EU lends Russia a hand

The Russian Government has asked the European Union for practical aid to help it participate in the Bologna Process.

The deal focuses on higher education in detail and was approved in Moscow by Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, and Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU Council of Ministers President.

It commits the EU to "assist in training Russia's national promoters of the Bologna Process" to make its higher education degrees comparable with those in the rest of Europe.

The EU has promised to help Russia establish a Bologna-style "system of monitoring and check-up of the quality and certification (accreditation) of curricula and higher education institutions as a whole" that could compare with the "highest world standards".

There would also be support to create links between EU and Russian degree-awarding bodies "encouraging collaboration at the masters level and awarding joint or double diplomas".