EU degree talks overshadowed by ongoing row about Hungary

European Union (EU) ministers debated the development of a European degree system at an informal meeting of higher education and research ministers in Budapest, Hungary, on 16 and 17 September, although the meeting was overshadowed by an ongoing row about Hungary’s access to EU education and research programmes.

Balázs Hankó, Hungary’s culture and innovation minister, complained that Marc Lemaître, the European Commission’s research and innovation director general, had been blocked by Brussels from speaking at a post-meeting press conference.

Instead, Hankó, whose country holds the rotating six-monthly presidency of the EU Council of Ministers (until 31 December), spoke alone.

“Unfortunately, I was informed one hour ago that he was not allowed to join me after we had a good discussion during the day. It's not easy to have cooperation and dialogue with the commission,” said Hankó.

Hungary’s exclusion

Much of Hungary’s higher education system has been locked out of the EU’s student exchange programme Erasmus+ and its Horizon Europe research cooperation scheme since January 2023, over concerns about Hungary's operation of universities and higher education institutions by “public interest trusts”.

The commission claims that these bodies give excessive control over higher education institutions to Hungary's right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Hankó said the commission had yet to respond to a document sent by the Hungarian government nine months ago that sought to allay EU concerns about academic independence in Hungary.

“We do hope that Brussels will take the necessary measures,” said the minister, adding: “Nor can we ignore that for more than nine months Hungarian students have not received an answer as to why they are excluded from the Erasmus programme and Hungarian researchers from the Horizon programme. If you want a competitive Europe, international cooperation is absolutely essential.”

The minister said the Hungarian government would table reforms to its higher education governance system to its parliament anyway and hoped this would force progress on the impasse.

European degree system

As for the EU-wide issues under discussion, the proposed European degree system was a key topic, given the idea had been proposed by the European Commission in a policy paper (communication) issued in February 2024.

This kind of EU degree would be awarded after transnational bachelor, masters, or doctoral programmes, delivered by national, regional, or EU HE institutions. Its validity would be automatically recognised across the EU and awarded jointly and on a voluntary basis by groups of universities across Europe, following a common set of criteria agreed at an EU level.

Proponents of the European Degree say it would simplify collaboration and mobility between universities by harmonising national regulations – and would also offer students more opportunities for study across Europe, enhancing their employability, while simplifying processes for universities.

But there are challenges to overcome, including the diversity of national education systems, mutual recognition of qualifications, and financial sustainability.

While the European Commission eschewed comment on the European degree proposal at the event, it has released a briefing note supporting the idea.

It argued that an EU degree would boost European competitiveness “by equipping graduates with future-proof skills to master the green and digital transitions”. And it would be “a strong symbol of our common European identity and strong sense of European belonging, reinforcing our common academic values and bringing people and universities together”.

Students would gain more opportunities to study at various universities in different EU countries and to graduate with one universally recognised diploma, said the Commission, offering “access to innovative and transdisciplinary learning opportunities across campuses…”.

According to a report on the discussion posted on the Austrian government’s European Research Area or ERA portal, the discussion focused on “how to ensure that the proposed European Degree respects the diverse educational traditions and national competences of Member States, while promoting deeper integration and balanced brain circulation among higher education institutions”.

Delegations also exchanged views on how to prevent institutions unable to issue joint degrees from facing competitive disadvantages.

Speaking in Hungarian via a translator, Hankó told the press conference the meeting had had “quite a heated debate about the European degree”. He claimed the commission’s proposal had run into opposition, but progress could be made via consensus.

The minister said there had been criticism of suggestions of a Brussels-based body deciding “what universities and degrees can be awarded in Europe, [as] many countries believed this goes against national systems”.

Hankó, whose Eurosceptic government has defended national government powers in Brussels, argued a European degree system “should take into account national characteristics”, and build on the existing Bologna Process mutual recognition and standards system.

Non-EU member state Switzerland attended the meeting, with its State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation Martina Hirayama noting the “important discussions about ... possible
European degrees”.

She said the “very well-established Bologna process system” already helps standardise higher education quality and degree recognition across Europe, stressing: “There are quite a few questions to discuss about a new kind of degree.”

European competitiveness

Ministers also discussed how EU higher education can further deepen and reform the EU single market, following the April report on the topic by former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta.

They also assessed how higher education can boost EU competitiveness, following the report by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on the future of the EU's competitiveness, released on 9 September.

In this regard, a meeting note from the Hungarian government said it was “convinced that improving the effectiveness of the European research and innovation ecosystems is a key instrument to strengthen the EU's competitiveness”.

A key concern is the “fragmentation” of the European Research Area (ERA), which tries to integrate EU innovation and research policies through an array of policy instruments, such as the ERA Forum, the European Research and Innovation Area Committee (ERAC) and the Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe.

Hankó told the press conference in English: “Europe is lagging behind in the global race ... in education [and] lagging behind in research compared to both North America and Asian countries. There is consensus in the EU that we need to take steps to improve our competitiveness.”

He said the Draghi report “provided an excellent basis for the Hungarian presidency to work on this issue” – national presidencies run meetings of the EU Council of Ministers during their terms of office.

“We need a competitive turnaround. If we look at the last decade alone, we see that the European Union scientific performance has declined by eight percentage points. Europe reached 95% of US productivity by 1995 but has since fallen to 80%,” said Hankó.

He touted the so-called “Hungarian model” of how Europe's competitiveness can be improved – orienting academia towards business and industry.

“That is why we are proposing to restore the so-called strategic partnership that is about cooperation between universities, vocational training centres and, of course, the business sector,” he said.

‘Two-speed’ Europe

Raising concerns about a “two-speed Europe” – a common Hungarian government refrain – he highlighted the steep regional contrasts in scientific performance, with only 8% of applicants in Central and Eastern European countries (which countries account for 24% of the population in Europe) accessing EU scientific research funding; a proportion Hankó said was far higher in Western Europe.

How can these problems be resolved? “Strong nations; strong research cooperation – that’s how we will have strong Europe,” he said.

Echoing Donald Trump, a vocal fan of his boss, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hankó said: “That's what we recommend to member states of the European Union and the European Commission to make Europe great again.”