Education in the European Union

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 51. Chapters: Educational policies and initiatives of the European Union, Bologna Process, Erasmus Mundus, WISHES, European School, ECTS grading scale, DTU Campus Village, Eastern Mediterranean University, Education and Training 2010, Erasmus Programme, Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013, International Winter University Kassel, ECOTOOL, European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, International Summer University Kassel, European Qualifications Framework, Eurydice Network, Euclid Consortium, European Fashion Designer, Model European Communities Project, European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, Bologna declaration, European College of Parma, HEEM, FOM - Fachhochschule fuer Oekonomie und Management, Socrates programme, U4energy, ETwinning, European University Centre, Prison Art Network, Grundtvig programme, European Pharmacoinformatics Initiative, Educontact, Leonardo da Vinci programme, Jean Monnet Programme, National Academic Recognition Information Centre, TEMPUS, Transversal programme. Excerpt: The purpose of the Bologna Process (or Bologna Accords) is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention. It is named after the place it was proposed, the University of Bologna, with the signing in 1999 of the Bologna declaration by Education Ministers from 29 European countries. It was opened up to other countries signatory to the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe; further governmental meetings have been held in Prague (2001), Berlin (2003), Bergen (2005), London (2007), and Leuven (2009). Before the signing of the Bologna declaration, the Magna Charta Universitatum had been issued at a meeting of university rectors celebrating the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna - and thus of (Western) European universities - in 1988. One year before the Bologna declaration, education ministers Claude Allegre (France), Jürgen Rüttgers (Germany), Luigi Berlinguer (Italy) and the Baroness Blackstone (UK) signed the Sorbonne declaration in Paris 1998, committing themselves to "harmonising the architecture of the European Higher Education system". It is a common misconception that the Bologna Process is an EU initiative. The Bologna Process currently has 47 participating countries, whereas there are only 27 Member States of the EU. While the European Commission is an important contributor to the Bologna Process, the Lisbon Recognition Convention was actually prepared by the Council of Europe and members of the Europe Region of UNESCO. Current signatories and thus members of the "European Higher Education Area" are: European Higher Education Area This makes Monaco and San Marino the only members of the Council of Europe which did not adopt the Bologna Process (although they might consider joining once France and Italy have implemented it). All member states of the EU are partic