교육은 국민들이 국가 정체성을 형성하는데 크게 기여한다. 동시에 국가 구성원을 나라의 경제·사회 발전에 동참하도록 유도한다. 따라서 유럽 각국 정부는 교육을 국가 주권과 관련된 민감한 분야로 이해했고, 유럽통합 과정에서 오랫동안 교육부분은 논외로 해왔다. 그런데 유럽공동시장 완성, 유럽 대학 간 학생과 교수의 교환 프로그램 증가, 해외 우수학생 유치를 위한 유럽 차원의 대학 협력 모색의 결과, 유럽 공통 대학제도를 도입하는 것을 골자로 하는 볼로냐 프로세스가 시작되었다. 지난 1999년 유럽 각국 고등교육담당 장관들이 볼로냐에서 서명함으로써 시작된 이 개혁운동에 따라, 2010까지 유럽은 통일된 대학제도를 갖춘 하나의 유럽고등교육지역을 건설할 예정이다. 초기의 볼로냐 개혁은 EU와 무관하게 각국의 정부간주의(Intergovernmentalism)의 정신에 입각하여 시작되었으나, EU집행위원회가 개입하면서, 점차 EU 차원에서 추진하는 초국가적 성격의 유럽고등교육 개혁운동으로 변모했다. 본 논문은, 볼로냐 프로세스가 초국가적 성격을 띠게 된 이유가 참가국들의 합리적 선택에 따른 결과임을 증명한다. 다시 말해, 볼로냐 개혁을 위한 EU집행위원회의 재정적 지원, 세계무대에서 EU라는 기구의 위상이 주는 상징성, 그리고 고등교육과 연구개발의 시너지 창출을 유도하는 EU집행위원회의 행정능력을 이용하는 것이 자국의 이익을 증가시키기 때문에, 각국 정부는 EU집행위원회가 주도하는 볼로냐 개혁에 동의했음을 보여준다.

Since education significantly contributes to the formation and development of the national identity, every European government has considered it as a very sensitive part of its policy related to the sovereignty and hesitated to include that field while the European Unification process. However, there have been increasing demands on well-coordinated educational policy at European level because of the following reasons: 1) the completion of common market, 2) the increase of international student and professor mobility, and 3) the necessity of close European university cooperation for answering to international competition. Thus, twenty-nine European ministers of Higher Education met in Bologna in 1999 and announced the Bologna Declaration saying that one European university system would be established in Europe until 2010 forming a “European Higher Education Area” (EHEA). Now, 46 European countries participate in this Bologna process. The Bologna Declaration was an intergovernmental agreement. With the gradual intervention of the European Commission, however, the Bologna process has become a supranational process. In this paper, I analyzed why the participating countries welcomed the presence of the European Commission and I could conclude that participating governments wanted to increase national interests, using supports from the European Commission, such as the Commission's financial aids, its administrative ability for European affaires, and its name recognition on the international stage. As a result, the European Commission is at the helm of the Bologna process and it accelerates the Europeanization of European Higher Education Policy.

Since education significantly contributes to the formation and development of the national identity, every European government has considered it as a very sensitive part of its policy related to the sovereignty and hesitated to include that field while the European Unification process. However, there have been increasing demands on well-coordinated educational policy at European level because of the following reasons: 1) the completion of common market, 2) the increase of international student and professor mobility, and 3) the necessity of close European university cooperation for answering to international competition. Thus, twenty-nine European ministers of Higher Education met in Bologna in 1999 and announced the Bologna Declaration saying that one European university system would be established in Europe until 2010 forming a “European Higher Education Area” (EHEA). Now, 46 European countries participate in this Bologna process. The Bologna Declaration was an intergovernmental agreement. With the gradual intervention of the European Commission, however, the Bologna process has become a supranational process. In this paper, I analyzed why the participating countries welcomed the presence of the European Commission and I could conclude that participating governments wanted to increase national interests, using supports from the European Commission, such as the Commission's financial aids, its administrative ability for European affaires, and its name recognition on the international stage. As a result, the European Commission is at the helm of the Bologna process and it accelerates the Europeanization of European Higher Education Policy.

Bologna Process, Education and Training 2010, Lisbon strategy, European Higher Education Area: EHEA, European Research Area: ERA