The quality assurance system in higher education is essential for maintaining the quality of degrees, keeping the higher education sector accountable and transparent to the public, enhancing the quality, impact and relevance of higher education delivery and consolidating stakeholder’s trust in higher education institutions.

Even since the Bologna Declaration (1999), the ministers pledged to “promote European co‑operation in quality assurance with a view to developing comparable criteria and methodologies.” A common European framework for quality assurance was understood as crucial for fostering trust between systems, promoting the recognition of qualifications, improving mobility prospects, creating a shared ‘language’ and collectively improving the quality of European higher education.

In the Prague Communiqué (2001), ministers emphasised that “mutually recognised quality assurance systems” were expected to enhance the accessibility, compatibility, attractiveness, and competitiveness of European higher education, as quality assurance had become “an absolute necessity for trust, relevance, mobility” in the European Higher Education Area.

In the Berlin Communiqué (2003), the ministers agreed on key principles which became defining for the European model of quality assurance:

• the primary responsibility for quality assurance in higher education lies with each institution itself and this provides the basis for real accountability of the academic system;

• evaluation of programmes or institutions include internal assessment (internal QA) and external review (external QA)

• the peer-review model including the participation of students at all levels and the publication of results

• International participation, co-operation and networking.

At the Bergen Conference (2005), the ministers adopted the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA (ESG), based on a proposal from ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) in co-operation with EUA (European University Association), EURASHE (European Association of Institutions in Higher Education), and ESU (European Students’ Union), a group which became known as E4. 

The ESG, which are divided into three parts (internal QA, external QA and the QA of the quality assurance agencies) represent common standards for quality assurance of higher education in Europe, irrespective of the mode or type of delivery. They are implemented by governments in national frameworks as well as by quality assurance agencies. 

The period that followed saw consolidation and advancement of the QA framework. In 2006, the E4 group organised the first European Quality Assurance Forum, bringing together QA actors to share practices and foster cooperation. At the London Conference (2007), ministers highlighted that the ESG had “proved to be a powerful driver of change in quality assurance.” Here, the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) was established with E4 acting as founding members, and the compliance with the ESG was formally integrated as an eligibility criteria for QA agencies seeking registration in EQAR.

The Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Communiqué (2009) further emphasised the need for transnational education to be governed by the ESG within the EHEA, while the Bucharest Communiqué (2012) marked the commitment of allowing EQAR-registered agencies to perform their activities across the EHEA, while complying with national requirements. At the Bucharest Conference ministers also encouraged higher education institutions and quality assurance agencies to better assess institutional recognition procedures. 

At the Yerevan Conference (2015), ministers reaffirmed the active involvement of students and stakeholders in quality assurance governance and adopted a revised ESG. They also adopted a new document, the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes, as a common reference framework for the QA of Joint Programmes, committing to allow its use in the national legislation in order to avoid the hurdles of multiple QA procedures for these international programmes. 

In the Rome Communiqué (2020, ministers considered the application of the ESG, a key commitment of the EHEA, as one of the criteria for automatic recognition of degrees. They also committed to ensuring that external quality assurance covers transnational higher education with equal standards as for domestic provision and  encouraged an enhancement-oriented use of the ESG to support innovation in higher education. 

At the Tirana Ministerial Conference (2024), ministers mandated the authors of the ESG, in collaboration with Business Europe, Education International, and EQAR, to develop revised versions of the ESG and the European Approach for the QA of Joint Programmes, to be adopted at the 2027 Iași-Chișinău Ministerial Conference. 

From the Bologna Declaration to the Tirana Communiqué, quality assurance has evolved into the backbone of the EHEA, enabling trust, mobility, academic freedom, and relevance in higher education. It continues to adapt and innovate—anchored in shared standards, validated by transparency and stakeholder engagement, and propelled by future-focused revisions and collaborative implementation.