Recognition

The main instrument regulating the recognition of qualifications and study periods abroad in Europe is the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region, more commonly known as the Lisbon Recognition Convention (LRC). Signed in 1997, it has been ratified currently by 57 State Parties. From its inception in 1999, the Bologna Process sought to enhance the mobility of students and graduates as a central aim of the process, and thus fully embraced the LRC as an essential tool for achieving this. The LRC is the only legally binding document on higher education in Europe and established a fundamental shift in the recognition of degrees from equivalence to comparability. In this sense, it established key principles according to which recognition procedures should be carried out:

holders of qualifications issued in one of the Parties shall have adequate access, upon request to the appropriate body, to an assessment of these qualifications;
assessment of qualifications should be made solely on the basis of the knowledge and skills achieved, and no discrimination shall be made on any ground;
procedures and criteria used in the assessment and recognition of qualifications are transparent, coherent and reliable;
recognition is obtained unless substantial differences are proven by the recognition authority;
applicants have the right to appeal.

Other clauses of the LRC focus on information provision on higher education systems and qualifications and on recognition matters, on time limit for recognition, on recognition of refugee qualifications. Additional information on the LRC, its subsidiary texts and the ENIC-NARIC network can be found here. The adoption of Bologna key commitments on qualification frameworks and quality assurance was essential to build trust, comparability and compatibility, supporting fair recognition. More specifically, the recognition enabling framework is supported by:

the Diploma Supplement, which must be offered automatically, free of charge and in a widely spoken language to all graduates;
the Overarching Qualifications’ Framework of the EHEA, including the establishment of the three-degree cycle;
the use of the ECTS as the credit accumulation and transfer system across Europe, based on the ECTS User’s Guide;
the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in EHEA.

In 2012, at the Bucharest Ministerial Conference, the ministers committed to “remove outstanding obstacles hindering effective and proper recognition and are willing to work together towards the automatic recognition of comparable academic degrees, building on the tools of the Bologna frameworks, as a long-term goal of the EHEA”. Since the Bucharest Ministerial Conference and the establishment of a pathfinder group, the achievement of automatic recognition across EHEA, based on the implementation of the Bologna tools, has been a pursuit of the Bologna Process. To further guide the recognition of qualifications by national authorities and higher education institutions, in the same Bucharest Ministerial Conference the ministers welcomed the European Area of Recognition Manual and committed to assess recognition procedures in internal and external quality assurance. In more recent years, they emphasized the role of interoperable digital solutions, as well as the Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR) as tools supporting recognition. Another topic of special concern for the EHEA was the recognition of qualifications held by refugees, displaced persons and persons in a refugee-like situation, based on the Article VII of the LRC. In this sense, they endorsed the European Qualification Passport for Refugees (EQPR) of the Council of Europe. Considering the global dimension of recognition, in the Rome Ministerial Communiqué (2020) the ministers endorsed the UNESCO Global Recognition Convention of UNESCO, to “facilitate fair recognition of qualifications and periods of study from outside the EHEA, using Lisbon Recognition Convention compliant assessment criteria and reports”. In the Rome and Tirana Ministerial Communiqué, there was also reference to AI and digitalisation as a way to support recognition and ethics and transparency in verification of authenticity, and to counter education fraud. Recognition of prior learning and of flexible learning pathways, such as micro-credentials, was also a topic for recognition in the Rome and Tirana Communiqués.

Recognition of prior non-formal and informal learning

Alongside the recognition of qualifications and study periods abroad, the Bologna Process also included commitments related to the recognition of prior non-formal and informal learning. Ever since the Berlin Ministerial Communiqué (2003), recognition of prior learning (RPL) has been conceived as a means towards enhancing the possibilities of lifelong learning by allowing learning outcomes and skills from the non-formal and informal learning contribute to the formal education. RPL can be designed both for providing access to higher education to a diversified range of learners (RPL for access) and for contributing to the award of qualifications based on waiving certain programme requirements (RPL for progress). RPL was included in several ministerial communiqués and, more recently, in the Principles and Guidelines to Strengthen the Social Dimension of Higher Education in EHEA, acknowledging its role in supportive inclusive, flexible higher education systems. In the latest communiqué focus was also on the role of micro-credentials in lifelong learning. The authoritative guidance on the procedural steps of conducting RPL are included in the European Union’s Council Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012). Together with RPL, the Rome and Tirana Communiqué commit to support recognition of flexible learning pathways in a lifelong learning perspective, such as micro-credentials. References are provided by the Microbol framework and Micro-credentials for higher education institutions.