The Kingdom of Belgium, represented by:
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– The Flemish Government,
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– The Government of the French Community,
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– The Government of the German-speaking Community,
The Republic of Estonia,
The Republic of Latvia,
The Republic of Lithuania,
The Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg,
The Kingdom of the Netherlands,
hereinafter referred to as “the Parties”,
Having regard to the fact that the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications
concerning Higher Education in the European Region, jointly drafted by the Council
of Europe and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation,
signed in Lisbon on 11 April 1997 (hereinafter referred to as “the Lisbon Recognition
Convention”), has entered into force for each of the Parties to the present Treaty
and that the Parties implement the subsidiary texts to the Lisbon Recognition Convention,
adopted by the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee,
Having regard to the importance of automatic recognition of qualifications, as repeatedly
emphasized in communiqués adopted by the Ministers during the Ministerial Conferences
of the European Higher Education Area in the Bologna Process,
Whereas the Recommendation of the Council of the European Union of 26 November 2018
on promoting automatic mutual recognition of higher education and upper secondary
education and training qualifications and the outcomes of learning periods abroad
calls, inter alia, on the Member States of the European Union to take the necessary
steps to achieve automatic recognition of higher education qualifications by 2025,
Whereas legally binding mutual agreements on the automatic recognition of higher education
qualifications have already been concluded in the framework of the Benelux Union and
between the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Lithuania,
namely:
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– The Decision M(2015)3 of the Benelux Committee of Ministers concerning the automatic
mutual generic level recognition of higher education degrees, as supplemented by the
Decision M(2018)1,
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– The Agreement among the Government of the Republic of Estonia, the Government of the
Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the automatic
academic recognition of qualifications concerning higher education, signed in Vilnius
on 8 June 2018,
Desiring to expand automatic recognition of higher education qualifications within
the European Higher Education Area by combining these regional arrangements into a
multilateral treaty between the Parties,
Conscious of the fact that the basis for mutual trust lies in ratification of the
Lisbon Recognition Convention and in active membership of the European Higher Education
Area, testified by the implementation of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality
Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (hereinafter referred to as “the ESG”),
three-cycle higher education systems, national qualifications frameworks, and other
transparency tools,
Willing to provide other States with the opportunity to join this Treaty, considering
the above,
Determined to remain, in doing so, at the forefront of the Bologna Process and of
the realisation of the European Higher Education Area,