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Joint European Degree Label

Joint European Degree Label

The Label
2026 Pilot Evaluation
Importance of the Project
Evaluation Reports

The Label

The Joint European Degree Label is an initiative of the European Commission that represents a first step towards a future European degree. It is a quality label awarded to joint programmes delivered by consortia of higher education institutions from several European countries that meet a set of common European criteria.

The purpose of this label is to strengthen the transparency, visibility and recognition of high-quality joint programmes, promote transnational cooperation, and foster a shared European approach to quality assurance aligned with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).

In this regard, the initiative seeks to advance towards a single European framework that enables degrees to be designed, delivered, evaluated and awarded in a coherent and integrated manner.

2026 Pilot Evaluation

Within this strategic and regulatory framework, the European Commission is promoting the implementation of the European Degree Label (EDL) through two lines of action. On the one hand, in November 2025 it published two Erasmus+ calls —ERASMUS‑EDU‑2025‑PI‑FORWARD‑HE and ERASMUS‑EDU‑2025‑PE‑EUED— addressed respectively to agencies and higher education institutions. On the other hand, in March 2026 it offered technical assistance to quality assurance agencies interested in implementing this process.

Following an enquiry from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, AQU Catalunya and Euskal Unibertsitate Sistemaren Kalitate Agentzia (UNIBASQ), both registered in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), expressed their interest in receiving this technical assistance.

The European Commission confirmed the participation of AQU Catalunya and UNIBASQ in this initiative, which is being implemented through a pilot evaluation designed as a practical implementation exercise. Within this framework, AQU Catalunya acts as the awarding body for the label, while UNIBASQ participates in the evaluations as an observer.

The purpose of this evaluation is to analyse the degree of compliance with the Joint European Degree Label criteria, in accordance with the Operational Guide for the Joint European Degree Label developed within the framework of the Policy Lab.

The awarding body, in this case AQU Catalunya, must conduct the compliance assessment in accordance with the operational guide in order to ensure consistency, comparability, transparency and confidence in the evaluation results.

To carry out the pilot evaluation, AQU Catalunya has signed two agreements to assess the following degrees:

Master in Global Challenges for Sustainability (90 ECTS), academically coordinated by Trinity College Dublin and administratively coordinated by the Universitat de Barcelona within the framework of the CHARM-EU European alliance.
Joint Master Programme in Marine Biotechnology, coordinated by the Universidad Católica de Valencia within the framework of the EU-CONEXUS European alliance.

The outcome of the pilot evaluation is the issuance of a report on the programme’s level of compliance with the criteria established for the European Degree Label.

In addition, AQU Catalunya will award the label to the degree programme, and the university will issue a certificate to students graduating from it.

Importance of the Project

AQU Catalunya has become the first quality assurance agency to award the Joint European Degree Label, a milestone of particular strategic significance that places it in a leading position in the initial implementation of this instrument within the European Higher Education Area.

This pioneering role strengthens AQU Catalunya’s credibility and international standing and demonstrates its ability to participate in highly complex European initiatives and anticipate new quality assurance frameworks. At the same time, it helps increase its visibility within the European system, particularly within EQAR and other leading international organisations.

In a broader context, this achievement also projects the Catalan university system as a leading actor at the European level, creating opportunities for the universities involved and strengthening internationalisation and transnational cooperation strategies.

Finally, beyond its reputational value, the project enables the Agency to acquire direct and specialised knowledge regarding the application of the evaluation model associated with the Joint European Degree Label, positioning it as a reference point for the development and future implementation of this instrument at the European level.