The Bologna Declaration was signed on 19 June 1999 in Bologna, one of Italy’s oldest and most historically significant university cities, by ministers responsible for higher education from 29 European countries. By signing the Declaration, the participating states expressed their shared commitment to strengthening cooperation in higher education and to creating a common European Higher Education Area based on comparability, transparency, academic mobility and mutual recognition of qualifications.

The Bologna Declaration did not emerge in isolation. It was preceded by several important European initiatives and documents that shaped the modern vision of higher education in Europe, including the Magna Charta Universitatum adopted in 1988, the Lisbon Recognition Convention of 1997 and the Sorbonne Declaration of 1998. These documents emphasized university autonomy, academic freedom, the recognition of qualifications and the need for closer cooperation among European higher education systems.

Georgia joined the Bologna Process in 2005 at the Bergen Summit, which marked an important step in the country’s integration into the European Higher Education Area. Since then, the principles of the Bologna Process have become an essential framework for the development of Georgian higher education, including the introduction of a three-cycle degree structure, the use of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, quality assurance mechanisms, student mobility and the recognition of qualifications.