The European Higher Education Area in 2018

The Bologna Process Implementation Report provides a wide-ranging and detailed picture of how the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has been moving forward since the Yerevan Conference inThis has not been a period of radical change. Instead, for most countries, the recent years have
focused on consolidating the implementation of reforms.

The Bologna Follow Up Group has identified three key commitments that underpin the EHEA. These commitments concern the implementation of the three-cycle degree structure, recognition of qualifications and quality assurance. They can be considered as the foundations of the EHEA: if these
foundations are not in place, further European higher education cooperation is undermined.

In addition to the implementation of these commitments, the priorities of the Bologna Process as set out in the Yerevan Communiqué are learning and teaching, social inclusion and employability – all topics addressed centrally in this report. In Yerevan, ministers also pledged to continue to foster mobility and internationalisation, and called for attention to the values of the EHEA.

Implementation of the Bologna three-cycle degree commitments is improving, with most countries having made the necessary reforms in line with Bologna guidelines. The main Bologna tools – ECTS,
Diploma Supplement and national qualifications frameworks – are also well implemented in most countries. Nevertheless, there remains a minority of countries where this is not the case. These countries still need to implement further reforms to ensure that their degree programmes are coherent with those in other EHEA countries.