thank you for that question because it is very relevant these days
i would like to highlight that under the umbrella of the lisbon strategy for growth and jobs the commission has for several years been pursuing its modernisation agenda for european higher education
this agenda is particularly focused on the three specific areas of curricula governance and funding
reforms in the area of curricula are largely pursued within the framework of the bologna process which seeks to create a european higher education area by twenty ten
as you know the bologna process is not a commission initiative but an intergovernmental process of forty-six european countries
the commission however recognises its utmost importance and has joined the process and is fully supporting it because of its relevance to its own modernisation agenda for higher education
just to highlight some of the related initiatives over the past year i would mention the fostering of the knowledge triangle by creating the european institute for innovation and technology encouragement for recognition of education and training across europe the introduction of the european qualification framework for lifelong learning the european credit transfer and accumulation system diploma supplements and european credits for vocational education and training
one of the goals is also to make european higher education more transparent and comparable and therefore the projects for classification and ranking of higher education institutions are under way
the commission also recognises the high importance of today's and tomorrow's labour markets and the challenges which this brings especially for the young generation and we have therefore come up with the new skills for new jobs initiative and the establishment of a university business forum where very important exchanges of views opinions and experience are taking place both in academia and businesses
regarding the european higher education area there is consensus among the participating countries that although a lot has been achieved up to now and since nineteen ninety-nine the project will not come to an end in twenty ten but will continue at least until twenty twenty
from the commission perspective the bologna process should in the coming years focus on how to further promote mobility in higher education strengthen the social dimension through equitable access to higher education and develop the global dimension of the process meaning cooperation between european higher education institutions and their partners worldwide
