About the Bologna Process - How it works...
The Bologna Process is taken forward through a work programme that receives orientations from ministerial conferences every two years. These conferences are prepared by a Bologna Follow-up Group, which in turn receives input from working groups and Bologna Seminars.
Ministerial Conferences
| Bologna, 18-19 June 1999 | Bologna Declaration | |
| Prague, 18-19 May 2001 | Prague Communiqué | Conference website |
| Berlin, 18-19 September 2003 | Berlin Communiqué | Conference website |
| Bergen, 19-20 May 2005 | Bergen Communiqué | Conference website |
| London, 17-18 May 2007 | London Communiqué | Conference website |
| Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve,
28-29 April 2009 |
Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Communiqué | Conference website |
| Budapest/Vienna, 10-12 March 2010 |
Conference website |
Bologna Follow-up Group
Oversees the process between the ministerial conferences and is composed of:
- representatives of the 46 countries participating in the process of creating the EHEA;
- European Commission as additional full member;
- eight consultative members, namely Council of Europe, UNESCO's European Centre for Higher Education, European University Association, European Association of Institutions in Higher Education, European Students' Union, European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, Education International Pan-European Structure, and BUSINESSEUROPE.
The Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG) meets at least once every six month, is chaired by the country holding the Presidency of the European Union and is supported by a Bologna Secretariat, currently provided by the Benelux countries (as host of the next ministerial conference). The host of the next ministerial conference also acts as vice-chair of the BFUG.
Working Groups
At its meeting in October 2007, the Bologna Follow-up Group adopted a work programme for the time leading to the next ministerial meeting in April 2009 and established working or coordination groups on the following topics: data collection, employability, European higher education in a global setting, lifelong learning, mobility, qualifications frameworks, social dimension, and stocktaking.
Bologna Seminars
Valuable input for working groups, Bologna Follow-up Group and ultimately ministerial conferences comes from a number of official Bologna Seminars that are organised on a variety of issues all over Europe. Those Seminars usually serve the dual purpose of policy development and dissemination and are open to a wide range of participants involved in higher education and higher education policy-making. For more information, please consult our list of official Bologna Seminars 2007-2009.