The Lisbon Recognition Convention, officially the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region, is an international convention of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

elaborated together with the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

. This is the main legal agreement on

credential evaluation Credential evaluation is the way in which academic and professional degrees earned in one country are compared to those earned in another. Universities, colleges and employers around the world use credential evaluations to understand foreign educ ...

in Europe. As of 2012, the convention has been ratified by all 47 member states of the Council of Europe in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

except for Greece and

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. It has also been ratified by the Council of Europe non-member states Australia,

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, Canada, the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, Israel,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

and New Zealand. The United States has signed but not ratified the convention.

Aims

The Convention stipulates that degrees and periods of study must be recognised unless ''substantial differences'' can be proved by the institution that is charged with recognition. Students and graduates are guaranteed fair procedures under the convention. It is named after

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

, where it was signed in 1997, and entered into force on 1 February 1999 (or later in some countries, subject to ratification date).

Convention bodies

The convention established two bodies which oversee, promote and facilitate the implementation of the convention: # the Committee of the convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning

Higher Education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

in the European Region, and # the

European Network of Information Centres The European Network of Information Centres (ENIC) were established in 1994 as a joint initiative of UNESCO and the Council of Europe. They are intended to implement the Lisbon recognition convention (LRC) and, in general, to develop policy and ...

on Academic Mobility and Recognition (the ENIC Network). The committee is responsible for promoting the application of the convention and overseeing its implementation. To this end, it can adopt, by a majority of the Signatory Parties, recommendations, declarations, protocols and models of good practice to guide the competent authorities of the Parties. Before making its decisions, the Committee seeks the opinion of the ENIC Network. As for the ENIC Network, it upholds and assists the practical implementation of the convention by the competent national authorities.

Bologna Process

The Lisbon Recognition Convention is an important instrument for the Bologna Process which aims at creating the "

European higher education area The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was launched in March 2010, during the Budapest-Vienna Ministerial Conference, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Bologna Process. As the main objective of the Bologna Process since its ince ...

" by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe.

Historical background

The possibility for students to study abroad has been recognised as an essential element of European integration since the foundation of the

in 1949. Within the Council of Europe, several international treaties were elaborated in this field: starting with the right to education under Article 2 of the first Protocol of 1952 to the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...

, the European Convention on the Equivalence of Diplomas leading to Admission to Universities was opened for signature in 1953, the European Convention on the Equivalence of Periods of University Study in 1956, the European Convention on the Academic Recognition of University Qualifications in 1959, the European Agreement on continued Payment of Scholarships to students studying abroad in 1969, and the European Convention on the General Equivalence of Periods of University Study in 1990. In addition, under Article 2 of the Council of Europe's European Cultural Convention of 1954, each Contracting Party shall, insofar as may be possible: encourage the study by its own nationals of the languages, history and civilisation of the other Contracting Parties and grant facilities to those Parties to promote such studies in its territory; and endeavour to promote the study of its language or languages, history and civilisation in the territory of the other Contracting Parties and grant facilities to the nationals of those Parties to pursue such studies in its territory.

References

Lisbon Recognition Convention
*

External links

List of signatory states
{{Authority control Educational assessment and evaluation Education treaties Higher education accreditation Academia in Europe Council of Europe treaties UNESCO treaties Treaties concluded in 1997 Treaties entered into force in 1999 1997 in education Treaties of Albania Treaties of Andorra Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of Bulgaria Treaties of Canada Treaties of Croatia Treaties of Cyprus Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Estonia Treaties of Finland Treaties of France Treaties of Georgia (country) Treaties of Germany Treaties of Hungary Treaties of Iceland Treaties of Ireland Treaties of Italy Treaties of Latvia Treaties of Liechtenstein Treaties of Lithuania Treaties of Luxembourg Treaties of Malta Treaties of Moldova Treaties of Montenegro Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of Norway Treaties of Poland Treaties of Portugal Treaties of Romania Treaties of Russia Treaties of San Marino Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Slovenia Treaties of Spain Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of Australia Treaties of Belarus Treaties of the Holy See Treaties of Israel Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of New Zealand Treaties of Tajikistan 1997 in Portugal Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to the Caribbean Netherlands Treaties extended to the Isle of Man