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 predates the Bologna Process and covers a wider geographical scope of currently 56 Contracting 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 Lisbon Recognition Convention as an essential tool for achieving this. The Lisbon Recognition Convention is the only legally binding document on higher education in Europe and established a fundamental shift in the recognition of degrees by expecting comparability rather than equivalence. In this sense, it established key principles for how recognition procedures should be carried out:

• applicants have the right to a fair assessment
• recognition is obtained unless substantial differences are proven by the recognition authority
• the substantial differences are based on comparing learning outcomes rather than programme contents
• the recognition authority must prove the substantial difference
• the applicants have the right to appeal

Other clauses of the LRC focus on the accessibility and affordability of the recognition procedures, the transparency of the degree systems and seeking partial recognition when the conditions for full recognition are not met. Additional information on the LRC, its subsidiary texts and the ENIC-NARIC network can be found here. The adoption of Bologna tools in qualification frameworks and quality assurance were essential to build trust, comparability and compatibility and thus achieve effective and swift recognition. Taken together, these Bologna tools underpin the ‘key commitments’ of the EHEA. 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 ‘removing outstanding obstacles hindering effective and proper recognition and are willing to work together towards the automatic recognition of comparable academic degrees. 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 Communiqué (2020) the ministers endorsed the Global Recognition Convention of UNESCO and committed to “apply the LRC principles to qualifications and periods of study outside the EHEA, using common assessment criteria and reports”.

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 Communiqué (2003), 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 as 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. 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 from 2012.