The EHEA at the Cross-Roads. The Bologna Process and the Future of Higher Education [Overview Paper]

Abstract

In spring 2014, several members and consultative members of the BFUG launched a discussion of the future of the EHEA in preparation of the 2015 Ministerial meeting. This initiative stems partly form a feeling that the development of the European Higher Education Area is stalling and partly from the fact that ministers seem to lose political interest. The article discusses the future of the EHEA in terms of current actions that need to be wrapped up, the challenge of relating the Bologna Process to developments in other regions of the world, possible new policy priorities, and the need to review the governance of the EHEA. The author argues that the EHEA has undergone four distinct development phases so far and that the outcomes of the debate on the future of the EHEA will determine whether the Yerevan ministerial conference in May 2015 will mark the start of a fifth phase marked by stronger commitment by member countries toward a European Higher Education Area based on commitments that are not only made but also honored.