Collaboration between the EU and the European Higher Education Area （EHEA） in the Field of Higher Education

Abstract

　One of characteristics of the European integration in the field of higher education is the coexistence of two frameworks, namely, the EU and the European Higher Education Area （EHEA）. Although the EHEA is a pan-European intergovernmental framework outside the EU, their areas of action often overlap each other. The existing literature tends to focus on the increasing influence of the European Commission over the EHEA but has not analyzed enough how these two frameworks are intertwined and whether such coexistence contributes to the European cooperation in this field.

　The purpose of this paper is therefore to show the positive aspects of the coexistence of the EU and the EHEA, which can be described as “collaboration” between them. This means that they work together to achieve shared objectives in the common areas of action, while each plays a different role according to its own resources.

　To this end, this paper first overviews the institutional differences and overlaps between the EU and the EHEA: while the two frameworks are different from each other in terms of institutional basis, geographical coverage and involvement of stakeholders, there are also overlaps between them through the participation of the European Commission in the EHEA as a full member and the shared system of rotating presidency.

　Then, this paper examines how the EU and the EHEA collaborate with each other in the actual policy-making process, focusing on a case of establishing benchmarks for promoting international student mobility. This is a clear example of collaboration between the EU and the EHEA, because they share a same target of having at least 20％ of higher education graduates experiencing a study or training period abroad by 2020. This case study indicates that in the policy-making process the European Commission works as a bridge between the EU and the EHEA and the two frameworks play a different role according to their own resources: the EU mobilizes its financial means and expertise, while the EHEA functions as a political arena for consensus building.

　Based on these findings, it can be concluded that through their collaboration the EU and the EHEA complement each other and realize a policy which should be difficult to achieve alone. This implies that the coexistence of two different frameworks can contribute to the progress of European cooperation especially in policy areas in which the EU has only a limited competence like education.