At its plenary session in Strasbourg the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor for the report on the contribution of the European institutions towards consolidation and progress of the Bologna process (572 votes in favor, 89 against and 8 abstentions). Dr. Milan Zver prepared the European People's Party's position on the report; the main rapporteur for the European Parliament was MEP Luigi Berlinguer.
The European Higher Education Area has seen a strong unification since the signing of the Treaty of Bologna in 1999. All the associated countries have established a three-tier higher education system. 29 states signed the contract originally. Until the end of the decade 18 new countries joined them.
In the second decade of the Bologna process its the main objective remains equal recognition of diplomas and qualifications of any university in the EU by all EU Member States. A further step is the establishment and development of European degrees.
A lot of questions remain open after the end of the first decade of the reform. In some countries the introducing of a three-tier system caused a lot of problems because the initiative to change the system came from the governmental level and the universities themselves have not fully accepted it yet. In addition, member states have not provided enough funding for the effective implementation of the reforms.
Most of the countries participating in the Bologna process unfortunately still haven't established the national qualifications frameworks that would be associated with the Framework of Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area. That's also one of the strong inhibitors for the unification of the European Higher Education Area.
One of the aims of the Bologna reform is to encourage European universities to behave more responsibly regarding the needs of society and the needs of the labor market. But unfortunately the claim of the Lisbon document, which says that European universities despite the rather high quality of teaching can not express their full potential to stimulate economic growth, social cohesion and improve the quality and quantity of jobs, is still valid today. That is why the higher education reform has to continue also in this decade.
The report also recommends better cooperation between the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and European Research Area (ERA): The inclusion of a doctorate degree as the third cycle's diploma in Bologna structure of degrees is the main link between higher education and research activities.
