Director of the Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship, Prof. Alexander Grudzinskiy took part in the first meeting of the Advisory Group on International Cooperation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which was held at the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research in Paris, France, on December 12, 2016.

Prof. Alexander Grudzinskiy was appointed a representative on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation as a member of the Ministerial Working Group on the Bologna Process headed by Deputy Minister Aleksandr Klimov.

The Advisory Group on EHEA international cooperation is part of the main follow-up structure of the Bologna Process - the Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG). The Advisory Group on EHEA international cooperation aims to develop policies and concrete actions for strategic cooperation with non-EHEA members in Mediterranean, North Africa, Asia, North and Latin America.

The Advisory Group is working on proposals for internationalization which must be approved by the next Ministerial conference and Bologna Policy Forum in Paris in 2018.

The Advisory Group consists of representatives of 15 EHEA member countries as well as representatives of international organizations such as the European Commission, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the European University Association (EUA), the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and the European Students' Union.

The Bologna Process was launched by signing the Bologna Declaration by the Ministers of Education of 29 European countries in 1999. Members of the Bologna Process are 48 countries, including all EU states. Russia joined the Bologna Process in 2003.

Currently the second phase of the Bologna process is underway to consolidate the EHEA. The first phase ended in 2010 with the launch of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). One of the results of Russia's participation in the Bologna process is the transition to the three-level system of higher education at the legislative level.