The Bruges-Copenhagen Process aims to enhance cooperation in vocational education and training (VET) in Europe.

Education Ministers from 31 European countries and the European Commission signed a declaration in Copenhagen in 2002 on work towards creating a knowledge-based Europe and ensuring that the European labour market is open to everyone. This was preceded in 2001 by the Bruges meeting of Directors General in Education which laid the political foundations for transparency and cooperation in VET.

The Process seeks to help European citizens meet the demands of the European labour market by allowing them to pursue their training needs between differing levels of education, and different occupations, sectors and countries. It will also play a key role in achieving the Lisbon Strategy goal of making the EU the world’s most dynamic, knowledge-based economy by 2010.

The work of the Bruges-Copenhagen Process is currently focusing on quality assurance and the transparency and recognition of qualifications. Cooperation has begun on a number of practical projects.

• The development of a single framework for transparency of competences and qualifications - Europass.
• A public consultation on the development of a system of credit transfer for vocational education and training,  the European Credit Transfer System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET).  
• Common criteria and principles for quality in VET to serve as a basis for European-level initiatives in quality assurance.
• Common principles for the validation of non-formal and informal learning to ensure greater compatibility between approaches in different countries.
• Offering lifelong guidance with a European dimension.

A proposal on ECVET was adopted by the Commission in April 2008. While the UK HE sector welcomes the aims of the ECVET proposal, it stresses that the ECVET system must be compatible with ECTS and that both systems should be based on learning outcomes.

In 2008, the EU institutions approved a Recommendation for a European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF) with a view to establish the EQF by 2010. The EQF encompasses general and adult education, vocational education and training, as well as higher education. It is based on learning outcomes and has eight 'reference levels'. Work is underway on linking the UK's national qualifications frameworks to the EQF.