EU states ponder the creation of a European university diploma

The creation of a European university diploma, which is automatically recognized in all member countries of the European Union (EU), was one of the main points discussed this Tuesday in Paris at an informal meeting of Higher Education ministers.

The project, promoted by the European Commission, already has the endorsement of several Member States, although for its implementation it will be “necessary to complete several stages,” said the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education at a press conference. and Youth, the Bulgarian Marija Gabriel.

“The idea is to apply it to bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and doctorates. To do this, the Member States must be provided with a series of common characteristics. Later, it is up to them to incorporate it into their legislation”, explained Marija Gabriel, who hopes to see steps towards that common diploma “between now and 2024″.

This degree would eliminate some of the current obstacles to validate certain university degrees in countries of the community bloc.

The meeting at the City of Sciences in Paris “has been important because it marks a little what the French presidency is going to be, and the following ones of the Czech Republic, Sweden and Spain about the very important role that universities have in the European Union ”, considered the Spanish Minister of Universities, Joan Subirats.

Subirats advocated giving students “a deeper participation” in the content process and about their own role in the European university system, adding that the meeting also discussed the launch of a European student card for this same 2022.

The hostess of the meeting, the French Minister of Higher Education, Fréderique Vidal, insisted on promoting “the attractiveness and competitiveness” of European universities, while saluting “academic freedom and scientific integrity” in Europe.

Vidal also advocated doing pedagogy, explaining the positive impact of research on society.

“Research funding has to be understood by our fellow citizens, because it has to be financed more and better. The researchers themselves must explain it”, stressed the French minister, who gave as an example the studies in physics on lasers that resulted in a technology that is used to cure eye diseases.

From the Czech Republic, the country that succeeds France in the rotating presidency of the EU, the Deputy Minister of International Relations, EU and Cohesion Funds, Vaclav Velcovsky, was present, who opted for the EU members to “share scientific infrastructures” .

Representing Sweden -which will preside over the bloc in the first half of 2023-, its Minister of Education, Anna Ekstrom, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how important medical research has been.

“For example, with the vaccines, the different treatments,” noted Ekstrom, who lamented “the high price” that students have paid for not being able to attend classes regularly.

For the minister, “distance education is better than nothing, but it is not the same. You don’t socialize, you don’t make jokes, you don’t create debates”.

Likewise, he highlighted the pioneering role of universities in Europe, since many of them were created “well before the current borders”.