The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) was introduced in 2008 as a "meta-framework" or common reference point for national qualifications frameworks in Europe, a function for which, with some caveats, it has been pragmatically successful. It has also been used with variable success to support the development or referencing of sectoral qualifications frameworks, although questions remain about how these interlink with national frameworks. Use of the EQF as a tool for allocating levels to individual qualifications or to aid qualification development has been conspicuously less successful, due both to these applications requiring more detail than is present in the EQF and in some cases to developers' lack of fluency in working with qualification frameworks in general. Testing the EQF via a range of international projects also points to some flaws in the detail of the framework itself, particularly in the way that it represents competence and to a lesser extent knowledge.