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Vol.1981/0072

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(81)186 final
Brussels.29April1981
/'ν···ιίκ^Ο_V.έ\
Xs Wv\••Y
-.>■1;P.!\!»►
ACADEMIC RECOGNITION OFDIPLOMAS
ANDOFPERIODS OFSTUDY
(Communication fromtheCommission totheCouncil)
COM(81)186final

ACADEMIC RECOGNITION OFDIPLOMAS AND OFPERIODS OFSTUDY
INTRODUCTION
*
1.Atthemeeting oftheCouncil and oftheMinisters ofEducation
meeting within theCouncil ,held on27June 1980 ,theNetherlands
delegation introduced astatement totheeffect "that substantial .
progress should bemade inthefield oftheacademic recognition
ofdiplomas alongside themutual recognition ofdiplomas (whether .
university orotherwise ),right ofestablishment andfreedom topro­
vide services ".The Council took note ofthis statement and the
Education Committee wasinstructed tostudy this question inthe
light ofthecomments made .This statement followed examination
/
.oftheprogress report prepared bytheEducation Committee on ,■,
the implementation oftheaction programme inthe field of
education ,embodied intheResolution oftheCouncil andofthe
Ministers ofEducation meeting within the Council adopted on
9February 1976 .
A
2.The latter Resolution hadidentified asone ofits sixmajor \
themes thenecessity topromote cooperation inthe field of
,higher education .Inparticular ,paragraph IV.16oftheaction
programme provided foraction "tobeundertaken atCommunity level
toincrease thepossibilities fortheacademic recognition of
diplomas and study periods and studies .carried out .Inparticular ,
areport should bedrawn upanalysing the^current situation with
regard totheacademic recognition ofdiplomas andcontaining -
proposals fortheimprpvement ofthesituation and,ifnecessary ,
forthedevelopment ofanetwork ofagreements *andconsultations
between those responsible foreducation policy andcooperation
between higher education institutions tofacilitate therecognition
ofperiods ofstudy andstudies carried out .
(2)3.The Council Resolution of6June 1974 onthemutual recognition
ofdiplomas ,certificates andother evidence offormal qualifications
inSection I,acknowledged thepositive contribution that educational
policies should make towards thefreedom ofestablishment ",inpar­
ticular with regard tothe .liberal professions .Inaddition ,the .
Council acknowledged that Directives onthe right ofestablishment ,
inparticular concerning the liberal professions ,were ofimportance
inconnection witli education policies ..
(1)O.J. No.C38of19-02„1976
(2)0-J.NoC98o* 08.1974 * ./.

4.ThepreambletotheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomic
Community,*^*affirmedthedeterminationcftheHighContracting
Partiesto"laythefoundations ofanevercloserunionamong
thepeoplesofEurope",andtheirresolution"toensurethe
economicandsocialprogressoftheircountries bycommonactionto
eliminatethebarrierswhichdivideEurope".InArticle3Section
(c),oneoftheprincipalactivities ofthe'Communitytothis
endwas"theabolition ofobstaclestofreedomofmovementfor
persons".
5.Theseobjectives aredeveloped morefullyintermsoftheirapplication
insubsequentarticlesoftheTreaty.Article49providesforthe
Counciltoissuedirectives ormakeregulations settingoutthe
measuresrequiredtobringaboutfreedomofmovementforworkers,in
particular bysystematically andprogressively abolishingall
restrictions regardingthefreechoiceofefifployment.Article57.1,
moreover,providesthat"inordertomakeiteasierforpersons
totakeupandpursueactivities asself-employed persons,theCouncil
mayissuedirectivesforthemutualrecognition ofdiplomas,certi­
ficatesandotherevidenceofformalqualifications ."Thesealready
. .,..(4),...(5) .- (6)existinrespectofdoctors,dentists,veterinary surgeons,
nurses^andmidwivesf^Draftdirectivesforotherliberal
professions aireinvariousstagesofconsideration intheCouncil.
(3)Rome,25.03.1957
(4)O.J.No.167of30.6.1975
(5)O.J.No.L.233of24.8.1978
(6)O.J.NoL.362of23.12.1978
(7)O.J.NoL.176of15.7.1977
(8)O.J.No.L.33-of11.2.1980

6.Reference should also bemade toArticle 128 ofthe Treaty which
requires theCouncil to"Laydown general principles forimplementing
acommon vocational training policy "asone ofthemeans ofdeveloping
national economies and the common market .The Council Decision of
(9)2April 1963 laid down general principles forimplementing a
common vocational training policy ,and inparticular theeighth
principle provided for such apolicy to"besoframed astoenable
levels oftraining tobeharmonized progressively "and for "the
mutual recognition ofcertificates andother documents confirming
completion ofvocational training ."
7.Inaddition tothe foregoing Community instruments ,anumber of
European conventions have been adopted bythe Council ofEurope and
UNESCO ,which have been taken fully into account intheelaboration
ofthis communication .
a)The Council ofEurope 'sConvention ohtheequivalence ofdiplomas
leading toadmission touniversities ,^?^ andtheprotocol to
(11)this Convention , towhich allMember States oftheEuropean <
Community are signatories ,provide that anyone who hasobtained
the requisite qualification foradmission toahigher education
institution inhisowncountry will beadmitted (subject tothe
availability ofplaces ),tosimilar institutions inother member
countries onthebasis ofthemutual recognition andacceptance
V ' - -
oftheequivalence ofhisqualification .
/ -
*
b)TheEuropean Convention ontheequivalence ofperiods of
(12)university study , provides fortherecognition ofaperiod of
study spent byastudent inauniversity ofanother member
country ,asbeing equivalent toasimilar period spent inthe
home university ,especially inthefield offoreign languages .
(9)O.J. No63of20.04.1963
(10)European Treaty Series no15/Paris ,11.12.1953
(11)European Treaty Series no49,Strasbourg ,03.03.1964
(12)European Treaty Series no21,Paris ,15.12.1956

c)TheEuropean Conv ntion ontheacademic recognition ofuniversity
<1:>qualifications , ~provides fortheacademic recognition of
foreign university qualifications forthepurposes ofpursuing
further university studies orthe use ofacademic titles conferred
byforeign universities .
d)TheUNESCO Convention ohtherecognition ofstudies and ofdiplomas
(IMinhigher education incountries intheEuropean region ,
provides forthe recognition ofuniversity entrance qualifications
topermit theholders topursue studies inhigher education
institutions inthemember countries (subject totheavailability
ofplaces )andtothefulfilling ofanyspecial linguistic
requirements .
AIMS AND NEEDS
8.Itisuseful toidentify five separate levels atwhich thequestion
oftherelative value ofqualifications orofperiods ofstudy may
arise ,namely :
-entry into afirst higher education course inanother Member State ;
-transfer ,without loss ofacquired rights ,from ahigher education
course commenced inoneMember State ,toasimilar course in
another Member State ;
-pursuit ,ofpostgraduate studies orresearch inanother Member State ;
-taking upemployment orself-employed activities inoneMember
State with qualifications acquired inanother Member State ;
-career development andprogression inanother Member State .
9.Itisessential tounderline theimportance ofacademic recognition
(amutual comparability ofstandards ,based upon adequate and
accurate information ,andmutual trust ),forthepurpose offacilitating
mobility between higher *education institutions ,andprofessional
recognition ,forthepurposes oftaking upandpursuing thepractice
ofparticular occupations which iscovered bytheprovisions of
Articles 49and 57oftheTreaty .
(13)European Treaty Series no32,Paris ,14.12.1959 ^
(14)UNESCO ,Paris ,21.12.1979 ../

Inthecase ofthe liberal professions ,and inparticular those ■ '
which arethesubject ofCouncil directives relating tothemutual
recognition ofdiplomas ,qualifications obtained asaresult of
pursuing appropriate courses inhigher education institutions form
anintegral part ofthose required foraccess to,andpractise of,
theprofessions concerned .
®The Commission therefore considers that thequestion ofacademic
recognition ofdiplomas andperiods ofstudy constitutes
one ofthevital elements ofacomprehensive strategy designed to
remove obstacles tothe freedom ofmovement ofpersons .This is
especially important inthepresent circumstances ofhigh unemployment ,
infacilitating theefforts ofthose whowish tolive andwork in
another Community country .Within theEuropean Community this question
isofwide public interest ,evidenced bythevery large number of
enquiries addressed tothe Commission byindividuals ,institutions
andemployers ,onthe relative value ofqualifications acquired or
ofperiods ofstudy spent inother Member States .This isnotonly *
true fornewentrants totheprogrammes orfor students oncompletion
oftheir degree courses butalso forthe individual throughout his
orher career .Jtisopportune tolaunch acoordinated set of
measures atCommunity level toprovide thebasis forquestions of
academic recognition tobefully appreciated bytheinterested parties
inthevarious Member States .Theprincipal aims ofsuch aplan should
be:- ■ .
(a)toremove anomalies ,misunderstandings andinjustices resulting
from thewidespread lack ofauthoritative information on
equivalence matters among theMember States ;
(b)toobviate anyconfusion ,andcases ofindividual hardship ,
resulting from the lack ofanyCommunity-wide system ornet­
work ofagreements ontheacademic equivalence andcomparability
ofthevery wide range ofdiplomas ,certificates andqualifications
awarded bythevarious national ,regional orother administrative
authorities ,orbyindividual higher education institutions ^™
^theMember States ;^

(c)toenable higher education institutions tobebetter informed of
-Γ-
thedevelopment OTnew types OTdegree courses inother Member
States ,inthe light ofthechanging requirements ofthe labour
market ,and
(d)toeliminate amajor obstacle currently impeding student mobility
inthe Community .
12.TheCommission considers that thetime hasnow come tosuggest
possible guidelines for further work inthis area .The remainder of
this communication therefore indicates progress todate intackling
these problems ,and finally sets out arange ofmeasures which could
progressively contribute towards removing some ofthedifficulties
identified .
Theactions proposed together constitute ameans offacilitating
thecomparability ofdiplomas andcertificates forallnon-regulated
professions .They are also designed tofurther the free movement
ofstudents ,and toenable their prospective employers inthevarious
Member States tointerpret the relative value oftheir qualifications .
The Commission also considers that such actions could contibute tothe
achievement ofthe more specific provisions set out inArticles 49
and 57oftheTreaty ,and could thus also contribute towards facilitating
access totheprofessions .
13.Indesigning future activities ,theCommission recognises the
importance ofeducational reform inthevarious Member States .
s
Account must betaken oftheconstantly changing situation in
the structures and approaches tohigher education and ofthe
increasing development ofvocationally-oriented courses especially by
higher education institutions other than universities ,such as
Polytechnics .What isrequired therefore isaprocess whereby up
todate inforamtion ondevelopments inhigher education ,andonthe
constantly changing nature ofcourse provision ,canbereadily and
rapidly exchanged among theMember State 'sonacontinuing basis .
14.Community activities inthis field should continue tocomplement the
implementation byMember States ofthevarious Council ofEurope
(15)Conventions . towhich they arealso signatories .Itisat
(15)See §7.
./

this stage desirable tobuild ontheterms ofthese Conventions , .
without envisaging anewmulti-lateral agreement assuch atCommunity
level ,byensuring thepractical measures which will free theinfor­
mation gap .
Inthelight offurther experience ,theCommission will also bein_
aposition toidentify gaps intheexisting European Conventions .
i ^ ;
» .
15.inthis waytoo,existing bilateral andmulti-lateral agreements •I
between Member States ,aswellasinter-institutional agreements j
arising from thejoint programmes ofstudy scheme ,maybetaken ,!
increasingly into account .Inthe long term itmaybepossible to j
4 •
come toaCommunity-wide framework ofagreements bybuilding upa
network ofbilateral andother agreements .This could include j
extehding arrangements forcredit transfer relating towhole courses , i
N I.4
orpart courses ,and totheestablishment ofspecial agreements J;
between institutions ,national administrative authorities ,orother
validating authorities forthereciprocal validation ofeach others' I.
courses . j,
. ' ■ . ; • ■ il
'PROGRESS TODATE i!
•''' ■ ' i !'•
16.Inimplementing theeducation action programme ,theCommission
i
■ • . _•.• - Iprepared an expert report ontheacademic recognition ,of - j|
diplomas intheEuropean Community .This report which hasbeen
published bythe Commissi on, analysed thevarious obstacles in
this field anddescribed inparticular all themultilateral and .
' .• ' I:
bilateral agreements existing asatJuly 1977 . j;
.■ ■'• ' '' ■" j';
17.TheEducation Committee also set intrain in1976 ascheme of . !
Community grants tosupport thedevelopment ofjoint programmes ,[;
/ . I
ofstudy between institutions ofhigher education inthedifferent iΜ7Γ 'ίMember States ,aspart oftheaction embodied inthe 1976 Resolution .
Th"Tsscheme nowembraces atotal of174different joint programmes i
involving 276institutions ofhigher education (university andnon- |
university )intheCommunity .Ithasalready played aconsiderable .
role inthedevelopment ofgrass-root level cooperation intheplanning j
ofdegree courses ,aperiod ofstudy abroad asanintegral part of *
(16)Education Studies Series No.10,1979
(17)See §1

astudent 'sdegree course ,'and insome cases themutual recognition ■
ofwhole orofpart courses runjointly bytwo*ormore institutions .
Inview ofthelarge degree ofautonomy enjoyed byuniversities in
theprogramming ofthei rdegree courses andintheadmission ofstudents ,
this method ofdeveloping cross-frontier c6ntact hasprovided direct
experience ofthedifferent systems andstandards ofcourses and
qualifications .Thehigher education community haswarmly welcomed this
approach bytheCommunity ,building from thebase rather than
attempting toprovide some common formula across theCommunity as
awhole .
18.Inthe last twoyears ,theEuropean Centre fortheDevelopment of •>
Vocational Training (CEDEFOP ),incollaboration wich theAdvisory j
Committee onVocational Training ,hasalso been engaged ina !
continuing examination oftheapproximation oflevels oftraining . I
Thework done inthis context ,particularly atlevel 5(training at "j
higher orfull university level )will betaken into account bythe
Commission infuture developments concerning ''iemutual recognition |
ofdiplomas forboth academic and professional purposes .
19.TheEducation Information Network intheEuropean Community -
EURYDICE -became operational in1980 .Consisting ofanational
unit orunits (asappropriate )ineach Member State ,with aCentral
Unit located inBrussels alongside theCommission 'seducation '
services ,itserves theinformation needs ofeducational policy-makers 1
intheCommunity . , '
20.One ofEURYDICE 'sfour priority areas ofwork is"policies and
conditions ofadmission ofstudents tohigher education ".Enquiries
onvarious aspects ofthis problem areaddressed tothe national
units and tothe central unit ofthe network .
\ .
Resources donot atpresent permit thewidening oftherange of -
themes with which EURYDICE isconcerned ,beyond thefour priority
»
themes adopted forthe initial phase ofoperation ,nor ,theextension ^
oftherange ofusers beyond thecategories ofpolicy-makers
identified bytheMember States andbytheCommission .Butclearly , - ;
eventual conversion toacomputerised system will induecourse permit *
ι
such enlargement oftheprovision .Itwill beessential totake advantage
\
ofthestructures andproblems already established byEURYDICE ,and j
i
for ittobeclosely associated with anydevelopments emerging from -* i
i
theinitiatives suggested inthis Communication . \

.GUIDELINES FORTHE FUTURE . '
21.TheCommission suggests that themost effective wayofbuilding
ontheresults ofthevarious activities outlined intheprevious
section would beasfollows :-
ι
(1)theestablishment ofanetwork ofNational Academic Equivalence
Information Units intheMember States .These could bebuilt on
existing structures where they already exist andareoperational ,,
asisthec«)seinsomeMember States ,j
The function ofthese units would betocollect and transfer
. *
authoritative information onacademic qualifications ;they could
have novalidation function assuch norduplicate anynational
degree awarding machinery .
There should beopen access tosuch units ,buttheprincipal
users would bestudents ,their parents ,-advisers ,teachers ,
andprospective employers .
(2)theestablishment ofacentral coordinating activity forthe
operation andexploitation oftheCommunity-wide network within
theCommission 'sservices ,with which thecentral unit ofEURYDICE
would beclosely associated soastoensure maximum useofthe
channelling anddissemination systems developed under its >
auspices .
(3)theCommission would organise aprogramme oftwice-yearly meetings
oftheHeads ofNational Units ,todiscuss trends ,thedevelop­
ment oftheservice ,andproblems arising ,andthis group could
serve astheeditorial board forany joint publications .
(4)theCommission would organise anannuaLmeeting ,bringing
r
together theHeads oftheNational Academic Equivalence Information
Units ,together with representatives ofhigher education
institutions intheMember States ,toexchange ideas andinformation
ondevelopments "andtrends atnational level ,and toadvise the
Commission with regard tofuture' needs which could bemetthrough
the Network . ,

(5)for themedium term ,thenetwork should plan tomake use ofthe
new information technologies tostore and review data onthe
degree courses ofeach Member State ,andalso take advantage of
themulti-lingual thesaurus which isnowbeing developed jointly
bytheCommission and the Council ofEurope ;
(6)theproduction ofahandbook andreport every three years ,
containing information onequivalence agreements ,lists ofdiplomas ,
certificates and other qualifications recognised asequivalent ,
andguidance astosources offurther advice andhelp ;
(7)theallocation ofadditional resources toprovide for the
further development oftheexisting Community scheme ofgrants
forthedevelopment ofjoint programmes ofstudy between insti­
tutions ofhigher education indifferent p,0mber States ,andthe
wider dissemination -bymeans ofpublications ,conferences and
workshops -ofthevaluable experience scfargained inthecontext
ofthis programme soastoensure participation bymost higher
education institutions .
TIMETABLE AND BUDGETARY ARRANGEMENTS
\
I
22.Itisenvisaged that iftheCouncil agrees wit(i the lines of
development advocated inthis communication ,some preliminary work would
0
beundertaken bythe Commission inliaison with theEducation Committee
during 1982 ,with aview tohaving afully operational network in
existence bythebeginning of1983 .
23.Budgetary provision fortheactions proposed will bemade inaccordance
with the normal Community procedures .
»

Budæt La«e
Article 630 (formerly 3920)» ;
Implementation ofxheeev»o&tion programme .
Academic recognition ofdiplomas andofperiods ofstudy#
Basis for expenditure
Council Decisión of2»4*19^3 (0«J»No63of20»4»1963 )
Council Resolution of6<-5.1974 (C.J. KoC98of20.8.1974 )
Resolution oftheCouncil andMinisters ofEducation of9.2.1976
(O.J.NoC38of19.2.1976 )
Description ofthe pro.iect
Thedevelopment ofaseries ofmeasures atCommunity -leve1andat
Member State level ontheacademic recognition ofdiplomas andof
periods ofstudy .Such measures would include theestablishment
ofanetwork ofnational equivalence units ,working inclose
association with theEURYDICE network ,regular exchanges ofviews
among thecompetent persons intheMember States ,thepublication i
ofanequivalence handbook every three years ,andthefurther \<
development ofthe joint programmes ofstudy scheme .
Theactions envisaged would beofacontinuing nature .Some
preliminary work would beundertaken intheperiod uptothe er.dof
1982 ,with aview tohaving acompletely operational information
network inexistence in1983 *
Justification ofthe project
Toremove anomalies ,misunderstandings ,injustices andconfusion
resulting from agreat lack ofinformation onequivalence matters
among theMember States ;
Toenable higher education institutions tobebetter informed a?-<I
thus torespond more effectively tothechanging requirements of
thelabour market ;and
Tocontribute towards increasing student mobility intheCommunity *
Financial implications
Thebudget provision for1981 »andthat currently envisaged for1982 ,
related tothedevelopment ofthese actions allows foronly modest
preparatory work tobeundertaken between now andtheendof19&2.
Theactions proposed therefore would become acharge ontheGeneral
Budget oftheEuropean Communities from thefinancial year 1983 onward .
Details are asfollows :

ι
Action
«Τ–- "
Seetor
of
Article
630y'JÍ'ÜSL
1Q°,2 ι»9Ms ·,/ΛJJ3BUDGBT
1984(ECU)
19851986
1.Additional resources
requiredtoenableETJRYIiICE
tocarryadditionaltechni-
calloadinfulfilling
clearing-house function
-2multi-lingual document-
aliGts
-1multi-lingual Secretary
-officespaceandequip­
ment
-officeadministrative
costs(telex,phone,
postjcopying,etc»)
TOTALC(a)
-53.000
27*000
50,000
20.000
(Charge
euchun150,000212.5OO227.000243.000
2.Costsofstaffingard
runningofnational
equivalenceunits- againstr
itadonoiationalt
a.lraadyudgots,w
exiet)lere
3.Productionofequivalence
handbook–editorial and
preparatory workD(d)50,000100-000132.000 I5O.OOOI65.OOO
4oDevelopment ofJoint
StudyProgrammes SchemeD(c)450*000 600-XXj65O.OOO700,00c 75O.OOC
TOTALS !
1
1500„ooo85c-000
.v_'I
994.5001»077.0a
J1.158,00c
Creditsto"beinscribedintheCommunities 5GeneralBudgstyArticle630
(formerly3920).
6.Staffing
Amemorandumrelatingtostaffingrequirements (1A,1B,1Cposts)has"been
submitted ,totheDirector-General forPersonnelandAdministration .These
requirementswillbetakenintoaccountintheoveralldemandforstafffor
theDirectorate-General forEmploymentandSocialAffairsfor1932.
7*TYpeofmonitoringtobeapplied
Controlofexpenditurewill"beexercisedinaccordancewiththeCommission's
normalrules(CGXLZ,FinancialControlandtheCourtofAuditors)#
/.

-23-
Inaddition,atthetechnicallevel,theEducationCommitteeestablished
inaccordancewiththeResolutionoftheCouncilandMinistersof
EducationmeetingwithintheCouncilof9February1976,coordinates and
supervisestheimplementation ofactionprogrammesinthefieldof
educationandreportsregularlytotheCouncilandtheMinistersof
EducationmeetingwithintheCouncilonprogressachieved*
ThefinancingofactionsatCommunitylevelwillbeinaccordancewith
Communitybudgetaryrulesandprocedures *