EU pushing to create a Common European Degree Label

Source: Schengen Visa Info

Mariya Gabriel, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth, has launched ten Erasmus+ projects to foster new forms of cooperation among higher education institutions across the EU.

According to a press release issued by the European Commission, this measure is expected to accelerate the realization of the European Education Area, according to SchengenVisaInfo.com.

Six of these projects aim to test and facilitate the issuing of a unified Common European Degree Label, which is a certificate for students who have graduated from joint programmes of higher education institutions, set accordingly to the European criteria.

The other four projects will enable alliances such as ‘European Universities’ to initiate new forms of cooperation including a possible European legal status for these alliances.

Commissioner Gabriel said that 90 educational institutions in Europe and 20 European university alliances are working together to make European education possible.

On the other hand, Margaritis Schinas, the Vice-President of the EC said that with these projects, the EU Commission is facilitating cooperation between universities and other institutions across the EU but also offering students the alternative of mobility, as they can move from one campus to another. He is positive that the EU will become an essential destination for education.

Furthermore, the ‘European Diploma’ concept is close to the idea of a common European diploma that would apply to several Member States, which is an encouragement for students’ cooperation and mobility.

This label of a ‘European Diploma’ would also reflect the knowledge acquired by students who have followed similar programmes in other universities, countries or for other languages. In addition, it would also complement the qualifications of graduates from the joint programmes in several universities such as those across the EU.

A European Diploma would be issued on a voluntary basis as a certificate that proves the holder has knowledge of specific fields, as the common set of criteria shows. All higher education institutions, as well as national and regional authorities, will be engaged in selected projects working on the European diploma label.

“Future measures will not replace existing national solutions but will aim to provide additional responses, on a voluntary basis, to deepen transnational cooperation, in full respect of the principle of subsidiarity and institutional autonomy,” the press release reads.

Pilot projects will have a maximum budget of €200,000 for a one-year period, which will become effective likely in spring 2023. The national and regional authorities concerned with the matter will also be considered support for the next steps.