§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the conclusion of the Berlin Conference on the Bologna Process for higher education institutions, held in September 2003. [131534]
§ Alan JohnsonThe Government welcome the outcomes of the recent Berlin ministerial meeting on the Bologna process of European higher education reform. The process of reform will make it increasingly easy for students and researchers to gain the social and educational benefits from studying in another European country. In Berlin, Education Ministers set clear goals for 2005 on making progress across Europe on degree structures, on credit systems and on quality assurance. This will ensure that there is no danger of the process of reform slowing down.
In addition, another seven countries joined the Bologna process in Berlin. This raises to 40 the total number of countries committed to working together to build a successful and attractive European higher education area by the end of the decade, an important plank of the Lisbon agenda on competitiveness.