A blueprint for a European degree

Summary:

Communication adopted by the European Commission on 27 March 2024, setting out a route for cooperation between Member States and the higher education sector towards the creation of a European degree recognised automatically across the European Union (EU).

Further information:

The EU competes with other education areas in the world to attract the best talent, and many universities across Europe already seek to pool expertise and to combine complementary strengths not available in at any single institutions, to provide graduates and lifelong learners with strategic skills for their future. Transnational cooperation within the European Education Area has progressed substantially since its launch in 2020.

University cooperation across borders can develop in different ways. The most ambitious forms of the provision of joint education between countries are programmes that lead to a joint degree. However, legal and administrative obstacles make these degrees difficult to deliver. This is seen to hold back the transformation in the EU's higher education sector. The 2022 European Strategy for Universities set out actions to achieve a European Education Area in higher education, with the intention to develop a European degree. This Communication put this intention into action by providing a blueprint for a European degree to become a reality. The European degree - a new type of qualification to be enshrined in national legislation - seeks to make it easier for universities from different countries to cooperate seamlessly and develop joint programmes leading to a joint degree.

This Communication was adopted by the European Commission on 27 March 2024, as part of a package of initiatives focusing on higher education.

Official

EUR-LEX: SWD(2024)74: Staff Working Document accompanying the Communication https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=SWD:2024:74:FIN

European Commission: Press Release, 27/03/2024: Commission rolls out plans for a European degree https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_1741

European Commission: DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture: News, 27/03/2024: Commission presents a blueprint for a European degree https://education.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-presents-a-blueprint-for-a-european-degree

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News

Euronews, 27/03/2024: Brussels unveils plans for a European Degree but struggles to explain why https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/03/27/brussels-unveils-plans-for-a-european-degree-but-struggles-to-explain-why

EUObserver, 27/03/2024: EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree https://euobserver.com/health-and-society/158287

Science Business, 28/03/2024: Commission rolls out plan for European university degree https://sciencebusiness.net/news/universities/commission-rolls-out-plan-european-university-degree

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Commentary and Analysis

European University Association (EUA): News, 27/03/2024: Full implementation of existing tools central to success of European Commission’s new higher education package https://www.eua.eu/news/1203:full-implementation-of-existing-tools-central-to-success-of-european-commission%E2%80%99s-new-higher-education-package.html

The Brussels Times, 01/04/2024: European degree: Game changer for students and universities? https://www.brusselstimes.com/989269/european-degree-game-changer-for-students-and-universities

European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), 09/04/2024: ETUCE’s Analyses on the new 'European Degree' Package https://www.csee-etuce.org/en/news/education-policy/5472-etuce-s-analyses-on-the-new-european-degree-package

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