1792-(158)

II SÉRIE-A — NÚMERO 62

Conscious of the importance of providing permanent implementation mechanisms in order to put the principles and provisions of the current Convention into practice,

have agreed as follows:

SECTION I

Definitions

Article I

For the purposes of this Convention, the following terms shall have the following meaning:

«Access (to higher éducation)» the right of qualified candidates to apply and to be considered for admission to higher education;

«Admission (to higher education institutions and programmes)» the act of, or system for, allowing qualified applicants to pursue studies in higher education at a given institution and/or a giver, programme;

«Assessment (of institutions or programmes)» the process for establishing the educational quality of a higher education institution or programme;

«Assessment (of individual qualifications)» the written appraisal or evaluation of an individual's foreign qualifications by a competent body;

«Compétent recognition authority» a body officially charged with making binding decisions on the recognition of foreign qualifications;

«Higher éducation» all types of courses of study, or sets of courses of study, training or training for research at the post secondary level which

are recognized by the relevant authorities of a

Party as belonging to its higher education system;

«Higher education institution» an establishment providing higher education and recognized by the competent authority of a Party as belonging to its system of higher education;

«Higher education programme» a course of study recognized by the competent authority of a Party as belonging to its system of higher education, and the completion of which provides the student with a higher education qualification;

«Period of study» any component of a higher education programme which has been evaluated and documented and, while not a complete programme of study in itself, represents a significant acquisition of knowledge or skill;

«Qualification»:

A) «Higher education qualification» any degree, diploma or other certificate issued by a competent authority attesting the successful completion of a higher education programme;

B) «Qualification giving access to higher éducation» any' diploma or other certificate issued by a competent authority attesting the successful completion of an education programme and giving the holder of the qualification the right to be considered for admission to higher education (cf. the definition of «access»);

«Récognition» a formal acknowledgement by a

compétent authority of the value of a foreign

educational qualification with a view to access to educational and/or employment activities; «Requirement»:

A) «General requirements* conditions that

must in all cases be fuVfirieu far access, to higher education, or to a given level thereof, or for the award of a higher education qualification at a given level;

B) «Spécifie requirements" conditions that must be fulfilled, in addition to the general requirements, in order to gain admission to a particular higher education programme, or for the award of a specific higher education qualification in a particular field of study.

SECTION II The competence of authorities

Article II.1

1 — Where central authorities of a Party are competent to make decisions in recognition cases, that Party shall be immediately bound by the provisions of this Convention and shall take the necessary measures to ensure the implementation of its provisions on its territory.

Where the competence to make decisions in recognition matters lies with components of the Party, the Party shall furnish one of the depositories with a brief statement of its constitutional situation or structure at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, or any time thereafter. In such cases, the competent authorities of the components of the Parties so designated shall take the necessary measures to ensure implementation of the provisions of this Convention on their territory.

2 — Where the competence to make decisions in recognition matters lies with individual higher education institutions or other entities, each Party according to its constitutional situation or structure shall transmit the text of this convention to these institutions or entities and shall take all possible steps to encourage the favourable consideration and application of its provisions.

3 — The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the obligations of the Parties under subsequent articles of this Convention.

Article II.2,

At the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, or at any time thereafter, each State, the Holy See or the European Community shall inform either depository of the present Convention of the authorities which are competent to make different categories of decisions in recognition cases.

Article 11.3

Nothing in this Convention shall be deemed to derogate from any more favourable provisions concerning the recognition of qualifications issued in one of the Parties contained in or stemming from an existing or a future treaty to which a Party to this Convention may be or may become a party.