MEPs should boost interoperability in European study programmes, university alliance speaker says

MEPs should ensure that the interoperability of how European study programmes are provided is improved, according to a speaker from a European universities alliance.

Speaking at a hearing on the European Degree in the European Parliament on 05/11/2025, Andries Verspeeten, team leader of the EU Education Projects at Ghent University in Belgium, part of the ENLIGHT alliance, said that "joint programmes are a cornerstone to ensure that higher education remains future-proof and replies to the objectives of competitiveness", adding that "after all these years, regrettably, issues in recognition remain".

ENLIGHT is a European University alliance of ten universities from Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Despite some successful international joint programmes, administrative barriers often prevented the award of a single joint degree, he said. As a result, graduates typically received multiple separate diplomas, a patchwork sometimes called a “lasagna of degrees”, caused by differing institutional, regional, and national…