arose in the EHEA. The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) was responsible for defining the standards and guidelines, which are broken down into 3 chapters: Internal quality assurance in institutions: each institution must have a policy and an internal organization of self-assessment and continuous improvement, implemented with all its stakeholders (students, staff, former graduates and representatives of society and employers). External quality assurance: institutions must submit their organization and results to external and independent evaluations (including accreditation agencies). Quality assurance of accreditation agencies: the agencies must act in full autonomy (in particular from public or private powers) to evaluate the institutions and their training, and to bring the results to the attention of the public. European programs Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus programs The Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus Programs are initiatives of the European Union to promote the mobility of students and teachers. They therefore primarily concern the 27 countries of the Union, with which other countries such as Norway, Iceland and Turkey have joined forces. Strictly speaking, these are not programs of the European Area, but they largely contribute to its development. "European Universities" initiative In 2017, the European Union launched the "European Universities" initiative, aimed at "strengthening, throughout the EU, strategic partnerships between higher education institutions and encouraging the emergence, by 2024, of some twenty European universities"; in fact more than 40 have been already created. These universities are networks of high-level universities, which will allow students to obtain a diploma by combining studies in several EU countries and which will contribute to the international competitiveness of European higher education. Members Participating member states of the European Higher Education Area are: Countries eligible to join: Public international law standards Lisbon Recognition Convention (Lisbon, 4 July 1997) Article 2 of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (Paris, 20 March 1952) Article 10 of the European Social Charter (revised, Strasbourg, 3 May 1996) Documents Main documents Colleges and universities in Europe League of European Research Universities Lists of colleges and universities in Europe Note The two first sections are widely extracted from the French Wikipedia page Espace Européen de l'Enseignement Supérieur, with its list of authors See also Directorate-General for Education and Culture Bologna process Diploma Supplement Erasmus programme European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) Homologation :Category:Lists of universities and colleges European Research Area (ERA) TEMPUS Lisbon Recognition Convention References External links The Official