The Commission proposes a way forward to make a European Degree a reality. This step-by-step approach, however, needs Member States on board to be successful.
For a couple of years now, the EU is discussing the possibility of a European Degree, a strategic element of the European Education Area and a cornerstone of the 2022 European Strategy for Universities. Despite the enthusiasm of the European Commission (EC), the Member States are a bit more hesitant to move into this direction as education policy is their competence. This is reflected in the Council Recommendation of 5 April 2022 on building bridges for effective European higher education cooperation, which invites the Commission to examine the options towards a possible joint degree on a voluntary basis. One concrete step that came out of it was the pilot funded under Key Action 3 policy experimentation of Erasmus+ to develop and test European criteria for awarding a joint European degree label (six project consortia have taken up this work early this year).
On 22 March 2023, the Commission published a large study charting the path towards a possible European Degree. The report takes stock of current opportunities, such as Erasmus Mundus, and assesses the feasibility and benefits of different ways forward. According to the study, a joint European degree is for joint programmes delivered by multiple higher education institutions (HEIs) from different European countries. In this context, they should contribute to making the delivery of joint transnational study programmes easier and more attractive. Currently, different requirements in quality assurances and programme accreditation between European countries persist. This challenge is linked to the incomplete implementation of Bologna instruments.
The study presents two possibilities for the design of a joint European Degree, either a degree label or a new qualification based on common European criteria. The label would be awarded as a diploma supplement to joint study programmes which meet certain European criteria. Concretely, HEIs would apply to a central European body for a specific joint programme and be assessed by external experts, similar to Erasmus+ calls. On the other hand, a European degree as a new qualification would be accredited by the national accreditation bodies (EQAR) based on pre-defined and common European criteria. The HEI would then, if successful, get the right to award a European degree. This process of European degree accreditation could be integrated into the mandatory accreditation of HEIs, to make it more efficient.
Building on this analysis, the authors propose a step-by-step approach starting with the ongoing pilot projects, testing possible criteria for a European degree. Based on the results of the pilot projects, the EU Member States should agree on a common set of criteria for a European degree label. Then, the national accreditation agencies should receive the mandate to award joint European Degree labels to interested programmes. As a last step, Member States would adapt, and to some extent harmonise, their national legislation to enable the delivery of European degrees based on the above-agreed common criteria. This final point proves to be the main obstacle, as the experience of Bologna shows. The legislative requirements for the accreditation of joint degrees vary considerably between European countries, and harmonising them proves difficult due to different national priorities.
The benefits of a European Degree, however, could justify the effort. According to the report, it could boost the Bologna process, improve automatic recognition, make the design and implementation of joint programmes easier, increase the attractiveness of European higher education, and more mobility, among others.
The European university alliances play a key role in testing and rolling out European Degrees, as they run a number of joint programmes and participate in the above-mentioned pilot projects to test European degree labels. It also includes a number of Swiss HEIs who are members of the alliances; and the Swiss higher education sector as a whole is fully integrated into the Bologna process. Therefore, the developments around the European Degree are relevant for the Swiss higher education system as well.