A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

36

May 2008

The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) was founded in Brussels on March 4, 2008. Set up by the E4 group (ENQA, ESU, EUA i EURASHE), it will become operative in the second half of 2008.

The new register, which is a milestone in the Bologna Process reforms and originated from the meeting of European ministers for higher education in Bergen 2005, where the E4 was commissioned to establish guidelines for it to be set up that were adopted at the 2007 meeting in London, aims to provide clear and objective information on the reliability of quality assurance agencies in Europe.

The EQAR also aims to help improve the quality of European higher education and to promote greater student mobility by increasing trust between higher education institutions. The register will provide a means for HE institutions (where national regulations permit) to either choose between different agencies on the register or be reviewed by different agencies to consolidate their international reputation. It is a landmark for cooperation between QA agencies to build trust and facilitate mutual recognition, and also to facilitate the accountability of QA agencies listed on the European register.

Inclusion on the EQAR, which is voluntary, will be based on compliance with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance. Applications will be accepted from the summer of 2008 onwards.