Work programme 2009-2012
Bologna Follow-Up Group 2009-2012
An overview of the Bologna Follow-up Group and BFUG Board meetings between the Ministerial Conferences of Leuven / Louvain-la-Neuve 2009 and Bucharest 2012 is provided in this page.
BFUG Meeting
BFUG meeting 18 - Stockholm 28 to 29 September 2009
BFUG Meeting 18 Stockholm Sept 2009 - Draft outcome of proceedings
BFUG meeting 19 - 30 November to 1 December 2009
BFUG Meeting 19 Brussels Nov 2009 - Draft outcome of proceedings
BFUG meeting 20 - Madrid 18 to 19 February 2010
BFUG Meeting 20 Madrid Feb 2010 - Draft outcome of proceedings
BFUG meeting 21 - Alden Biesen 24 to 25 August 2010
BFUG Meeting 21 Alden Biesen Aug 2010 - Draft outcome of proceedings
BFUG meeting 24 - Gödöllő 17 to 18 March 2011
BFUG Meeting 24 Gödöllő March 2011 - Draft outcome of proceedings
BFUG meeting 26 - Kraków 13 to 14 October 2011
BFUG Meeting 26 Cracow Oct 2011 - Draft outcome of proceedings
BFUG meeting 26 Cracow October 2011 - Draft outcome of proceedings Annex QA thematic session
BFUG meeting 28 - Copenhagen 18 to 19 January 2012
BFUG Meeting 28 Copenhagen Jan 2012 - Draft outcome of proceedings
BFUG meeting 28 Copenhagen January 2012 - Draft outcome of proceedings Annex thematic session on Qualifications Frameworks
BFUG meeting 30 - Copenhagen 19 to 20 March 2012
BFUG Meeting 30 Copenhagen March 2012 - Draft Outcome of Proceedings
BFUG Meeting
BFUG Board 20, Stockholm 4 September 2009
BFUG Board 21, Madrid 28 January 2010
BFUG Board 21 Madrid Jan 2010 - Draft minutes
BFUG Board 23, Andorra la Vella 11 February 2011
BFUG Board 23 Andorra Feb 2011 - Draft minutes
BFUG Board 25, Yerevan 7 September 2011
BFUG Board 25 Yerevan Sept 2011 - Draft minutes
Meeting BFUG Board – Higher Education Researchers, Brussels 16 November 2011
Meeting BFUG Board and Higher Education Researchers - Conclusions for the BFUG
BFUG Board 27, Copenhagen 30 November 2011
BFUG Board 27 Copenhagen Nov 2011 - Draft minutes
BFUG Board 29, Baku 21 February 2012
BFUG Board 29 Baku Feb 2012 - Draft minutes
Chairmanship
Since 1999, Ministers have met every two years to assess progress made and to decide on new steps to be taken. The follow-up structure supporting the process in-between those ministerial meetings has emerged gradually; the arrangement as it existed up to 2009, was agreed upon by Ministers at their meeting in 2003 in Berlin.
Ministers entrust the implementation of all the issues covered in the Communiqué, the overall steering of the Bologna Process and the preparation of the next ministerial meeting to a Follow-up Group, which shall be composed of the representatives of all members of the Bologna Process and the European Commission, with the Council of Europe, the EUA, EURASHE, ESIB and UNESCO/CEPES as consultative members. This group, which should be convened at least twice a year, shall be chaired by the EU Presidency, with the host country of the next Ministerial Conference as vice-chair.
In their Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Communiqué, Ministers endorsed the already existing support structure as “fit for purpose” and decided to establish a co-chairmanship composed by the country holding the EU presidency and a non-EU country.
The current chairing of the EHEA arrangements have been endorsed by the ministers in and are detailed in the document BFUG (ES) 20_7c Briefing Note for Decision by the Ministers - issue date 12.02.2010
With the Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Communiqué the Ministers decided that in the future, the Bologna Process would be co-chaired by the country holding the EU presidency and a non-EU country. To put this decision into practice, the Bologna Follow-up Group at its meeting in Stockholm on 28-29 September 2009 agreed:
- to treat the EU Presidency and the non-EU country as two chairs (rather than as chair and co-chair) to signal very clearly that the Bologna Process will be chaired on equal footing by the EU Presidency and a non-EU country.
- to leave it to each chairing team to define the exact division of tasks between the two chairs and the vice chair(s)
- to start the new chairing arrangement on 1 July 2010.
- to apply the alphabetical order when designating the chair from a non-EU country.
- to adjust the composition of the BFUG Board by replacing the three elected members with the outgoing, present and incoming non-EU chairs.
This resulted in the following chairing arrangement up to the 2012 Ministerial Meeting:
| Semester | EU-Presidency | Chair from non-EU country | Vice-Chair |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 July - 31 December 2010 | Belgium | Albania | Romania |
| 1 January - 30 June 2011 | Hungary | Andorra | |
| 1 July - 31 December 2011 | Poland | Armenia | |
| 1 January - 30 June 2012 | Denmark | Azerbaijan |
- Handover ceremony between Belgium-Albania and Hungary-Andorra 30 November 2010
BFUG Chairs Handover BE-AL - HU-AD, 30 November 2010, Budapest - all documents - Handover ceremony between Hungary-Andorra and Poland-Armenia 22 June 2011
BFUG Chairs Handover HU-AD - PL-AM, 22 June 2011, Warsaw - all documents - Handover ceremony between Poland-Armenia and Denmark-Azerbaijan 29 November 2011
BFUG Chairs Handover PL-AM - DK-AZ, 29 November 2011, Copenhagen - all documents
The Chairs have a joint responsibility to take forward the aims and actions laid down by Ministers responsible for Higher Education in the Bologna Declaration and subsequent Communiqués of Ministerial Conferences. They chair both the Bologna Ministerial Meetings and the Bologna Policy Forum, in close cooperation with the Vice-Chair (the host country), as well as in the sessions of the Bologna Follow-up Group or BFUG Board meetings. They jointly represent the EHEA in European and international fora. The division of tasks between the Chairs will be decided in the beginning of the mandate by each pair of Chairs, with no obligation of maintaining the previous arrangement.
In the decision-making process the Chairs assume the task to lead the way towards compromise in cases of controversy, and to provide political impetus for moving the Bologna Process forward.