| Abstract: | The various academic recognition instruments in use in Europe are presented and described. These include the oldest ones, the Council of Europe Conventions and then the so‐called Prague Convention, the two UNESCO Conventions concerning Europe, particularly the UNESCO European Convention, and most recently, the General Directives of the European Union for recognition with regard to regulated professions. Because Europe has undergone major political and social changes since the first of these conventions was signed, and higher education itself has undergone great diversification, the time has come to seriously consider the establishment of a joint Council of Europe‐UNESCO Convention. Whereas the Council of Europe Conventions con‐centrated on outcomes and the UNESCO European Convention focussed on recognition processes within the framework of a divided Europe, a combined Convention should be oriented toward acceptance for given purposes. It should include the establishment of a code of conduct and involve the participation of subject‐oriented networks and a system of intermediate classification. It should also rely on a combined system of information networks. |
