The London Summit, May 2007
234. The UK HE Europe Unit have said that:
"[…] in hosting the next ministerial
summit in London, the UK has a unique opportunity to influence
Bologna developments. As the 2010 target for creating the EHEA
(European Higher Education Area) approaches, the resulting London
Communiqué will set priorities for the remaining years
of the Process and will consider its future beyond 2010. The UK
will participate in the drafting of the Communiqué, act
as Vice-Chair of the Bologna Board and provide the Secretariat
of the Process until the summit."[180]
235. The Bologna Secretariat is to produce a paper
on the UK position for the London Ministerial meeting. Although
the document itself will not be available until May, the UK HE
Europe Unit has said that the following issues will be key:
"— It will be important that the
Bologna Process remains flexible in its recommendations to accommodate
the wide range of qualifications and HE systems operating across
the EHEA and the autonomy of HEIs.
— European HEIs need time to consolidate
and develop the reforms stimulated by the Bologna Process. The
European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance and the
Framework for Qualifications of the EHEA will also require supporting
structures beyond 2010. Future Bologna Process decision-making
structures should build on the strengths of its voluntary partnership
approach between governments, HEIs, students and other stakeholders.
— The European Commission plays an
important role in the Bologna Process, notably in providing funding
for Bologna activity. The EC Lisbon strategy focus on the role
of HE in the competitiveness of Europe is welcome. The Bologna
Process can contribute to the goals of the Lisbon strategy in
modernising European HE through a bottom-up consensual approach.
It will be vital, however, that the Lisbon strategy and the Bologna
Process remain separate, if complementary, processes."[181]
FLEXIBILITY
236. With respect to the first two issues identified
by the Europe Unit, the written and oral evidence this committee
has received shows very strong support in the UK for maintaining
the principles of voluntary participation, flexibility, and institutional
autonomy in the future development of the Bologna Process. There
is also widespread agreement that the application of the Standards
and Guidelines for Quality Assurance and the EHEA Framework for
Qualifications should be undertaken in a measured fashion, involving
full consultation with both national and regional organisations.
This will take time. It must not be rushed. Above all, it must
not be driven by legislative pressures in individual countries
which reflect domestic (and sometimes ephemeral) political imperatives.
237. It is all too simple to commit to a virtually
incontestable principle, such as flexibility. It is harder, but
much more useful, to identify and implement policies and actions
consistent with such a principle.
238. In the remaining years of this decade, governments
and institutions need to be encouraged to implement incremental
changes which will ensure that rhetoric moves closer to reality.
Patient, well informed, and appropriately supported efforts along
these lines will be needed to advance the pedagogic reform, research
excellence, compatibility, effective quality assurance, and student
mobility that are central to the Bologna agenda. We hope the London
Conference will provide such encouragement.
BOLOGNA AND THE EC
239. We have earlier in this Report examined the
increased role that institutions of the European Community have
been playing in the development of the Bologna Process, and identified
some of the anxieties that exist concerning the compatibility
of the legislative, legal, financial and administrative processes
of the EC with the voluntary, flexible and diverse character of
the Bologna Process—the latter being rooted in the essential
values of teaching and research in higher education.
240. We are aware that many Bologna objectives and
action lines are closely intertwined with those of the EC, and
that in some areas (e.g., student mobility) EC action and financial
support pre-date the Bologna Agreement. We would not wish to underestimate
the value of such support, and of inter-agency co-operation in
the design and delivery of programmes (which benefit both EC and
non-EC countries). For the Bologna objectives to be pursued in
a manner consistent with the values of higher education requires
clear distinctions to be maintained between the Process and the
wider purposes of the EC. We hope that during the coming years
it will be possible for the institutions of the EC, and the processes
which have been developed following the Bologna agreement, to
be related to each other in ways that minimise anxieties of the
kind we have encountered in the course of our Inquiry.
SCALE AND 'OWNERSHIP'
241. The Minister for Higher Education told us that:
"[…] at some stage I think you will
have a global system of comparability and compatibility across
the world."
242. This scale of this ambition is worrying—particularly
in light of the findings of research from HEPI[182]
and Bernd Wachter,[183]
referred to previously, that modest, concrete aims are far more
likely to be achieved than wide-reaching global ambitions.
243. As we have seen earlier in this Report, there
are anxieties in some quarters about the consequences of extending
the Bologna Process to even more countries than the present 45.
To the extent that this would increase the diversity of institutions,
modes of learning and governance arrangements which need to be
made compatible and subject to broadly comparable quality assurance
criteria, there is the danger of diluting the core structural
and pedagogic features of the Process.
244. We have not been able to explore the pros and
cons of further expansion in any depth in this inquiry, but our
initial reaction is that the UK Government should be cautious
about any such proposals, which would need careful investigation
and appraisal of costs and benefits before an informed opinion
could be reached.
245. The scale of Bologna also relates to the breadth
of areas covered by its Action Lines. This Committee has not looked
in detail at the growing emphasis on what is referred to as the
'social dimension', embracing the widening of participation in
higher education in most parts of the EHEA in terms of age, ethnicity,
gender, social-economic origins, and level of study. The Bergen
Communiqué called for "a clear definition of the social
dimension [to be drafted], for the London summit in 2007."[184]
We note that further EHEA-wide progress in this area would be
a significant expansion of the existing scope of the Bologna agenda
and, because of the complexities involved will have to be handled
very carefully to minimise controversy beyond 2010.
Conclusion
246. It is in the interests of higher education
in the United Kingdom, and of the government, institutions, agencies,
staff and students directly involved in funding, providing and
managing such education, as well as those of employers and of
the wider society, for the United Kingdom to continue to be actively
involved as a lead partner in the Bologna Process.
247. We welcome the emphasis that we believe UK
representatives at the London Ministerial Meeting intend to place
on the importance of the voluntary principle in the development
of the Bologna Process. We agree that there is a need to maintain
a flexible and varied pattern of awards and qualifications across
the European Higher Education Area, within which compatibility
will be underpinned by effective within-country quality assurance
systems.
248. The European Commission, and the European
Community more broadly, play an important and welcome role in
the Bologna Process. In considering evidence submitted to this
inquiry, however, the expanding role of the European Commission
in the Process has become our greatest concern. It is crucial
to the success of the Bologna Process that it remains outside
the framework of the EC. We agree with the Minister that the role
of the European Commission must be appropriately circumscribed
and recommend this be sought at the London Summit in May.
249. We regard the creation of a European Higher
Education Area as a continuing project, capable of yielding benefits
at each stage of its development, and one to which adequate time
must be given if the necessary basis of trust is to be established
and understanding are to be both strong and sustainable.
177 Ev 87 Back
178
Ev 31 Back
179
Q 109 Back
180
UK HE Europe Unit, Guide to the Bologna Process, Edition 2,
November 2006. Back
181
Ev 3 Back
182
Bahram Bekhradnia, Credit accumulation and Transfer, and the
Bologna Process; an overview, HEPI, October 2004. Back
183
Bernd Wachter, "The Bologna Process: developments and prospects",
European Journal of Education 39, 3 2004, p 265-273 Back
184
UK HE Europe Unit, Guide to the Bologna Process, Edition 2,
November 2006. Back
