In response to ongoing disparities in the implementation of automatic recognition across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the Council of Europe is committed to promote mutual trust, enhance mobility, and foster greater academic cooperation across education systems. Building on the Lisbon Recognition Convention and aligned with the Council of Europe’s Education Strategy 2024–2030 “Learners First,” the Ad Hoc Working Group on Automatic Recognition of Qualifications is preparing the groundwork for a new legal instrument that would establish shared principles and modalities to support the automatic recognition of qualifications. The instrument would take a rights-based approach, upholding the right to fair and equal access to further study.