On 19 December, the European Commission published a report on the final outcomes of the Erasmus+ policy experimentation projects: European degree (label) and institutionalised EU cooperation instruments.
This 168-page staff working document provides a detailed overview of the consolidated conclusions from ten Erasmus+ pilot projects, which explored a path towards a Europen degree (label) and a possible European legal status between spring 2023 and summer 2024. The report puts forward the revised list of criteria for a European degree and a European label, and a list of barriers typically facing joint programmes. Additionally, it provides comprehensive justification for a series of new related initiatives planned in the 2025 Erasmus+ call (for more details, see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, November 2024).
European degree (label)
- Based on the mapping of approx. 1.000 joint programmes, the projects concluded that a European degree would have a clear added value for students, higher education institutions, and member states.
- More than 50 obstacles currently hinder the development of joint programmes, and will be addressed via Erasmus+ European degree pathway projects.
- Having tested the initial draft set of European criteria, the projects worked out a common list of 16 such criteria and refined terminology, in full alignnment with the Bologna instruments.
- Developed tools and guidelines will feed into a European degree policy lab, which will, together with a European degree forum, serve to elaborate a clear implementation roadmap.
- A dual approach offering two options (label and degree) that build on the existing quality assurance processes facilitates the inclusive process and possibility to advance at different rates and on a voluntary basis.
- The development of innovative joint programmes and student engagement needs to be further incentivesed, via an additional European degree exploratory action planned for 2025.
Possible European legal status for alliances
- The projects identified core needs that could be addressed by a specific legal instrument, namely: joint educational activities, sustainable governance and funding, joint resource management and external relations. And it concluded that no current national or EU legal instrument meets these unique needs.
- The projects suggested modifications to the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) to enable its recognition as a higher education institution for the purpose of joint transnational activities (e.g., by allowing private partners to join, strengthening its pan-European scope).
The report comes in timely to feed into the ongoing stakeholder discussions at national level. The last Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council (EYCS) meeting (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, November 2024) revealed some member states’ concerns regarding a two-tier system that could potentially emerge in the European higher education landscape. The next meeting of the EYCS under the Polish Presidency is planned for 13 May 2025.
