The European Degree: turning vision into reality
31 July 2026
Emmanuelle Gardan, Director of the Coimbra Group Brussels Office
The European Degree is moving from policy ambition to practical reality. As Europe seeks to enhance the quality, attractiveness and global competitiveness of its higher education system, it offers a promising new means of strengthening transnational cooperation. For Coimbra Group universities, which have invested for decades in joint curricula, student mobility and international partnerships, it offers a new framework through which this cooperation can be further recognised, consolidated and made more visible.
The Coimbra Group has long been a committed and vocal supporter of the European Degree and has played an active role in the policy discussions that have shaped its development. In February 2025, we published the statement “Why We Need the European Degree Now”, calling on European institutions, member states and higher education stakeholders to build on the momentum generated by decades of successful cooperation. The statement highlighted how programmes and initiatives such as Erasmus Mundus, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions doctoral networks, the European University Initiative and Erasmus+ pilot projects have already demonstrated the value and feasibility of European Degree-like models. Many Coimbra Group universities have been at the forefront of these developments and have accumulated considerable expertise along the way.
Our position was notably informed by the European Degree workshop that we jointly organised with the University of Pavia in January 2025 (a recording of the event is available here). Bringing together academics, university leaders, students, EU and national policymakers and other stakeholders from across Europe, the workshop provided an important forum to discuss both the opportunities presented by the European Degree and the practical questions that still need to be addressed.
Today, we are pleased and proud to see Coimbra Group universities once again contributing to a significant development in European higher education. On 15 July 2026, the first joint European Degree labels were awarded during a ceremony hosted by the European Commission in Brussels, attended by representatives of the Coimbra Group and opened by DG EAC Director-General Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen. One of the two pioneering programmes recognised was CHARM-EU’s Master’s in Global Challenges for Sustainability, academically led by our member Trinity College Dublin, and administratively managed by our member the University of Barcelona. The CHARM-EU Alliance includes eight Coimbra Group universities in total, illustrating the strong engagement of our network in the development of innovative joint programmes and new models of European cooperation.
July also brought further positive news. Several Coimbra Group universities were successful in the Erasmus+ European Degree Exploratory Action call for funding. The Coimbra Group is associated with a number of these projects, giving us the opportunity to contribute directly to the initiative’s next phase while gaining valuable insight into the opportunities and challenges of implementation. The lessons learned, particularly in areas such as governance, quality assurance, recognition and student support, will help inform future discussions at both institutional and European level.
This momentum will continue at the second European Degree Forum, co-hosted by our member the University of Cologne, and the European Commission, on 30 November and 1 December 2026. The Forum will gather policymakers, universities, students and other stakeholders to celebrate the first programmes awarded the European Degree label and to explore the road ahead. I warmly encourage colleagues across the sector to save the date.
As we emphasised in our 2025 statement, the long-term success of the European Degree will depend not only on institutions and policymakers, but also on the meaningful involvement of students and employers. It is critical to ensure their perspectives help shape programme design, learning outcomes, recognition practices and graduate opportunities. Through our partnerships with the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) and the European Students’ Union (ESU), the Coimbra Group will continue to foster this dialogue and ensure that the European Degree evolves in ways that respond to the needs and expectations of those it is ultimately intended to serve.
The European Degree remains a work in progress, but important foundations are now being laid. The task ahead is to translate ambition into a framework that is both academically robust and genuinely valuable for learners, institutions and society. Coimbra Group universities have been part of this conversation from the beginning, and we look forward to continuing our contribution in the years ahead.
The European Degree remains a work in progress, but important foundations are now firmly in place. The challenge ahead is to tackle, with both determination and pragmatism, the legal and regulatory barriers that still stand in the way of genuinely integrated transnational programmes. Success will depend on close cooperation between higher education institutions, member states, quality assurance agencies and other stakeholders. Coimbra Group universities are ready to play their part, working alongside all partners to identify practical solutions and help shape a framework that is academically rigorous, internationally credible, beneficial to learners and clearly recognisable to employers across Europe and beyond. Having contributed to this discussion from the very outset, we look forward to supporting the next phase of the European Degree’s development and helping to turn a shared European vision into a lasting reality.