Bologna Objectives and Their Fulfilment

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the European agenda driving policy change. The idea of a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was initially linked to the enlargement of the European Union to include Central and Eastern European countries. The central political purpose of the EHEA, as expressed in the Bologna Declaration, was to ensure greater compatibility and comparability between European higher education systems, aiming to fulfil the three overarching objectives of the Bologna Process: employability, mobility and international attractiveness of European higher education. The argument developed is that the objectives to be met are associated with the establishment of structures, routines, standards, shared meanings and resources, which are key to the achievement of the objectives, and that these objectives are also influenced by the interaction between different levels of political coordination.