The merging of the Bologna and the Copenhagen processes into a single European education area appears appropriate, especially as general, vocational, adult and academic education are to be integrated in a future European Qualification Framework (EQF). This is the backdrop to the following description of the Bologna process, which was originally intended as a European unifying blueprint for the reorganisation of study structures and university degrees but which mutated during its implementation into a surprising array of internationally diverse local reform efforts and outcomes. (Contains 3 figures and 10 footnotes.)