Bologna Process and Montenegro’s participation within the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG)
The Bologna Declaration is a joint declaration of European ministers of education, signed in Bologna in June 1999, aimed at reforming the higher education system in Europe, and serves as the foundation of the Bologna Process.
By participating in the Bologna Process, the signatory countries of the Bologna Declaration confirm their involvement in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
The EHEA initiative was officially launched on March 12, 2010, at the Ministerial Conference in Budapest and Vienna. Its goal is to intensify cooperation among higher education institutions across Europe and enhance mobility. Currently, 49 countries constitute the European Higher Education Area.
The main goal of implementing the Bologna Declaration is to guarantee every student the acquisition of quality knowledge, skills, and competencies that make them competitive in local, regional, and global labor markets.
The Bologna Process achieves this goal through a reformed higher education system composed of three study cycles and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) as a measure of study workload.
The reformed system also includes the introduction of quality assurance and continuous quality monitoring, the Diploma Supplement as a supporting document describing the study program and acquired knowledge, skills and competences, increased mobility of students and staff, recognition of qualifications and diplomas in line with the Lisbon Convention, inclusion of students as partners in the educational process and in decision-making, as well as the development of the lifelong learning concept.
Montenegro has participated in the Bologna Process since 2003, and at the Ministerial Conference held in London in 2007, Montenegro’s membership and status in the process were confirmed as an independent and internationally recognized state. Through its participation in the Bologna Process, Montenegro confirms its involvement in the EHEA. At the Ministerial Conference in Yerevan in 2015, Montenegro committed to consistently implementing the “European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).” Guided by this goal, the Government of Montenegro established the Agency for Control and Quality Assurance of Higher Education (ACQAHE) in 2017.
Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG)
The BFUG is the executive structure overseeing the Bologna Process and was formed in 1999. It is responsible for preparing ministerial conferences and policy forums, monitoring the Bologna Process between conferences, and producing implementation reports. BFUG meetings play a key role in the development of the EHEA.
In March 2023, the Ministry of Education appointed Milica Kavedžić, Deputy Director of ACQAHE, as Montenegro’s representative in the BFUG. This renewed Montenegro’s international presence in the core structure of the EHEA after a long absence.
At the Ministerial Conference held on May 29–30, 2024, in Tirana, Albania, the new Tirana Communique was adopted. This document outlines the framework for action within the higher education system across the EHEA until the next Ministerial Conference and also introduced certain reforms and trends in quality assurance to begin in 2025.
The Montenegrin delegation participated in the mentioned Ministerial Conference, thereby committing to the implementation of the adopted reforms within the EHEA.
The Tirana Communique reaffirmed the EHEA countries’ commitment to fulfilling the three key obligations of the Bologna Process: the three-cycle structure of studies, recognition of diplomas, and quality assurance in higher education.
Furthermore, quality assurance in line with the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG), academic integrity, student inclusion in governance structures, lifelong learning, achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), appropriate application of artificial intelligence (AI), and student mobility (at least 20% of students) represent some of the main guidelines for future development directions of higher education until 2030, as defined in this document.
The implementation of the agreed obligations arising from the Tirana Communique requires the active contribution of all stakeholders in the higher education system to ensure students receive quality higher education based on the fundamental values defined in this document.