The main objective of the cooperation is to ensure comparable and transparent systems of higher education in Europe. The past ten years have been devoted to the development of a joint higher education area in which students, researchers and teachers can move freely across borders and thus strengthen and underpin the development of Europe and the international competitiveness and attractiveness of the region.

The Bologna cooperation focuses on a number of specific targets set to promote and strengthen the pan-European educational field. The most important priorities are increased quality assurance, transparency in the educational systems, mobility and mutual recognition of qualifications.

Bologna beyond 2010

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was formally launched in March 2010 at the Budapest-Vienna Ministerial Conference, celebrating a decade of the Bologna Process, and at present 47 countries are part of the cooperation in higher education.

With the launch of the EHEA, new priorities were introduced for the next decade to continue the implementation and consolidation of the Bologna Process:

• Social dimension
• Lifelong learning
• Employability
• Student-centred learning
• Education, research and innovation
• Mobility
• Data collection
• Multidimensional transparency tools
• Funding of higher education

Besides the Ministerial Conferences, which take place almost every second year, the Bologna Policy Fora are organised to facilitate an international debate between higher education institutions, stakeholders, governments and students to foster increased cooperation.

Greater transparency in Denmark

Denmark was a signatory to the Bologna Declaration in 1999 and, since then, the Danish higher education system has become more transparent for both national and international students and other stakeholders. This has, among other things, been realised through the introduction of a new, three cycle degree structure – bachelor, master and doctorate – and the implementation of the ECTS credit point system.

The existing quality assurance system for higher education was supplemented and improved by the establishment of a national accreditation system in the fall of 2007. All new and existing higher education programmes, including short cycle programmes, are subsequently accredited according to international standards.

Fulfilment of the objectives

At an early stage, Denmark has achieved the majority of the objectives set out in the Bologna Declaration and in the latest stocktaking report from 2009, Denmark ranked second-highest in the scorecard review of the 47 Bologna members according to the Bologna indicators.

In terms of recognition, all graduates of higher education receive a Diploma Supplement and Denmark formally ratified the Lisbon Convention in March 2003. Recognition of joint degrees in Denmark is based on the general national legislation on recognition of foreign qualifications and the recognition of joint degrees follows the principles of the Lisbon Recognition Convention.

Self-certification of the national qualifications framework for Higher Education took place in 2009 and is fully implemented according to the Bologna qualifications framework.