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Creating a European Higher Education Area [EHEA] at the institutional, national and European levels by 2010 constitutes one of the most significant targets European ministers of education wish to attain in order to advance collaboration, strengthen global competitiveness and to establish Europe as a realm of education, and to create a “knowledge-based Europe".

The ´Bologna Declaration´, signed by European ministers of education in 1999, aims to establish a joint European Higher Education Area and a higher education system in Europe that stands up to competition. Targeting the increased compatibility of higher education systems in Europe, the improvement, comparability and permeability of higher education opportunities, advancing the European dimension in higher education - all of this shall be achieved by 2010 by implementation of a wide range of measures.

The idea of a European Higher Education Area inspired the European Commission to develop the concept of a European Research Area [ERA] only months after ratification of the Bologna Declaration. At present, the EU Commission is debating the linkage between the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area.