* •it COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 02.05.1997 
COM(97) 159 final 
97/0121 (SYN) 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 
ON 
EUROPEAN COOPERATION 
IN 
QUALITY ASSURANCE 
IN HIGHER EDUCATION 
(presented by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. Quality in higher education is a priority for the Member States and for the higher education 
institutions themselves. European Community encouragement, support and supplementing of 
national measures can provide a substantial boost to the improvement of this quality. 
2. The Commission Memorandum on higher education1 and the responses of the Member States 
following an extensive debate on this subject2 stressed that quality in an increasingly diversified 
higher education was an issue of paramount importance. It was also recognised that merely 
evaluating the scientific quality of research and the quality of staff is no longer a guarantee as to 
the quality of teaching and that the assessment of the quality of programme organisation, 
teaching methods, management methods, structures and communications are equally 
important. The role of quality assurance for strategic management and the cultural dimension 
of evaluation were also highlighted. There was a first support for the introduction of efficient 
and acceptable methods which are based on European co-operation and transnational exchange 
of experience and to networking of evaluation experts. 
3. Based on this response to the Memorandum, and after several years of close co-operation 
under the ERASMUS programme, the Council3 and the Ministers of Education in November 
1991 urged Community action in the area of quality evaluation in higher education. The 
ministers felt that European quality assessment experiments could enrich the multiplicity of 
national quality assurance methods without impinging on the competence and responsibilities 
of the Member States or the autonomy of higher education institutions. A Commission study4 
on the methods of quality assessment used in the Member States at the time provided an 
overview of the "traditional methods" and the "new methods" of quality assessment in the 
Member States. As this study also showed a growing interest in quality in higher education as 
weil as common elements in the "new methods" already in use, the Commission launched In 
co-operation with the competent authorities of the Member States two European pilot 
projects - one in engineering and the other in communication/information or art/design - in 
which 42 Member State institutions (plus four institutions from Iceland and Norway) 
participated. 
4 In the first half of the 1990s, when the Commission launched the projects, only a few 
European countries had developed systematic quality assurance of their higher education 
systems. The aim of the projects was therefore to further raise awareness about the need to 
assess higher education in Europe, to enhance existing national procedures, to give a European 
dimension to quality assessment, to support the transfer of experience, and to contribute to 
the improvement of the mutual recognition of diplomas and study periods by promoting co­
operation between Institutions and by reinforcing mutual confidence through understanding 
programmes taught in different cultural contexts. 
1 COM(91) 349 final 
2 The outlook for Higher Education In the European Community; Responses to the Memorandum, Studies of 
the Task Force Human Resources, Education Training and Youth M° 2, Luxembourg 1993 
3 OJNoC321, 12.12.1991, p.2 
4 Quality management and quality assurance in European higher education. Methods and mechanisms, Study 
N° 1 of the Task Force Human Resources, Education, Training and Youth, Luxembourg 1993 
5 The pilot projects for the assessment of quality in higher education were conducted in 1994 
and 1995, in conjunction with the competent authorities in the Member States, and focused 
on the assessment of the quality of teaching in a specific subject area In a selected institution, 
but did not exclude possible interactions with research activities and the management of 
higher education institutions. The method was based on the four principles common to those 
quality assurance systems in Europe using quality assessment at the time the project was 
designed (Denmark, France, the Netherlands and tiie United Kingdom). The objectives, 
methods and organisation of the projects were described In the "Guidelines for Participating 
Institutions", translated into all Community languages and distributed to all pilot project 
participants. 
6 The outcome of the Europe-wide dialogue which took place during the pilot projects between 
HE institutions, experts, state authorities and NGOs were included in the information note5 
presented by Mrs. Cresson to the Community institutions along with a report prepared by the 
management group which assisted the Commission In tiie Implementation of the pilot 
projects. There was broad satisfaction with the launch and Implementation of the European 
pilot projects and a growing realisation of the need to guarantee die quality of higher 
education. Participants resolved both to continue die co-operation and exchange of 
experience and to use the structures set up by all countries for organising the pilot projects, 
irrespective of whether or not they had already a quality assurance policy. 
7 At its meeting on 6 May 1996, at which the Information note was presented, the Education 
Council appreciated the co-operation in this important area and took note of the 
Commission's intention to propose a Council Recommendation with tiie orientation described 
in the note*. 
If. THE CONTEXT 
8 The new Chapter 3 in Title VIII of the Treaty circumscribes tiie Community's Important role 
In the development of quality education without harmonisation of Segal and statutory 
provisions in the Member States and confirms the latter's responsibility for the content of 
teaching and the organisation of their own education and training systems. Freedom of 
movement in a single market requires an open education area with mutual recognition of 
qualifications, while quality education capable of providing everyone with the wherewithal to 
meet European and world-wide standards and to make use of free movement within the 
Community needs transnational mobility and transnational co-operation. The education and 
training mobility programmes the Community has implemented since 1986 have increasingly 
shown that mobility and co-operation at the European level improve knowledge and 
understanding of the different national education systems, create greater transparency and 
mutual trust and so help to remove the barriers to the recognition of qualifications and skills. 
However, the recent Green Paper7 of the Commission on Education, Training and Research 
''Obstacles to Transnational Mobility" acknowledges that there are still many obstacles to 
mobility. 
9 Quality assessment and quality assurance in higher education and transnational co-operation in 
quality issues stand in this tradition and continue to improve interaction between freedom of 
movement, quality education and greater transparency and understanding. 
SEQ96) 800 
Minutes of the 1920th meeting of the Education Council (SI(96)428) 
COM(96) 462 final 
The establishment of permanent quality assessment and quality assurance mechanisms in the 
Member States and the institutionalisation of European co-operation will bring added value for 
the quality. On the one hand, higher education institutions in the Member States can, with 
the heip of NGOs or other groups or agencies, monitor their strengths and weaknesses against 
the aims of their disciplines, their institutional profiles and in relation to European and 
worldwide qualification requirements, and thus safeguard the quality of the output of their 
higher education systems. The resulting flexibility and improvement of qualifications would 
improve freedom of movement. On the other hand, institutionalised exchange of experiences 
and European co-operation in quality assessment and quality assurance will broaden 
knowledge of the situation in the different subject areas, understanding of the programmes 
taught across Europe, and enhance quality assurance mechanisms in higher education 
establishments. 
Institutionalised co-operation in quality evaluation and quality assurance could eventually 
achieve a judicious blend of different cultural approaches and common methodological 
elements developed on a voluntary basis, founded on mutual trust and knowledge. This would 
be a big step towards overcoming obstacles to mobility. 
10 What is more, using common methodological elements does not imply a 'ranking' or a 
common European standard. Quality evaluation methods are procedural rules and not 
content rules. That means they define the quality assessment or quality assurance procedure 
(whom to involve, what to look at, etc.) but do not establish quality criteria. These methods 
help the players concerned to determine their own strengths and weaknesses by examining the 
performance in their subject areas or their higher education establishments and asking whether 
this performance represents an adequate response to the concrete problems in the economic, 
social and cultural context peculiar to their HE establishments. The judgements on the quality 
of the institutional response are made by the players themselves and those whom they called 
in for their assistance. 
11 The globalisation of economies, which involves the intensification of international competition 
through the emergence of an increasingly integrated worldwide market, has added a new 
dimension to the economic, social and cultural aims which are embodied in the European 
Community's developmental task: This can be achieved only if a whole range of structural 
changes is implemented to enable the Community to strengthen its competitiveness. One of 
the overarching objectives for corporate strategies and public policies in this context is to 
exploit the competitive edge associated with the gradual shift to a knowledge-based economy. 
The quality of education and training thus takes on a new, crucial importance for the 
development of the Community aims. The White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and 
Employment8 invites each Member State to take from the document the elements it regards 
as making a positive contribution to its own action and proposes Community action to give 
fresh impetus to Europe's competitiveness. 
12 The recent White Paper on Teaching and Learning9 likewise stresses that the changes currently 
in progress have indeed improved everyone's access to information and knowledge, but have 
at the same time changed working systems and the qualifications required so that in-depth re­
organisation of educational resources is necessary to avoid insecurity and social exclusion in a 
knowledge-based society in which everyone's position will increasingly be determined by the 
knowledge he or she has built up. 
8 Growth, competitiveness and employment. The challenges and ways forward into the 21st century, White Paper, 
Brussels, Luxembourg 1994 
9 Teaching and learning - Towards the learning society, White Paper, Brussels, Luxembourg 1995 
13 In this context, the old steering mechanisms used by public authorities h3ve to be streamlined 
to provide the adaptability required. A new interpretation of the autonomy of higher 
education institutions is emerging which tends to give them more leeway in the definition of 
their tasks and the means of performing them, including allocation of financial resources, but 
also gives them greater responsibility for the quality of the teaching they deliver. 
14 Experience in the Member States and during the European pilot projects have shown that 
besides giving higher education institutions evidence of their own performance, quality 
evaluation and quality assurance procedures can promote the self-critical capacities of these 
institutions and their ability to reorganise their output so that it better meets the needs of their 
economic, social and cultural environment. This can be considered as a first step to the 
development of coherent strategies of quality assessment and quality assurance In higher 
education establishments as a part of a more wide-ranging development of their ongoing 
capacity for innovation in the sense of "learning organisations". 
Some Member States and/or higher education institutions search systematically for methods 
to promote this development as part of an overall strategy for redefining the relationship 
between HE institutions, state and society. The capability of these institutions to respond 
appropriately and quickly to the complex changes taking place in their environment can be 
improved by helping them to become self-critical and develop a capacity for self-correction. 
Quality assessment and quality assurance procedures could for instance not only help to 
reconcile European academic traditions with the need to strengthen competitiveness, but also 
to establish a 'holistic' higher education which fulfils not only economic but also social and 
cultural needs. 
15 The European citizen is interested in accountability not only as a tax payer and the main 
contributor to the State funding of higher education, but also as a sometimes fee-paying 
student. Young people have the right to know the quality level of courses available in order to 
make an informed choice and obtain the right qualifications. 
III. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE RECOMMENDATION 
16 The means available to the European Community to fulfil the general objectives include the 
abolition between Member States of obstacles to the free movement of goods, persons, 
services and capital (Article 3.c EC Treaty) and the contribution to education and training of 
quality as well as the flowering of the cultures of the Member States (Article 3.p EC Treaty). 
In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity set out in Article 3b of the Treaty, the 
Community is to take action only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action 
cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the 
scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community. 
For the area of education and training, Articles 126 and 127 state that the Community's role 
is to encourage co-operation between Member States and, if necessary, to support and 
supplement their action while fully respecting the responsibility of the Member States for the 
content of teaching and the organisation of education and training systems and their cultural 
and linguistic diversity. 
17 The Recommendation respects the diversity of the European education and training systems 
and builds on voluntary co-operation and adaptation. Community action in the field could 
have an added value insofar as the advantages of co-operation at the European level, 
especially in quality assessment and quality assurance, cannot be achieved by one Member 
State alone or a single group of Member States without establishing links to ail the others. The 
pace of change in this area makes permanent exchange of experience and full information on 
all developments in the Member States necessary in order to keep up. As this exchange would 
draw on Europe's overall problem-solving capacity, it could build up the momentum and give 
a substantial and effective boost to the quality of European higher education. 
IV. AIMS AND MEANS PROPOSED IN THE RECOMMENDATION AND POSSIBLE 
SYNERGIES 
18 The Recommendation urges Member States to consider introducing quality assessment and 
quality assurance mechanisms into their higher education systems and stresses the usefulness of 
systems of this kind and certain of their operational principles, without prescribing methods, 
structures or funding, such arrangements remaining their exclusive responsibility. 
19 The Recommendation lays particular emphasis on the advantages of European co-operation in 
quality assessment and quality assurance in helping Member States to meet the new quality 
demands on education systems. Permanent observation and comparison of the impact of the 
legal and institutional frameworks on performance will help to avoid possible undesired side-
effects of quality assurance procedures in the different Member States and contribute to 
increasing effectiveness. Co-operation will also make it easier to develop strategies for 
innovation in higher education systems. 
20 The establishment of a European Network on quality assurance in higher education will 
promote co-operation between Member States and higher education institutions by supporting 
the exchange of information and experience at European level. 
21 A whole range of mutual catalytic Influences between the existing Community programmes 
promoting co-operation in education on the one hand, Member States' quallity agencies and 
the proposed Network for quality assurance in higher education on the other, are to be 
expected. Activities pursued by universities, for instance, as part of their institutional contracts 
under SOCRATES-ERASMUS (e.g. curriculum development or ECTS activities) could derive 
invaluable additional information from national evaluation agencies or evaluation projects 
supported by the Quality Assurance Network. Similarly, "Thematic Networks" which decide 
to implement quality assessment for their subject area(s) throughout Europe on the basis of 
their previous work, could obtain direct support from this Network. Vice versa, both links 
could be a resource for information and for building up a pool of international peers for 
quality evaluation. In the long run, a link could be envisaged with other activities, e.g. open 
and distance learning and co-operation between university and the business world, in order to 
integrate graduates in the labour market more effectively. 
22 European and international organisations and associations which are competent and active in 
the field of higher education were involved in preparing the pilot projects . A study10 
conducted on behalf of the Commission, provided a systematic overview of the activities of 
quality assessment and assurance implemented by international organisations and the different 
projects implemented. While noting the number and undoubted merits of efforts by the 
competent international organisations to improve the quality of higher education 
establishments, the study shows that these are nonetheless one-off initiatives. Furthermore, co­
operation between these organisations and their participation in the Quality Assurance 
Network would not only contribute to create complementarity of interests and multiplier 
effects, but above all would preserve transparency in a field in which confusion could well 
reign if too many different networks were to be working simultaneously on different aspects 
and at different levels. 
1 ° "Initiatives of Quality Assurance and Assessment of Higher Education in Europe" - Commission document. 
PROPOSAL 
FOR A COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 
EUROPEAN COOPERATION 
ÏN 
QUALITY ASSURANCE 
IN HIGHER EDUCATION 
(presented by the Commission) 
G ^oU> 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and particularly Articles 
126 and 127 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1 '/ 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee12, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions13, 
Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 189c of the Treaty14, 
Whereas a high quality of education and training at all levels is an objective for all Member States 
and whereas the Community is requested to contribute to its achievement by promoting 
cooperation between Member States and, if necessary, by supporting and supplementing their 
action while fully respecting their responsibility for the content of teaching and the organisation of 
the education and training systems and their cultural and linguistic diversity; 
Whereas the Council stated in its conclusions of 25 November 199115 that improving the quality 
of teaching in higher education is a concern shared by each Member State and by every higher 
education institution within the European Community; whereas in view of the diversity of 
methods used for quality assessment at national level, national experience could be complemented 
by European experience provided by a limited number of pilot projects aimed at establishing and 
strengthening cooperation in this area; 
Whereas through developments and activities in the Member States as well as through 
transnational cooperation and the mobility of students and teaching staff (particularly in the 
framework of Community programmes such as SOCRATES and especially its ERASMUS chapter) 
the awareness of European higher education institutions of the need to be able to judge the quality 
of studies available in other countries and to compare it with that of studies available within their 
own systems has been substantially raised; 
Whereas one of the main issues of the Commission memorandum on higher education16 
highlights that the former view of a vertical quality hierarchy of educational institutions whose 
qualifications are traditionally considered as different entrance tickets to society is becoming 
increasingly obsolete; whereas the emphasis today is more on quality across the whole of 
education and within each institution; whereas quality should be guaranteed at all levels and in all 
sectors, with differences only in terms of objectives, methods and educational demand; whereas 
there is support for the introduction of efficient and acceptable methods of quality evaluation 
which are based on European cooperation and transnational exchange of experience and which 
emphasise the importance of quality assurance for strategic management as well as its cultural 
dimension; 
11 O) No 
12 OJNo. 
OJNo. 13 
14 
15 O) No C 321, 12.12.1991, p. 2 
16 The outlook for Higher Education in the European Community; Responses to the Memorandum, Studies of the 
Task Force Education Training and Youth N° 2, Luxembourg 1993 
Whereas a Commission study17 on the state of quality assurance in the Member States revealed 
that the new systems of quality assurance had certain points In common; whereas the two pilot 
projects conducted subsequently were based on these core elements of existing national systems; 
whereas they tested the common method successfully and showed that the actors in the field are 
all eager to pursue the exchange of experience during the reorganisation of higher education In 
general and the development of quality assurance In particular18; 
Whereas higher education institutions have not only to meet the educational and professional 
requirements of a world-wide 'knowledge society', but aiso to address social problems nationally; 
whereas they aim to guarantee the quality of teaching by developing new initiatives (individually 
or on a collaborative basis within higher education associations) in order to give the services they 
provide the required attributes; 
Whereas m view of the ever greater constraints of global competition as well as of mass education, 
authorities in all Member States face the task to tailor higher education systems and their 
relationships to state and society in ways which respect existing academic norms and values, and 
reinforce the autonomy and responsibility of higher education institutions; 
Whereas the discussion of the Commission communication of 13 February 199419 has 
demonstrated that all Member States are currently considering introducing or overhauling systems 
to improve mutual recognition of academic or professional qualifications; whereas quality 
assurance in higher education can contribute to the necessary flexibility and help to modernise 
higher education institutions; 
Whereas the White Paper Growth, Competitiveness and Employment20 identifies as a weakness at 
European level the lack of an open education area In the Community resulting from an 
insufficiently transparent system of qualifications; it considers the wealth of nations to be 
increasingly based on the creation and exploitation of knowledge and states that the key elements 
in competitiveness include the quality of education and training as well as the way in which 
corporate strategies are able to react to the changes in society; 
Whereas the White Paper on Teaching and Learning21 and the premise of the "learning society", 
on which it is based, stresses the role of education and training as the "main vehicles for self-
awareness, belonging, advancement and self-fulfilment", and that the "individual's place in relation 
to their fellow citizens will increasingly be determined by their capacity to learn and master 
fundamental knowledge"; as the social and cultural functions of education and training on the one 
hand and their economic functions on the other are indlvlsibiy linked, demands In terms of the 
quality of education and training are correspondingly multidimensional and vitally important for all 
European citizens; 
Whereas the Commission Green Paper22 on obstacles to transnational mobility highlights the 
difficulties encountered by students wishing to pursue their studies on a transnational basis and 
stresses that this type of mobility is essential for an education of high quality which can enable 
1 7 Quality Management and quality assurance in European higher education. Methods and mechanisms, Study N° 
1 of the Task Force Human Resources, Education, Training and Youth, Luxembourg 1993 
i8 Information Note on the Results of the European Pilot Projects for Evaluating Quality in Higher Education 
(SEQ96) 800), presented by the Commission to the Council of Ministers on 6th May 1996. 
19 COM(94) 596 final 
20 Growth, Competitiveness, Employment. The challenges and ways forward Into the 21st century, White 
paper, Brussels, Luxembourg 1994, p. 80 
21 Teaching and learning - Towards the learning society, White Paper, Brussels, Luxembourg > 995, p. 16/17 
22 Green Paper - Education, Training, Research - The obstacles to transnational mobility. COM(96) 462 final. 
individuals to meet European and international standards and to take advantage of freedom of 
movement within the Community; 
I. HEREBY RECOMMENDS TO MEMBER STATES: 
A. to establish, within their responsibilities for the organisation of their higher education 
systems, transparent quality assessment and quality assurance systems with the following 
aims: 
to safeguard the quality of higher education within the specific economic, social and 
cultural context of their countries while taking due account of the European 
dimension and of international requirements; 
- to help higher education institutions use quality assurance techniques as steering 
mechanisms to promote organisational flexibility for permanent improvement in a 
rapidly changing environment; 
to underpin European and world-wide cooperation in order to benefit from each 
other's experience for the accomplishment of the two foregoing tasks; 
B. to base systems of quality assessment and quality assurance on the following principles: 
Autonomy and independence of the bodies responsible for quality assessment and 
quality assurance 
These bodies should be autonomous and independent in relation to the political authorities 
and to the higher education institutions themselves in relation to procedural and 
methodological matters. 
Relating evaluation procedures to the profile of institutions while respecting their 
autonomy 
Quality assessment and quality assurance procedures should involve questions of institutional 
self understanding, especially how they define their aims and objectives, be it at the level of 
the institution, of the department or of the discipline, in order to allow for diverse educational 
responses to different societal needs. 
Internal and external procedural elements 
All quality assessment and quality assurance procedures should consist of an internal, self-
reflective component and an external component, based on the appraisal of external experts. 
Involvement of all the players 
The internal element should involve all the relevant players within the institution in the 
process of self-reflexion, especially teaching staff and administrators in charge of academic 
and professional guidance, as well as students. 
The external element should be a process of cooperative consultation and advice between 
independent experts from outside and players from within the institution. 
Alumni, social partners, professional associations and other interested social groups could be 
included in the expert groups in order to bring relevant social and professional criteria to 
bear. 
// is recommended to include foreign experts from other Member States in the groups of 
external experts. They can contribute to quality assessment and assurance by providing 
experiences from abroad, relating the observed processes to standards prevailing in other 
countries and by fostering cultural understanding. 
Publication of evaluation reports 
Reports on quality assessment and assurance procedures and their outcomes should be 
published in a form appropriate to each Member State and should provide a source of good 
reference material for cooperation partners and for the interested public. 
C. to ensure that follow-up measures are taken at national or regional or other level in order 
to enable higher education institutions to implement their plans for improving the quality 
of studies and for integrating graduates into the labour market more effectively. 
D. to ensure that high priority Is given by public authorities and by the management of 
higher education institutions to continuous exchange of experience and cooperation in 
quality assessment and quality assurance with other Member States, as well as with 
international organisations and associations active in the field of higher education; 
II. AND, TO THIS END, REQUESTS THE COMMISSION : 
1. to support the establishment of a "European Quality Assurance Network" of bodies 
responsible for quality assessment and quality assurance, designated by the Member 
States, and of organisations and associations within the European Community with 
quality assessment or quality assurance experience in the field of higher education; 
The tasks of this "Network" could include: 
a) exchange of information and experience through European conferences, workshops 
and by using new technologies; 
b) technical assistance to individual Member State authorities in implementing concrete 
projects for establishing or improving quality assessment and quality assurance 
procedures and mechanisms; 
c) assistance to groups of higher education institutions from different Member States 
who wish to cooperate in quality assessment or assurance, particularly in the 
framework of tiie "Thematic Networks" under the ERASMUS Chapter of the 
SOCRATES programme; 
d) other assistance to higher education institutions including information on new 
methodological developments and examples of good practice, facilitating contact 
with international experts by forming a "pool" or preparing a "tool kit" of 
methodological instruments for obtaining information necessary for quality 
assessment and quality assurance procedures; 
e) linking quality assurance with other Community activities developed especially in the 
framework of the SOCRATES and the LEONARDO DA VINCI programmes, or 
with the recognition of qualifications at European level; 
0 preparation of methods to achieve better integration of graduates in the European 
labour market; 
10 
The "European Quality Assurance Network" will be eligible for financial support in the 
framework of the SOCRATES and the LEONARDO DA VINCI programmes, subject to 
their objectives and normal procedures. A tangible business sector involvement in the 
assurance of quality in higher education is necessary for the latter, but is also desirable 
for SOCRATES; 
2. to present every two years reports to the Council, to the European Parliament and other 
relevant institutions of the European Community on the development of quality 
assessment and quality assurance systems in the Member States and on cooperation 
activities at European level; 
in the light of these reports, to submit appropriate proposals to strengthen quality 
assurance in higher education. 
u 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(97)159fioal 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 16 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-147-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-18319-9 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg