Creation of the European degree: a year of decisive yet cautious progress

On 12/05/2025, European ministers for higher education adopted a resolution establishing a joint European degree label and the next steps towards a possible European degree, based on a gradual approach. This decision came at the end of "a difficult negotiation process," said Andrzej Szeptycki, President of the Council during the Polish Presidency of the EU. Through a selection of articles, News Tank looks back at the different stages that led to the resolution.

A year earlier, in March 2024, the European Commission presented its "Higher Education package", proposing a gradual approach to Member States to "move at their own pace towards a commonly defined objective. They will have different entry points: a label and a European degree". Some countries are indeed reluctant to go as far as a European degree, as David Itier, head of the European strategies department for the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, confided on 28/08/2024.

For some stakeholders, such as Leru, this package is the hallmark of a "compromise solution". For The Guild, "although this choice reflects…