Luxembourg Discusses How to Best Protect Students' Interests at EHEA Meeting

Luxembourg's Ministry of Research and Higher Education has reported that Minister Stéphanie Obertin participated in the ministerial conference of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in Tirana, Albania on Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 May 2024.

Stéphanie Obertin, Luxembourg's Minister for Research and Higher Education, was accompanied by Jens Kreisel, rector of the University of Luxembourg, and Gianni Di Paoli, Vice-President of the ACEL student association in Luxembourg.

According to the ministry, the conference covered several fundamental areas and topics related to the challenges of implementing the key commitments of the Bologna process, the European perspective on internationalisation and mobility, the role of higher education in responding to digital and ecological imperatives, the preservation of fundamental academic values ​​and the social dimension of higher education.

In her speech, Minister Obertin insisted on the fundamental role of quality assurance at European and global level in order to best protect the interests of students. She emphasised that the Luxembourg higher education system, anchored in the principles and commitments of the Bologna Process, strives to defend fundamental values ​​including academic freedom, institutional autonomy, the participation of students and staff and to also meet current socio-economic challenges. This commitment aims to further improve the national higher education space and provide students with optimal conditions to shape their future.

"I strongly believe that quality assurance is essential to build trust within our European Higher Education Area and to promote greater connectivity. This trust will pave the way for the expansion of exchange possibilities and the recognition of certain higher education qualifications," the minister stated while recalling that Luxembourg together with its Benelux partners and the Baltic States recently concluded a treaty for the automatic recognition of higher education qualifications. "This treaty is open for accession by other Member States of the European Higher Education Area and I am hopeful that other countries will follow us in this direction in the future."

Minister Obertin praised the work of the Bologna Process monitoring group, which, through its advice, enabled EHEA countries to guarantee higher education students and staff the best study and work opportunities: "Luxembourg fully supports the Tirana commitments and strives to strengthen and contribute to an inclusive, innovative and interconnected European higher education area."

The next EHEA ministerial conference will be hosted by Romania and Moldova in 2027.