EHEA Ministerial Conference 2020

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On November 19, 2020 the Ministerial Conference of the European Higher Education Area was held. The event took place in virtual format.

The conference was opened by Gaetano Manfredi, Minister for Universities and Research in Italy, and by Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. The Russian Federation was represented by Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education.

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The speakers were Karl Dittrich, President of the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR), Maxime Cerutti, Director of Social Affairs Department -– BusinessEurope, Gohar Hovhannisyan, President of the European Students Union (ESU), Andreas Keller, Vice-President of the Education International / European Trade Union Committee for Education, Michael Murphy, President of the European University Association (EUA), Stephane Lauwick, President of the European Association of Institutes in Higher Education (EURASHE), Christoph Grolimund, President of the European Association for Quality Assurance (ENQA).

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During the Conference EHEA Ministers adopted the Rome Ministerial Communiqué - a fundamental document which will give indications on the next ten years of work of the entire European Higher Education Area, and that will stress the need to improve the implementation of fundamental values, especially democracy, since the principles behind higher education convey notions of peace and freedom.

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is a unique international collaboration on higher education and the result of the political will of 48 countries with different political, cultural and academic traditions, which, step by step during the last twenty years, built an Area implementing a common set of commitments: structural reforms and shared tools. These 48 countries agree to and adopt reforms on higher education on the basis of common key values – such as freedom of expression, autonomy for institutions, independent student unions, academic freedom, free movement of students and staff. Through this process, countries, institutions and stakeholders of the European area continuously adapt their higher education systems making them more compatible and strengthening their quality assurance mechanisms. For all these countries, the main goal is to increase staff and students' mobility and to facilitate employability.

During the Conference the 49th country joined the European Higher Education Area – San Marino.