BFUG CHAIRS AND VICE-CHAIR

With the Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Ministerial Conference in 2009, the Bologna Process is co-chaired by the country holding the EU presidency and a non-EU country. Moreover, the host country of the next Ministerial conference is nominated as the Vice-Chair.


Semester EU-Presidency Chair from non-EU country Vice-Chair
1 January - 30 June 2021 Portugal Andorra Albania
1 July - 31 December 2021 Slovenia Armenia
1 January - 30 June 2022 France Azerbaijan
1 July - 31 December 2022 Czech Republic Kazakhstan
1 January - 30 June 2023 Sweden Bosnia & Herzegovina
1 July - 31 December 2023 Spain Georgia
1 January - 30 June 2024 Belgium Holy See
1 July - 31 December 2024 Hungary Iceland Country hosting
the next
Ministerial
Conference and
BFUG Secretariat
1 January - 30 June 2025 Poland Albania

Each country is responsible to nominate a person who will be in charge of fulfilling the tasks of the chairmanship. The Chairs have a joint responsibility to take forward the aims and actions laid down by the Ministers responsible for Higher Education in the Bologna Declaration and subsequent Communiqués of ministerial conferences. The Co-Chairs, in close cooperation with the Vice-Chair, chair the Bologna Ministerial Meetings and the Bologna Policy Forum as well as the sessions of the BFUG and the BFUG board. The Co-Chairs jointly represent the EHEA in European and international meetings. In the decision-making process the Chairs assume the responsibility to lead the way towards compromise and to provide political impetus for moving the Bologna Process forward. 
The Co-Chairs may delegate tasks, such as external representation, to the Vice-Chair. The Vice-Chair ensures continuity between the rotating chairmanships.

Chairs before the creation of the EHEA (before 2010)

From Leuven-Louvain-la-Neuve 2009

With the Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Communiqué in 2009 the Ministers decided that in the future, the Bologna Process would be co-chaired by the country holding the EU presidency and a non-EU country. To put this decision into practice, the Bologna Follow-up Group at its meeting in Stockholm on 28-29 September 2009 agreed:

  • to treat the EU Presidency and the non-EU country as two chairs (rather than as chair and co-chair) to signal very clearly that the Bologna Process will be chaired on equal footing by the EU Presidency and a non-EU country.
  • to leave it to each chairing team to define the exact division of tasks between the two chairs and the vice chair(s)
  • to start the new chairing arrangement on 1 July 2010. 
  • to apply the alphabetical order when designating the chair from a non-EU country. 
  • to adjust the composition of the BFUG Board by replacing the three elected members with the outgoing, present and incoming non-EU chairs.

From Prague to Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve 2001-2009

Immediately after Prague, inter-governmental structures for the Bologna process were established. Based on decisions of the Prague Communiqué, the former “enlarged group” became the Follow-up Group of the Bologna Process (BFUG). The group was presided by the consecutive EU-Presidencies.

  • Belgium (2nd semester 2001)
  • Spain (1st semester 2002)
  • Denmark (2nd semester 2002)
  • Greece (1st semester 2003)
  • Italy (2nd semester 2003)
  • Ireland (1st semester 2004)
  • Netherlands (2nd semester 2004)
  • Luxembourg (1st semester 2005)
  • United Kingdom (2nd semester 2005)
  • Austria (1st semester 2006)
  • Finland (2nd semester 2006)
  • Germany (1st semester 2007)
  • Portugal (2nd semester 2007)
  • Slovenia (1st semester 2008)
  • France (2nd semester 2008)
  • Czech Republic (1st semester 2009)
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