Having successfully supported education reform processes in a number of SEE countries so far and the inclusion of SEE countries into the European Union becoming more tangible, the overall TFEY strategy in the field of education and youth will now lay a stronger focus on linking these developments more closely. As EU countries have now embarked for the first time on developing common European standards in education, SEE countries will need to take even more strongly into account European trends and developments. Meeting European standards in education will be a precondition for the inclusion into the wider European Area of Education.

The Ministries of Education and Higher Education in South Eastern Europe and the Task Force Education and Youth/ Enhanced Graz Process now propose an initiative aimed at supporting education reform implementation in South Eastern Europe, taking into account both country-specific needs and demands in education reform as well as present trends in the development of the envisaged European Area of Education, as outlined in the EU “Detailed Work Programme on the follow-up of the objectives of education and training systems in Europe”, the ”Bologna Process” and the “Bruges-Copenhagen Process”.

The Education Reform Initiative of South Eastern Europe will serve as an interface between ongoing SEE education reform at national level and European trends in order to promote common European standards in education.
On the occasion of the First Meeting of Senior Officials in Vienna, 5-7 December 2002, the European Commission presented the "Detailed Work Programme on the Follow-up of the Objectives of Education and Training Systems". Participants discussed European trends in education, country-specific priorities and identified next steps for the implementation of the Education Reform Initiative of South Eastern Europe. For more information on these and other events please visit the Events section.

Ministers of Education of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro signed > the Memorandum of Understanding at the EU Education Ministers Conference, on 28 June in Nicosia (Cyprus), in presence of the Greek EU-Presidency and the Stability Pact, demonstrating their commitment to the ERI SEE’s reform agenda. Education ministries of Albania and Moldova joint the ERI SEE by signing the MoU during the Stability Pact Regional Table Meeting in Tirana, December 5. In February 2004 the PISG Minister of Education, Science and Technology of Kosovo together with the United Nation Mission in Kosovo signed the MoU. The Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of Croatia signed the MoU at the Third Informal Conference of Ministers of Education of South Eastern Europe in Istanbul, 24-25 April 2004. At the  8th Conference of European Ministers of Education the Ministry of Education and Research of Romania signed the MoU.

The Initiative should be flexible according to the individual pace of implementation of the participating countries. A final date for orientation, however, is the year 2010. This is a target date for both EU countries to achieve objectives of the EU and for the countries participating in the Bologna process to achieve the goals of the Bologna Declaration.

Supporting the idea of regional ownership, the overall co-ordination of the ERI SEE is envisaged to be transferred to the region by the end of 2004, through establishment of a regional co-ordination office.