The Context for a European Framework for Psychologists' Training

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the context in which the European Framework for Psychologists Training was developed over a 2-year period 1999-2001. The increasingly global context in which European psychologists have to function suggests that the costs of not having a common framework are too great. Pressures by the European Union to promote mobility and convergence across the European member states create further impetus for a common framework. The wider European context provides an interesting tension between diversity and overarching common commitments and principles. It is suggested that the benefits of a common framework outweigh the disadvantages. These benefits include greater student and staff mobility, a clearer identity of European psychology, increased opportunities to attract world-class scholars to European universities, enhanced transparency of qualifications, and common solutions to problems at a European level. We argue that European psychology cannot afford not to have a common European framework for education and training and conclude with a projection and suggestion of what might be achieved in next 10 years.