Quality assurance in higher education: European cooperation

The rapporteur stressed the importance of mobility within the current context of economic globalisation. As a result, Mrs Heinisch welcomed the Commission’s proposal which concentrated more on mobility than quality. The rapporteur also stressed the need to preserve the independence of universities and to build a true European network which could only be achieved in a climate of mutual confidence. In the same respect, she proposed that the central and eastern European countries should become involved in creating this network. Commissioner Bjerregaard underlined the difficulty of defining ‘quality’ in terms of further education as it was impossible to unequivocally qualify the different working methods and educational traditions of Member States. While welcoming Parliament’s constructive proposals, the Commission could accept only 17 out of the 38 amendments proposed. All the amendments which referred to third countries and research had to be rejected.