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Maastricht European Studies Papers 2007/07 L. Unbehauen
conferences, communiqués and policy declarations, which are all structured around a series of
biennial ministerial meetings” (Keeling, 2006, p. 207).
3. The Content and Development of the Bologna Process
The first incentive for closer European cooperation in the field of education was given by the
so-called Sorbonne Declaration, signed the 25 th of May 1998 by the education ministers of
France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. Its aim was the harmonization of the
architecture of the European Higher Education System, focusing on progressive convergence
of the overall framework of degrees and cycles, a common degree level system and the
facilitation of student and teacher mobility (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research,
2004c, p.1). This precursory declaration was the necessary push for the Bologna Declaration,
which was adopted on the 19 th of June 1999 by 29 ministers of higher education.
The Bologna Process can be divided into ten interlinked action lines that together form
a comprehensive reform package. The six original objectives which form the core of the
Bologna Process are defined as followed:
1. Adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees
This includes that from 2005 onwards a Diploma Supplement has to be given to all
students automatically when they graduate without charging a fee. In this supplement,
issued in one mayor European language, the content and type of study are explained in
order to promote greater insight for future employers from other countries or further
studies (Bologna Declaration, 1999).
2. Adoption of a system essentially based on two main cycles
This action line demands the introduction of a three years undergraduate cycle (Bachelor)
whose successful completion is the prerequisite for the graduate cycle (Master). The
Bachelor degree will also be sufficient as an appropriate level of qualification for the labor
market (ibid.). The introduction of these two main cycles has taken varying speeds in the
member states, mostly due to fears that the “new system would threaten the quality of
degrees (…) and undermine their proud academic tradition” (Coss, 2004, p. 1).
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