Baltics, Benelux countries agree to recognize higher education qualifications
The Baltics and Benelux countries have signed an agreement to automatically recognize each other's higher education qualifications. The changes entered into force at the start of May.
The agreement reduces bureaucracy and costly recognition processes between Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
A statement from the Ministry of Education said it will also allow all graduates to more freely study and work across the six participating countries.
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200) hoped the European Union would move towards a similar arrangement. She said Estonia has been pushing this issue for a long time.
Kallas said as Hungary has set a goal to create a higher education agreement during its term to lead the EU Council's rotating presidency – starting in July – hopefully, the recognition process can become a thing of the past.
Other countries, such as Finland, Hungary and Poland, are also interested in joining the agreement, she said.
Diplomas in architecture and six professions related to medicine, which still require separate recognition, were excluded from the agreement.
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Editor: Valner Väino, Helen Wright
Source: Aktuaalne kaamera
