Work programme of the Bologna Follow-Up Group 2001-2003
Seminar on the Social Dimension of the Higher Education Area
Bologna Follow-Up Seminar "Exploring the Social Dimensions of the European Higher Education Area".
Athens, Greece 19-20 February 2003 Divani Caravel Hotel
The seminar focused on three main issues and the challenges they pose for the construction of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
These three issues are:
- the social dimension of the EHEA,
- higher education as a public good and
- higher education in the GATS [General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) within the World Trade Organisation (WTO)] negotiations.
Each of these tree issues were dealt with in the answers to the questionnaire that was sent out by the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs before the seminar, were analysed by several speakers and were the topic of working group discussions.
The draft report by Stephan Neetens tries to put forward a generally acceptable synthesis of questionnaire answers, speakers' input and working group results for the three main issues. At the same time it makes some careful proposals of passages to be included in the communiqué that the European ministers of education will agree upon at their next ministerial summit in September 2003 in Berlin.