Project:
The idea is not to create in the near future a legally binding instrument that should be common to all EU countries.
Instead, the idea is rather to create a context for interested universities that facilitates the possibility to deliver a degree joint and common to several institutions from Member States.
Professions with automatic recognition of qualifications such as the one of dental practitioners could greatly benefit from a joint degree programme.
For one single reason :
A mutual trust does not always accompany the automatic recognition of dental qualifications.
Differences in the training exists indeed among European countries whether :
-on duration (from 5 years in general to 6 years in Iceland, Italy, France),
-on hours (from a minimum of 5000h to a total of 6170 in Bulgaria, 8250 hours in Denmark, 9000 hours in Switzerland),
-on access to clinical training (for instance : France (University of Rennes): 1900h in pairs. Finland (University of Turku): 1050 hours for individuals. Spain (two Madrid universities): 840 hours and 900 hours in pairs. See source 1 at the bottom of this article),
-on the national system of internal and external quality insurance applied to the teaching of dentistry.
A joint degree between partner universities could be an instrument for overcoming those differences and, consequently, for facilitating the mutual trust on professional qualifications delivered by dental schools participating to a joint degree.
This is not wishful thinking if we consider that in a recent study conducted for the Commission, 84% of surveyed national and regional authorities responded that a European degree “would improve the global reputation of European higher education” (see page 4 of this Communication).
Especially in dentistry since :
i)A minimum list of training items has been already set in EU law since 1978 (see Annex 5.3.1 of Directive 2005/36) and is under revision in early 2024.
ii)A much comprehensive and detailed list of competences to get by the end of a dental training has been already drafted in 2017, updated in 2023, by European academics and supported by dental regulators (its name : « The Graduating European Dentist » from the ADEE), with apparently a fair use among dental schools of Europe.
iii) Some existing university alliances in the European Economic Area cover the dental field.
iv) Dentistry is a regulated profession where EU qualifications benefit from an automatic recognition. This automatism is precisely the missing virtue for a majority of other regulated profession in Europe: “almost all countries have regulated professions, each with its own requirements and list of regulated professions. This diversity makes it challenging to set up joint programmes in these fields“(Commission Staff Working Document (SWD(2024) 74 final), accompanying the Communication on a blueprint for a European degree, p.65. See also page 17) .
In one word : It looks like at the crossroads of the European Education Area and the European Health Union lays the prospect of a joint degree in dentistry.
This EU Commission’s initiative fits into a broader framework:
In her State of the Union 2023 letter of intent, President von der Leyen highlighted the joint European degree as a “key priority” for 2024.
Following the public consultation led in February this year, the EU Commission has finally adopted on 27 March its Communication on a blueprint for a joint European Degree that presents the objectives and possible avenues for setting-up a joint European degree.
A “key flagship of the European strategy for universities“, “a cornerstone of European higher education“, “a hallmark of the European Education Area” : a lot is expected from it.
Next steps for a common degree in Europe for the next generation of students:
“Given the diversity of European higher education systems“, the Commission proposes to follow a “gradual approach with two possible entry points“:
- a preparatory European label: joint programmes which meet the proposed European criteria would be given a preparatory European label and students would receive a European degree label certificate together with their joint degree;
- a European degree: a new type of qualification anchored in national legislation, based on a set of common criteria, awarded jointly by several universities or a common legal entity established by such universities, and automatically recognised.
Though education and training are competences run by Member States, the Commission is much enclined to work with universities and national authorities.
It envisages to :
-develop a “European degree policy lab” in order “to develop detailed guidelines and action plans for the implementation of a European degree with national experts, higher education institutions” (which should include, we hope, European associations of educators from dedicated fields), “quality assurance/accreditation agencies, students” (idem), “and economic and social partners” which will be identified in due time : let us be sure that regulators will be anxious to share their opinions on this future diploma;
-set up an “annual European degree forum” in order to monitor progress and provides guidance.
A ‘sine qua non’ condition to support this approach & facilitate trust in quality:
To support this and to support the higher education sector more generally, the Communication looks at ways to improve quality assurance processes of qualifications in higher education.
The Commission proposes to update a 2006 Council Recommendation on a European quality assurance and recognition system in higher education. It invites Member States and higher education institutions to simplify and improve their quality assurance processes and practices.
In this draft but unbinding proposal, the Commission has listed in Annex II the criteria to meet to set up a joint degree. They are generic in their nature. They touch upon:
-the transnational programme organisation and management (e.g. quality insurance, graduate tracking);
-the learning experience (e.g. interdisciplinarity, digital skills);
-and the European values (e.g. democratic values, multilingualism, green transition).
What is now the Member States’ opinion ?
Those initiatives help to build the European Education Area and have now to be discussed with the Council of the EU and key stakeholders in higher education. The working calendar is not public yet.
Source 1 :
« La formation initiale des chirurgiens dentistes en Europe : comparaison à travers l’analyse des modèles espagnol, finlandais et français », (Initial training of dental surgeons in Europe: a comparative analysis of the Spanish, Finnish and French models), Alexiane Launay, Clémence Moreau, Thèse d’exercise, Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]. 2017. dumas-01812592.
https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-01812592/document
Source 2:
Communication on the blueprint for a European Degree, March 2024.