The Intergovernmental Drafting Group responsible for preparing a Council of Europe Convention on the Conditions of Transparency and Quality Assurance for Automatic Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications in Europe held its first meeting on 9 April in Strasbourg, bringing together delegates from member States with expertise in higher education policy and observers from relevant international organisations.

The future convention will set up a shared, binding framework, capable of creating the conditions of trust required for automatic recognition to operate effectively across Europe and beyond.

The meeting focused on defining the scope of the future Council of Europe Convention and clarifying key conditions enabling automatic recognition of qualifications. 

Participants agreed on a preliminary roadmap and milestones for drafting the Convention text. The drafting group is expected to hold its next meeting on 5 May, where the first outline of the draft Convention will be examined.

The initiative represents an important step towards reducing administrative barriers, supporting student mobility, and enhancing cooperation in higher education across Europe.