The Bologna Declaration of June 1999 has put in motion a series of reforms needed to make European higher education more compatible and comparable, more competitive and attractive for European citizens and for citizens and scholars from other continents. In Prague, in May 2001, the ministers took note of the progress so far and added three new action lines. In Berlin the challenge will be to set priorities and define concrete targets in order to make sure that the European Higher Education Area becomes a reality. The Bologna process coincides with Commission policy in higher education over the years through the European cooperation programs and notably Socrates and Erasmus. In Prague, this fact was acknowledged and the Commission was invited to become a full member of the Bologna follow-up structure, alongside the signatory states. The Commission supports most of the Bologna Action lines, for example, through actions ranging from the Diploma Supplement label, promoting transparency of qualifications, to the launch of "Erasmus Mundus," fostering the attractiveness of European higher education on a global scale. All these measures, which are part of the overall EU approach to educational matters, and the geographically wider Bologna process, are reinforcing each other, improving the chances of the genuine implementation of declared objectives across the various higher education systems. The present paper describes in brief the contribution of the Commission to the Bologna reforms in the context of a broader ambition of strengthening the role of universities in the Europe of Knowledge. It also suggests a few concrete steps on which ministers could decide in Berlin. (Contains 4 notes.)