European Parliament resolution of 25 October 2018 on promoting automatic mutual recognition of diplomas (2018/2838(RSP))
Date: 2018-10-25
Institutions: Committee on Culture and Education, European Parliament
Subjects: cooperation in the field of education, diploma, educational exchange, higher education, mutual recognition principle, recognition of diplomas, recognition of studies, recognition of vocational training qualifications, secondary education, vocational training








C_2020345EN.01007801.xml










16.10.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 345/78






P8_TA(2018)0437
Promoting automatic mutual recognition of diplomas
European Parliament resolution of 25 October 2018 on promoting automatic mutual recognition of diplomas (2018/2838(RSP))
(2020/C 345/14)

The European Parliament,






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having regard to Articles 26, 53 and 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),










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having regard to the European Council conclusions of 14 December 2017 on promoting cooperation of Member States on mutual recognition of higher education and school-leaving diplomas at secondary education level,










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having regard to the Council Recommendation of 22 May 2017 on the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning and repealing the recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (1),










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having regard to the 2012 Bucharest Communiqué,










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having regard to the Commission proposal of 17 January 2018 for a Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (COM(2018)0024),










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having regard to the Commission proposal of 22 May 2018 for a Council Recommendation on promoting automatic mutual recognition of higher education and upper secondary education diplomas and the outcomes of learning periods abroad (COM(2018)0270),










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having regard to the question to the Commission on promoting automatic mutual recognition of diplomas (O-000084/2018 — B8-0415/2018),










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having regard to the motion for a resolution of the Committee on Culture and Education,










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having regard to Rules 128(5) and 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,










A.


whereas learning mobility fosters skills, competences and knowledge while promoting European values and active participation in society;










B.


whereas mutual recognition of diplomas and the outcomes of learning periods abroad enables Member States to intensify and accelerate their cooperation in education and training, and illustrates one of the concrete benefits of EU cooperation to citizens;










C.


whereas improving recognition procedures for higher education and upper secondary education diplomas and for the outcomes of learning periods abroad is a prerequisite for the establishment of a European Education Area (2) by 2025;










D.


whereas substantial progress has already been made at higher education level, in particular through regional agreements between some Member States that can serve as inspiration for achieving automatic recognition within the European Education Area;










E.


whereas mutual recognition processes for upper secondary education qualifications and for the outcomes of learning periods abroad during secondary education remain underdeveloped;










F.


whereas learning mobility in the EU has been gaining importance in terms of both actual volumes of students and capacity and learning opportunities;










G.


whereas fair and transparent recognition of foreign qualifications is both a technical goal of the Bologna Process and a fundamental value underpinning an open, inclusive European Higher Education Area (EHEA);










H.


whereas the right to education is a fundamental human right that needs to be universally guaranteed;












1.


Calls on the Member States to make a political commitment and put in place mechanisms for the automatic mutual recognition of higher education and upper secondary education qualifications, as well as the outcomes of learning periods abroad, in line with the objectives of the European Education Area; calls on the Commission to support the achievement of this objective by fostering mutual learning and exchange of good practice, such as the regular issuing of ‘statements of comparability’ of upper secondary education diplomas and the consistent use of the ECTS grading table;












2.


Asks Member States to increase transnational cooperation and to make use of new technologies in order to increase efficiency, reduce costs, improve transparency and build trust to that end, with a view to taking advantage of the educational and job opportunities stemming from the internal market; stresses also the need to work together with the Commission to effectively develop and put in place the European student card with the aim of facilitating the mutual recognition of diplomas and learning periods abroad, while reducing administrative burdens and costs for students and education institutions;












3.


Calls on the Member States to start a cooperation process on general secondary education and training aimed at fostering transparency and building trust between different education and training systems;












4.


Calls to mind the importance and potential of EU funding sources and the Erasmus+ programme in particular for promoting mobility at all levels of education and establishing European Universities and joint masters degrees;












5.


Recalls to that end the importance of guaranteeing the inclusiveness of the EU mobility programmes, in particular by ensuring the participation of people with disabilities and of those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds;












6.


Calls on the Member States to facilitate the integration of newly arrived students, refugees and migrants into the education environment by ensuring that the initial recognition of their diplomas or outcomes of learning periods abroad by an EU Member State does not entail excessive administrative burdens;












7.


Calls on the Member States to put in place mechanisms facilitating the automatic mutual recognition of diplomas and outcomes of learning periods abroad by 2025 in line with the objectives of the European Education Area and building on existing frameworks, including the EU key competences framework; stresses also in this regard the importance of mutual links and complementarity between the European Education Area and the European Higher Education Area;












8.


Acknowledges the positive example set by the European Baccalaureate for cooperation between Member States on the recognition of upper secondary education qualifications; recommends, however, that Member States remove any undue obstacles to swift and transparent recognition of European School grades for access to higher education;












9.


Recommends that Member States ensure, with a view to achieving automatic mutual recognition of diplomas and fair access to higher education institutions, that all European students are entitled to attend upper secondary education under the same conditions as nationals of that Member State, by having the right to be placed in a class with their own age group, at the equivalent level to their class in their country of origin, regardless of their language level;












10.


Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.






(1)  OJ C 189, 15.6.2017, p. 15.

(2)  https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/communication-strengthening-european-identity-education-culture_en.pdf