Howard Davies Senior Adviser European University Association IHEQN, Dublin, October 2006

1. The impact of European developments on professional accreditation & recognition and on HE QA processes Howard Davies Senior Adviser European University Association IHEQN, Dublin, October 2006

2. ‘never the twain shall meet?’ – … a Greek dentist delivering professional services in Poland to Irish clients; holding a qualification awarded by a Romanian HEI, validated by a British university accredited by UK and US agencies…

3. Multiple discontinuities the inter-governmental Bologna Process and the EU the European Higher Education Area [EHEA] and the European Research Area [ERA] the segmentation of the European Commission the location of HE at all levels of EU legal competence the three qualifications frameworks

4. Recent EU legislation • Directive 2005/36/EC on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications • Decision 2241/2004/EC on a single Community framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences (EUROPASS) • Recommendation 2006/143/EC on further European cooperation in quality assurance in higher education • Proposal for Recommendation on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (COM[2006]479)

5. The three qualifications frameworks • Bologna Process: Bachelor, Master, Doctorate • European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning [vocational education and training + higher education] • Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications 2005/36/EC [three categories of profession: sectoral, transitional, general]

6. The Bologna QF • Bachelor, Master, Doctor: a three-tier QF facilitating recognition, transparency and mobility • Bergen 2005 adopted the ENQA standards and guidelines: the principle of peer review; agreement on process at institutional and agency levels • Bergen also mandated E4 [ENQA, ESIB, EUA, EURASHE] to explore the concept of a register of QA agencies current debates: independence from government, ENQA membership, exclusion of rogue operators, location and management

7. Involvement of EU in the Bologna quality assurance regime [1] • 1998 the first Recommendation on cooperation [98/561/EC] • 2000 the establishment of ENQA • 2004 the draft second Recommendation on further cooperation: free choice of primary accreditation agency • 2005 the Bergen inter-ministerial meeting • 2006 the second Recommendation: free choice of supplementary agency, if allowed by national legislation

8. Involvement of EU in the Bologna quality assurance regime [2] • 2004 the draft Recommendation proposed accreditation agencies in the fields of chemistry, engineering, music • … a proposal now resurfacing as European Quality Labels: see http://www.cpe.fr/ectn-assoc/eurobachelor - chemistry http://www.feani.org/EUR_ACE/EUR_ACE_Main_Page.htm - engineering http://www.aecinfo.org – music

9. The European Qualification Framework for lifelong learning • a framework of eight levels, to which national frameworks are to be referenced by 2009: levels 6-8 are congruent with Bologna, but specified in a manner which is not coterminous with the Dublin Descriptors • no specification of course duration; no precise linkage to ECTS • full articulation with Diploma Supplement to be in place by 2011 • recent call for proposals to test national and sectoral QFs against EQF, with decision in October 2006 • EQF ‘does not apply to situations covered by Professional Qualifications Directive’ – but progressive alignment implied

10. The Professional Qualifications Directive [1] • to facilitate mobility of established and temporary service providers; • to progress the Lisbon Agenda by contributing to the integration of the market in services; • to guarantee high standards of health, safety and consumer protection; • to clarify the rights and responsibilities of home and host countries vis-à-vis migrant professionals; • to streamline the acquis

11. The Professional Qualifications Directive [2] Three categories of professional qualification: 1. the sectoral: doctor, dentist, general care nurse, midwife, veterinary surgeon, pharmacist, architect recognition via agreed minimum training conditions 2. the transitional: craft professions recognition by duration and recency of professional experience 3. those in the general system: not covered elsewhere recognition by reference against a 5-level grid and by disparity management (adaptation periods, aptitude tests)

12. Current trends • The Lisbon Agenda and the completion of the internal market in services by 2010 • Pressure from the Commission to dismantle protectionism in the liberal professions • The Commission’s agenda for the modernisation of HE • Increasing transparency of costing and pricing in HE • Increasing portability of grants, loans and debt • Growth of for-profit private HE sector, joint ventures, PPPs

13. The Services Directive • Derogation of professional qualifications from country of origin principle • The historic compromise: ‘a balance between market opening, public services and social and consumer rights’ • Second Reading by European Parliament now in train • Healthcare services excluded from scope of Directive • Education also excluded – by virtue of case law [263/86] • Is sectoral legislation possible in the field of education?

14. Services of general economic interest • The definitions of ‘service’, ‘service of general interest’ and ‘service of general economic interest’ lack consistency • An eventual Framework Directive on SGEIs? • The Commission Communication on social services of general interest [SEC(2006)177] poses the key question: How to strike a balance between fundamental rights, social cohesion, subsidiarity, public good, competitiveness and economic efficiency? • HE and the professions – in building a strong consensus – must follow this debate

15. Where the twain shall meet? • updating existing legal instruments in line with Bologna and EQF? • putting all professional qualifications into the general system? • using ECTS for disparity management in the general system? • regulating entry to specific professions at the same academic level in all territories covered by the Directive? • generalising the generic and specific competences specified by Tuning? • using the common platforms? • using European Quality Assurance Forums to address the alignment of professional qualifications with Bologna?

16. Thank you for your attention howard.davies@eua.be www.eua.be