May 2005.

This volume presents the major outcomes of the third edition of the Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (FOHE-BPRC 3) which was held on 27-29 November 2017. It acknowledges the importance of a continued dialogue between researchers and decision-makers and benefits from the experience already acquired, this way enabling the higher education community to bring its input into the 2018-2020 European Higher Education Area (EHEA) priorities. The Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (FOHE-BPRC) has already established itself as a landmark in the European higher education environment. The two previous editions (17-19 October 2011, 24-26 November 2014), with approximately 200 European and international participants each, covering more than 50 countries each, were organized prior to the Ministerial Conferences, thus encouraging a consistent dialogue between researchers and policy makers. The main conclusions of the FOHE Conferences were presented at the EHEA Ministerial Conferences (2012 and 2015), in order to make the voice of researchers better heard by European policy and decision makers. This volume is dedicated to continuing the collection of evidence and research-based policymaking and further narrowing the gap between policy and research within the EHEA and broader global contexts. It aims to identify the research areas that require more attention prior to the anniversary 2020 EHEA Ministerial Conference, with an emphasis on the new issues on rise in the academic and educational community. This book gives a platform for discussion on key issues between researchers, various direct higher education actors, decision-makers, and the wider public. This book is published under an open access CC BY license.

Bridging the gap between higher education research and policy making was always a challenge, but the recent calls for more evidence-based policies have opened a window of unprecedented opportunity for researchers to bring more contributions to shaping the future of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Encouraged by the success of the 2011 first edition, Romania and Armenia have organised a 2nd edition of the Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers’ Conference (FOHE-BPRC) in November 2014, with the support of the Italian Presidency of the European Union and as part of the official EHEA agenda. Reuniting over 170 researchers from more than 30 countries, the event was a forum to debate the trends and challenges faced by higher education today and look at the future of European cooperation in higher education. The research volumes offer unique insights regarding the state of affairs of European higher education and research, as well as forward-looking policy proposals. More than 50 articles focus on essential themes in higher education: Internationalization of higher education; Financing and governance; Excellence and the diversification of missions; Teaching, learning and student engagement; Equity and the social dimension of higher education; Education, research and innovation; Quality assurance, The impacts of the Bologna Process on the EHEA and beyond and Evidence-based policies in higher education. "The Bologna process was launched at a time of great optimism about the future of the European project – to which, of course, the reform of higher education across the continent has made a major contribution. Today, for the present, that optimism has faded as economic troubles have accumulated in the Euro-zone, political tensions have been increased on issues such as immigration and armed conflict has broken out in Ukraine. There is clearly a risk that, against this troubled background, the Bologna process itself may falter. There are already signs that it has been downgraded in some countries with evidence of political withdrawal. All the more reason for the voice of higher education researchers to be heard. Since the first conference they have established themselves as powerful stakeholders in the development of the EHEA, who are helping to maintain the momentum of the Bologna process. Their pivotal role has been strengthened by the second Bucharest conference." Peter Scott, Institute of Education, London (General Rapporteur of the FOHE-BPRC first edition)

The Bologna Declaration started the development of the European Higher Education Area. The ensuing Bologna Process has run for already 20 years now. In the meantime many higher education systems in Europe have been reformed – some more drastically than others; some quicker than others; some with more resistance than others. In the process of reform the initial (six) goals have sometimes been forgotten or sometimes been taken a step further. The context too has shifted: while the European Union in itself has expanded, the voice for exit has also been heard more frequently. Higher Education System Reform: An international comparison after Twenty Years of Bologna critically describes and analyses 12 Higher Education Systems from the perspective of four major questions: What is currently the situation with regard to the six original goals of Bologna? What was the adopted path of reform? Which were the triggering (economic, social, political) factors for the reform in each specific country? What was the rationale/discourse used during the reform? The book comparatively analyses the different systems, their paths of reforms and trajectories, and the similarities and the differences between them. At the same time it critically assesses the current situation on higher education in Europe, and hints towards a future policy agenda. Contributors are: Tommaso Agasisti, Bruno Broucker, Martina Dal Molin, Kurt De Wit, Andrew Gibson, Ellen Hazelkorn, Gergely Kovats, Liudvika Leišytė, Lisa Lucas, António Magalhães, Sude Peksen, Rosalind Pritchard, Palle Rasmussen, Anna-Lena Rose, Christine Teelken, Eva M. de la Torre, Carmen Perez-Esparrells, Jani Ursin, Amélia Veiga, Jef C. Verhoeven, Nadine Zeeman, and Rimantas Želvys.

This volume presents the state of the art with respect to the most important elements of the Bologna process. The reflections on the past are also used to fuel the debate on the next decade.

This revised second edition analyzes the Bologna Process as an effort to harmonize Europe's higher education in the context of global competition. It includes original documents from inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, up to the Bergen ministerial meeting of the Bologna Process in May 2005. The political decision to create a European higher education area aims to enhance mobility between, and cooperation of, European universities. The Bologna Process started with the 1999 Bologna Declaration. Now, there are regular ministerial meetings involving nearly all European countries, both EU and non-EU members. The book does not restrict itself to Europe only. It discusses developments in Asia and the Pacific and higher education policies by global organizations, such as UNESCO, the World Bank (for the North-South divide), and the WTO, where some higher education services are covered by the General Agreement on Trade in Services.

This book sets out political economy explanations for higher education policy reform in Europe in the initial decades of the 21st century. With a sustained focus on the national level of policy implementation, institutional change is considered in relationship to broader trends in economic development and globalization. Since the concept of a “Europe of Knowledge” was presented by the European Commission in 1997, the pursuit of global competitiveness sets the context for the international initiative of the Bologna Process that has created the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Growing from 29 to 48 participating countries, there are three core explanations for change in the policy process: globalization (economic), intergovernmentalism (political), and Europeanization (social). As part of multi-method research analysis, this book presents qualitative case studies on Portugal and Spain to consider points of comparison, including national governance history and modernization of higher education institutions. The structure of government in these countries affects the policy reforms. Ultimately, the Bologna Process serves as a model for integration of higher education reform in other world regions. This book is essential reading for students, researchers, and policy makers in the fields of education, economics, and public policy.

The report describes the state of implementation of the Bologna Process in 2012 from various perspectives and with data ranging from 2010 to 2011 as well as with earlier trends data for some statistical figures. --Ed.