The Mutual Recognition of Degrees within the European University

The right to education and the right to pursue studies, professional qualifications and academic advancement in a country other than one's country of origin were not explicitly provided for in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, as such matters fell within the exclusive competence of each Member State. Since then, however, the need to guarantee continuity in education and to ensure the recognition of qualifications obtained abroad has become increasingly evident as a condition for advancing European integration. There has been a gradual shift towards promoting the right to continue education and academic development as a means of fostering social cohesion and building a shared identity, alongside the objective of creating a single market in services, including through the mutual recognition of professional qualifications. In this particular context, a set of regulations concerning the recognition of study periods and qualifications was introduced to encourage the mobility of students and academic staff. European degree models, that move towards new forms of academic networks and of EU grouping for academic cooperation, such as European universities alliances, must be analysed within this context, as they seek to ensure equal access to knowledge through the establishment of mutual recognition mechanisms for school and academic qualifications. Those models can thus provide both a legal and an institutional basis for the further development of academic recognition systems, as a means of supporting the free movement of persons for educational, academic and professional purposes, thereby laying the foundations for new models of mutual recognition.