The Rome Communiqué, adopted at the 11th EHEA Ministerial Conference, envisages a more inclusive, innovative and interconnected European Higher Education Area.
On 19 November 2020, the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) Rome 2020 Ministerial Conference brought together EHEA Members, Consultative Members and other higher education (HE) representatives to welcome San Marino as 49th member of the EHEA and to adopt the Rome Ministerial Communiqué, which sets out the vision for the EHEA for the next decade. In her keynote speech, Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth pointed at the progress made within the EHEA through the ongoing Bologna Process, for example in the fields of mobility, quality assurance and recognition. However, to make Europe and its societies more sustainable and resilient against crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, she called for deeper cooperation across borders and extended synergies with research and innovation, for the promotion of academic values and stronger support of vulnerable groups to participate in HE. With initiatives such as the European Education Area (EEA), the Digital Education Action Plan (DEAP) and the European Research Area (ERA), the EU aims at creating an EU knowledge area, which could act as a motor for the Bologna Process (see SwissCore articles).
In the Rome Communiqué, the EHEA Members commit to building an inclusive, innovative and interconnected EHEA by 2030. This ambition is guided by a vision that sees the EHEA as an area where students and teachers can move freely, an area that respects democracy and the rule of law and that is committed to ‘upholding institutional autonomy, academic freedom and integrity, participation of students and staff in higher education governance, and public responsibility for and of higher education’. The Communiqué further recognises the potential of HE to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. While HE institutions take on the crucial role of preparing learners to take on current and future challenges by equipping them with green and digital skills, national authorities have the responsibility to provide HE institutions with the appropriate supporting framework.
Taking the commitments that were made in the Paris Communiqué from 2018 further, the Rome Communiqué reinforces its position on academic freedom, on strengthening the social dimension and on enhancing HE learning and teaching in the EHEA. In order to create an inclusive environment in HE fostering equity, accessibility and diversity, legal regulations and policies should allow and support HE institutions to create their own strategies. Digitalisation can act as a potential catalyst for social inclusion as well as skills development and should be seen as facilitator for mobility and exchange of good practices. Innovative approaches in learning and teaching, including the development of new and flexible learning paths such as micro-credentials, will offer more opportunities for up- and reskilling and thus support lifelong learning. As the 2009 Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve mobility target of counting 20% of EHEA graduates with a study or training experience abroad by 2020 has not been met with a current overall weighted average at 9.4% despite a considerable rise in mobility in absolute numbers, the EHEA member countries reaffirm their commitment towards achieving the objective by 2030. In terms of implementation, the Communiqué foresees the strengthening, further development and completion of existing mechanisms and frameworks to ensure mutual recognition and advance quality assurance. Moreover, it envisages strengthening ties with the ERA. Lastly, the Communiqué stresses the global dimension of HE by highlighting international dialogue and cooperation on values, policies and reforms in HE.
The Communiqué draws its priorities on the conclusions of the Eurydice Bologna Process Implementation Report. The report takes count of the achievements made over the past two decades, namely in the areas of degree structure, quality assurance, recognition of qualifications as well as mobility and internationalisation. The introduction and wide acceptance of the three-cycle degree programmes with bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral studies and the establishment of the ECTS credit system represent only a few milestones. However, despite the immense progress made in structural reforms and quality assurance, the process is still lagging behind in its social dimension and levels of implementation differ among the EHEA Members. For instance, even if measures are in place to address diversity, vulnerable groups are still less likely to participate in HE. The report further states that, although peer support activities introduced after the last ministerial conference in Paris showcase how mutual learning and exchange of good practices can lead to an enhanced implementation, lack of mutual trust still often hinders progress.
During the conference, EHEA Members as well as Consultative Members, including the UNESCO and the Council of Europe, were invited to comment on the Communiqué (see statements by the Consultative Members). Swiss State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation Martina Hirayama voiced a strong commitment of Switzerland to the three key priorities of the document. She stressed the importance of social dialogue to maintain the autonomy of HE institutions, the need for an innovative approach in HE towards digitalisation, and the necessity of EHEA Members to commit themselves to the principles of the Communiqué to enable international exchange in HE.
The EHEA has been created as a result from the Bologna Process launched with the Bologna Declaration in 1999. The Bologna Process represents the voluntary will of national governments to collaborate and put in place structural reforms and shared tools in order to make their HE systems more compatible to enable cross-border student exchanges and mutual recognition of degrees. Subject to the ratification of the European Cultural Convention and a commitment to follow and implement the objectives of the Bologna Process in the respective national HE systems, membership in the EHEA is not geographically limited to Europe. Every three years, Ministerial Conferences take place to assess the progress made within the EHEA and to decide on the future agenda. The Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG) oversees the implementation of the Bologna Process between ministerial meetings and the implementation of the ministerial communiqués. Switzerland is an original signatory member and adopted a national qualifications framework for the Swiss HE sector in the context of the Bologna process.