EQF - European Qualifications Framework
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EQF - European Qualifications Framework
The EQF will make the current official validation (homologation) procedures unnecessary in most cases.
The EQF was adopted by the European Parliament and Council on 23 April 2008. The EQF encourages countries to relate their qualifications systems or frameworks to the EQF by 2010 and to ensure that all new qualifications issued from 2012 carry a reference to the appropriate EQF level.
The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting workers' and learners' mobility between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning. The EQF will relate different countries' national qualifications systems to a common European reference framework. Individuals and employers will be able to use the EQF to better understand and compare the qualifications levels of different countries and different education and training systems.
For example: At present, an enterprise in France may hesitate to recruit a job applicant from, say, Sweden, because it does not understand the level of the qualifications presented by the Swedish candidate. But once the EQF is fully implemented, a Swedish person's certificates will bear a reference to an EQF Reference Level. The French authorities will have already decided where their own national certificates in the field concerned lie, so the French enterprise would use the EQF reference to get a better idea of how the Swedish qualification compares to French qualifications.
The EQF applies to all types of education, training and qualifications, from school education to academic, professional and vocational. The system shifts the focus from the traditional approach which emphasises 'learning inputs' such as the length of a learning experience, or type of institution.
It also encourages lifelong learning by promoting the validation of non-formal learning like the one provided by Bircham International University.
Recognition of diplomas in the European Union
Recognition of titles is an important instrument to facilitate the free movement of students and of graduates in Europe. Also at the occasion of the "Prague Ministerial Conference" on Higher Education (May 2001), "Ministers strongly encouraged universities and other higher education institutions to take full advantage of existing national legislation and European tools aimed at facilitating academic and professional recognition of course units, degrees and other awards, so that citizens can effectively use their qualifications, competencies and skills throughout the European Higher Education Area". In order better to understand the Community rules on the recognition of diplomas, a distinction must first be made between recognition for academic purposes (i.e. : you would like your title to be recognized because you wish to continue your studies) and recognition for professional purposes (i.e. : you would like your title to be recognized because you wish to work in a certain profession).
Academic recognition
There are not European provisions imposing recognition of diplomas (except for certain regulated occupations). That is why there are currently no diplomas that are recognized at European level for academic purposes. Universities, which are autonomous institutions, are entirely responsible for the content of their curricula and for awarding diplomas and certificates to students. The diplomas and certificates are recognized by the authorities of the Member State concerned. However, the European Commission has encouraged mutual recognition (for academic purposes) between the various education systems in Europe.
Professional recognition
As regards recognition for professional purposes, it is important to distinguish between professions that are regulated from the standpoint of qualifications and non-regulated professions. A profession is said to be regulated when it is a statutory requirement to hold a diploma or other occupational qualification in order to pursue the profession in question. In that case, the lack of the necessary national diploma constitutes a legal obstacle to access to the profession.
It is important to note that the EU Directives did not set up a system of automatic equivalence between diplomas. There is no such thing as a list of diplomas that are automatically recognized at European level, since a diploma is not recognized for its intrinsic value but according to the profession to which it gives access in the country which awarded it. It is for the person concerned to submit an individual application specifying clearly which occupation they wish to pursue.
If the profession you wish to pursue is not regulated, you are subject to the rules of the labor market and the behavior of that market and not to any legal constraints with regard to your diploma. In that case, the system of recognition provided for by the EU Directives referred to above is not applicable. However, even if the said Directives are not applicable, you still have certain rights as regards the recognition of your diploma. The authorities of the host country are in any event obliged, under the Articles on freedom of movement of the EC Treaty, to take account of your professional diplomas and qualifications acquired in another Member State.
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