1. A method for automatic extraction of process goals from a semantically annotated structured process model comprising model elements named by natural language expressions and annotated with semantic linkages to a reference process ontology comprising the steps of: (a) splitting said process model having at least one end event into partial process models provided for each end event of said process model; (b) annotating the model elements of each partial process model with a process goal extracted from said model element; and (c) decoupling of the process goals from each annotated partial process model to generate a hierarchical process goal tree for each annotated partial process model.