The European Parliament and the Council of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) have done the formal adoption on 23 April 2008 of the European Qualifications Framework. The way is clear now for Member States to adopt this voluntary scheme that will promote lifelong learning and mobility by making it easier to understand and compare individuals' qualifications around Europe.

The Recommendation creates a reference framework which will relate different countries' qualifications systems and frameworks together. It will act as a translation device to make qualifications more readable and understandable to employers, individuals and institutions, so that workers and learners can use their qualifications in other countries.

The EQF is a lifelong learning framework, applying to qualifications obtained in all sectors of education, including general education, higher education and vocational training. Its core is its eight reference levels of qualifications, from those obtained at the end of compulsory education, (level 1) to the highest (level 8: doctorate or equivalent).

The three highest levels correspond to higher education levels as defined within the European Higher Education Area, under the Bologna Process, e.g. Bachelor, Masters and PhD levels. But they may also stand for highly specialised professional qualifications.

In order to make the EQF work across different systems its levels are based on learning outcomes (what a learner knows, understands and is able to do) rather than learning inputs (the length of a learning experience, the type of institution etc).

Next steps

• The Recommendation sets targets of 2010 for countries to relate their qualifications systems to the EQF.
• 2012: all new qualifications should bear a reference to the EQF, so that employers and institutions can identify a candidate's skills knowledge, skills or competences.

The Commission and member states are already working together on the practical tasks of implementation. An Advisory Group, comprising the governments and social partners (employers and trades unions) will coordinate the processes required to relate national systems to the EQF.

What is the EQF?

The EQF is a reference framework which will relate different countries' qualifications systems and frameworks together. It will act as a translation device to make qualifications more readable and understandable to employers, individuals and institutions, so that workers and learners can use their qualifications in other countries. It has two principal aims: to facilitate mobility and lifelong learning.

What is the relationship with “Europass”?

Europass introduced a portfolio of documents to be used by individuals to describe their qualifications and competences. Europass does not, however, ensure the comparability of levels of qualifications. The further development of Europass will need to reflect the establishment of the EQF. In the future, all relevant Europass documents, in particular the Europass diploma supplement and the Europass certificate supplement, should contain a clear reference to the appropriate EQF level.