Ex oriente lux ?: National and multiple accreditation in Europe after the fall of the Wall and after Bologna

TLDR

The Bologna Declaration (1999) aimed to increase transparency in higher education, prompting many European countries to shift quality assurance toward accreditation systems that promise greater openness. This study examines whether experiences with accreditation in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990 can inform the development of a multiple accreditation system that better satisfies Bologna’s second‑generation requirements. The authors outline key principles of a multiple accreditation system and compare nascent designs in Germany and the Netherlands against Bologna’s demands and these principles. They conclude that, although steps toward open and flexible accreditation are underway, national control remains a higher priority than achieving European‑wide transparency in both cases.

Abstract

Transparency in higher education is one of the aims of the Bologna Declaration (1999). In a number of countries in Europe, this led to processes to change quality assurance into accreditation, which supposedly results in more transparency. Are there lessons to be learnt from experiences in Central and Eastern Europe regarding accreditation since 1990? I maintain that the character of those 'first generation' accreditation systems is more exclusively academic and drives towards uniformity more than the multifaceted systems needed for Bologna's 'second generation' requirements. A 'multiple accreditation system' would answer these requirements better. Some principles of a multiple accreditation system are presented, together with consequences for external evaluation criteria and procedures. Two nascent accreditation system designs in Western European countries (Germany and the Netherlands) are then compared with the demands set by the Bologna Declaration and with the design principles of a multiple accreditation system. The main conclusion is that although some steps towards an open and flexible accreditation system are set, at the present stage of their development it seems that maintaining national control in these two cases has more priority than achieving European-wide transparency.