Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications Concerning Higher Education in the European Region - Lisbon Recognition Convention

The joint Convention of the Council of Europe/UNESCO on the Recognition of Qualifications in the European Region, commonly known as The Lisbon Recognition Convention, emerged from the idea that the existing European Conventions on this issue dated from the 1950s and early 1960s and did not reflect the wide ranging of changes that meanwhile occurred in the higher education sector.

This Convention was adopted in Lisbon on 11 April 1997 and is the main legal text concerning the recognition of qualifications. It provides guidelines for mutual recognition qualifications regardless of their origin not only for giving access to higher education but also for the pursuit of studies. It also serves as a guide to good practice and its provisions may apply to all higher education qualifications.

This legal diploma is indeed the result of the need felt by the signatory countries to simplify the considerable number of existing legal texts on this issue offering a sole general framework for the recognition of qualifications in the European Region.

Documents:

Documents adopted by the Committee of the Convention