Digital Inter-Institutional Agreement

A digital Inter-Institutional Agreement (DIIA) is an Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA) in a digital format which has been defined by the European Comission (DG EAC) and the Erasmus without paper Projects (EWP Projects).

Regulations for digital Inter-Institutional Agreements by European Commission

With the ECHE for the Erasmus+ program generation 2021-2027, HEIs commit themselves to implement the technical standards developed by the projects of the European Student Card Initiative (ESCI) in their (digital) student mobility management. Thus, the Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA) must also be managed digitally, i.e. the IIA in paper format (paper or “electronic paper”) will be replaced by an IIA in digital format.

The digital IIAs will be introduced gradually for the different types of mobility in higher education:

end of the Academic year 2021/22 [1] [2] (deadline extended until 31/12/2022 [3]): Student Mobility for studies between EU Member States or third countries associated with the program. (intra-European mobility)
N.N.: Other mobility including international mobility
- Student Mobility for traineeships between EU Member States or third countries associated to the program (intra-European Mobility)
- Staff Mobility for Training between EU Member States and third countries associated to the program (intra-European Mobility)
- Staff Mobility for Teaching between EU Member States and third countries associated to the program (intra-European Mobility)
- International mobility between EU Member States or third countries associated with the program and third countries not associated with the program. (International Mobility)

The EU's Directorate-General for Education, Youth Sport and Culture (DG EAC) states that as soon as possible but the latest by the end of the academic year 2021/22 (deadline extended until 31/12/2022 [3]):

HEIs must create the prerequisites for concluding digital IIAs according to the EWP specifications (technical infrastructure and business processes):
- Registering the HEI in the EWP Network
- Implementing the necessary processes to conclude digital IIAs
HEIs must conclude digital IIAs for bilateral intra-European mobility (data exchange)

But the DG EAC also offers interim solutions to conclude IIAs, if the digital conclusion of an agreement is not possible for valid reasons:

In case of an “old” existing IIA with the partner institution: IIAs of the program generation 2014-2021 can be extended for the new program generation by the active consent by email of both contract partners.
In case of no “old” existing IIA with the partner institution: IIAs in paper format can be signed.

Both partner institutions have to transfer these concluded non-digital IIAs to digital IIAs as soon as they are able to conclude digital IIAs via the EWP-Network!

Specification of the Digital Inter-Institutional Agreement

There are currently the following data standards regarding the digital IIA (for bilateral intra-European mobility):

- Standardized bilateral agreement template for intra-European Mobility in pdf format (29/01/2021) (by DG EAC)

- Standardized bilateral agreement template for intra-European Mobility in docx.-format (06/07/2021) (by DG EAC)

- API(s) definitions mainly in xml format (by EWP Project consortium)

- detailed data structure of the reference implementation (Inter-Institutional Agreement Manager) (by EWP Project consortium)

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[1] Annotation on slides of the DG EAC to the official roadmap in various presentations: “If the systems are fit for purpose.”
[2] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj3zdKo8PL5AhVCh_0HHW5oA2sQFnoECBMQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fedssi.eu%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F01%2F058-The-European-Student-Card-Initiative%25E2%2580%2593Further-clarifications-regarding-the-timeline-of-digitalisation-of-IIAs-for-HE-mobility1.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3pparQIMTQPP00hUM8h4EQ
[3] European Commission, European Education and Culture Executive Agency, Crosier, D., De Lel, G., The organisation of the academic year in Europe 2021/22, Publications Office of the European Union, 2021, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2797/148145