The first Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) were adopted by the Ministers responsible for higher education in 2005 following a proposal prepared by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) in cooperation with the European Students’ Union (ESU), the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE) and the European University Association (EUA).
Since 2005, considerable progress has been made in quality assurance as well as in other Bologna action lines such as qualifications frameworks, recognition and the promotion of the use of learning outcomes, all these contributing to a paradigm shift towards student-centred learning and teaching.
Given this changing context, in 2012 the Ministerial Communiqué invited the E4 Group (ENQA, ESU, EUA, EURASHE) in cooperation with EI, BUSINESSEUROPE and EQAR to prepare an initial proposal for a revised ESG “to improve their clarity, applicability and usefulness, including their scope”.
The 2015 revision was prepared by :

• European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)
• European Students’ Union (ESU)
• European University Association (EUA)
• European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE)

in cooperation with:

• Education International (EI)
• BUSINESSEUROPE
• European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR)

The revised version of the “Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area”, commonly known as ESG has been endorsed by the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) in September 2014. The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) 2015 were finally adopted by the Ministers responsible for higher education in the European Higher Education Area in May 2015.

As a result of a participative revision, involving both the key stakeholder organisations and ministries, the ESG 2015 reflect a consensus among all the organisations and ministries involved on how to take forward quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area and, as such, provide a firm basis for successful implementation.

Download the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). (2015). Brussels, Belgium. More...

An article of interest from GlobalHigherEd > Inside Higher Ed written after the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Education Process and European Higher Education Area (EHEA) ministerial meetings in April and May 2015:
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/globalhighered/ehea-and-asem-creating-regions-higher-education-0

Que Anh Dang is a Marie Curie Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, UK.
In her article, she compares the two higher education regions in terms of Economic Integration Heralds Educational Regionalisation and Higher Education and Region-Making Projects. She wondered if ASEM is an extension of the EHEA or a new education area.
She concludes her article on the strong impact of the EHEA on other regional initiatives, especially in Asia. More...