1. Background & policy context
Cross-border mobility is a key objective of the European Education Area, offering students the opportunity to broaden their horizons, gain international experience and develop new skills. However, the exchange of academic records between countries remains fragmented and administratively burdensome. Differences in institutional procedures, national education systems, data formats, and technical infrastructures often require students to manually request, transfer and verify records between institutions. These processes can be time-consuming and may expose institutions and students to risks related to document fraud and verification.
EMREX (Electronic Data Exchange) was developed in response to these challenges as a decentralised digital solution enabling the secure exchange of verified student records across borders. The initiative began in 2007 through collaboration between Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland, and Italy, before gradually expanding to other countries such as the Netherlands, Croatia, and Latvia. Between 2015 and 2017, EMREX received co-funding under the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. Today, the solution is supported by the EMREX User Group (EUG), an independent international non-profit network bringing together stakeholders interested in improving student data portability and in facilitating cross-border exchange.
The solution is openly available and maintained on its official website, which serves as the primary repository for all technical and organisational documentation. Development and change-management processes are supported through tools such as Jira, and EMREX is also published on the Interoperable Europe Portal as an interoperability solution.
Rather than creating a central European database, EMREX enables institutions to exchange academic records directly while maintaining control over their own data and systems. This decentralised model is consistent with European digital sovereignty objectives, by allowing institutions and countries to retain control over their data, infrastructures, and governance models while supporting secure and interoperable cross-border exchanges through open standards and a decentralised architecture. Since its initial development, the solution has evolved into a flexible building block currently in use in several countries, both within and outside of Europe.
Supported by an active community and continuous stakeholder collaboration, EMREX continues to evolve beyond its original focus on academic mobility to support wider stages of the student lifecycle, both within and beyond education. Current developments explore new use cases related to student housing, internships and employment, while ongoing work on EMREX 2.0 aims to strengthen security, interoperability and alignment with emerging European regulatory and digital initiatives, including digital identity and data exchange frameworks.
Key milestones
EMREX starts to be developed by a group of participating countries, establishing a decentralised protocol for cross-border exchange of verified student records.
EMREX receives EU funding, which played an important role in further developing and scaling the solution. Creation of the EUG to support and maintain the solution.
Since its developments, the solution has been adopted by multiple institutions and countries, enabling a growing number of cross-border data exchanges.
EMREX continues to evolve through feedback loops and stakeholder engagement activities, with EMREX 2.0 currently under development.
2. Interoperability challenges in cross-border data exchange
EMREX was developed to respond to a set of broader systemic challenges affecting the cross-border exchange of educational data. These challenges can be analysed through the lenses of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) and its four layers of interoperability [1].
Addressing these challenges requires a solution capable of enabling secure, standardised, and machine-processable data exchange, while ensuring interoperability across all EIF layers and compliance with GDPR and other data protection requirements. Such objectives are central to EMREX’s mission and vision.
3. Solution architecture & key features
EMREX is based on a decentralised architecture that allows each participating entity to implement the solution’s protocol within its own technical environment, rather than relying on a centralised infrastructure or database. The solution was designed with GDPR requirements in mind and follows a user-centric approach in which all exchanges take place with the explicit consent of the user of the system, ensuring that the user remains in control of their personal data throughout the process.
A defining feature of EMREX is its partially standardised approach, which combines common components with locally implemented elements adapted to national and institutional contexts. This balance between standardisation and flexibility supports interoperability while accommodating the diversity of educational systems and technical infrastructures across countries.
The solution is based on a set of core technical components. At its foundation is a standardised data exchange protocol defining communication within systems and the secure transfer of data. This protocol is complemented by ELMO, a standardised data model based on the CEN standard EN 15981-2011 EuroLMAI. ELMO defines the structure and content of academic records, such as diplomas, diploma supplements and transcript of records for higher education, helping ensure that exchanged data is machine-readable and consistently interpreted across different systems. It is also compatible with the Electronic Mail (EML) data format, and its latest version is stored in the solution’s repository on GitHub.
Publication of an interoperability solution may be the appropriate approach when broad discoverability and reuse are envisioned. To learn how to publish interoperability solutions, consult Pathway 2 of the Guidelines: Publishing interoperability solutions via the Interoperable Europe Portal or connected portals, catalogues, and repositories (Article 4(3)).
EMREX combines common standards and reusable technical components with elements that have to be implemented and integrated into local systems. The shared components requiring limited or no local development include:
- EMREX Client (EMC): a plugin that EMREX uses to initiate the transfer of results from host institution to the home institution and that ensures that communication with the EMREX Data Provider (EMP) is done in a standardised way;
- EMREG: a central registry of EMPs, which allows to identify available data providers and fetch the necessary data to complete transfers.
In addition to these shared components, organisations wishing to adopt EMREX have to implement and integrate locally managed components that connect the solution to their existing systems and data sources, including:
- EMREX Client: typically, a web application or module integrated into a student-facing system which allows the transfer of results;
- EMREX Data Provider: it connects institutional or national databases to retrieve academic records. Although there can be several EMPs in a network, in practice one EMP often represents all the participating institutions within a country, particularly when a centralised educational platform exists.
Beyond these components, the most significant implementation effort generally concerns the development and integration of Results services used by the EMPs to fetch data from local databases. Because these services need to be adapted to local infrastructures and data models, implementation complexity can vary considerably between organisations.
To understand how to comply with the obligations of the Interoperable Europe Act when adapting an interoperability solution to your specific needs, including when the obligation to reshare applies and under which conditions adaptations are permitted, consult Pathway 4 of the Guidelines: Sharing adapted interoperability solutions (Article 4(4)).
EMREX is released under the European Union Public Licence (EUPL), a copyleft open source licence developed by the European Commission and available in all official EU languages. The EUPL supports free reuse, modification and redistribution of covered components, while ensuring that derivative works remain open under compatible licensing conditions. In the EMREX context, this licensing approach supports transparency, collaboration and sustainable reuse across the European digital ecosystem.
In the context of the Interoperable Europe Act, when deciding on the implementation of interoperability solutions, Union entities and public sector bodies must prioritise solutions that do not carry restrictive licensing terms, where solutions are equivalent in terms of functionalities, total cost, user-centricity, cybersecurity and other relevant objective criteria.
If you are deciding whether to implement an interoperability solution, comparing candidate interoperability solutions, or determining the licensing approach for a solution you intend to make available for reuse, explore Pathway 1 of the Guidelines: Prioritising solutions without restrictive licensing terms (Article 4(6)).
3.1. Future developments: EMREX 2.0
While the EMREX protocol has proven effective in enabling the secure exchange of academic records and in delivering value to both students and institutions, evolving requirements and identified limitations have highlighted the need for further development. In response, the EUG is working on an updated version of the protocol, EMREX 2.0, aimed at enhancing security, interoperability, user experience, and future readiness.
Key improvements
While the current protocol supports only the ELMO format, which structures academic records in a machine-readable way, EMREX 2.0 will support multiple data formats, such as JSON and PDF, alongside a more flexible version of ELMO.
The current protocol relies on POST/POST requests and signed with ELMO XML files, which ensure data integrity but provide limited support for standardised authentication and explicit user consent. ELMO 2.0 introduces OAuth2/PKCE, a more robust and widely used standard for secure authentication that improves security.
Introduction of short-lived access tokens, enabling temporary and controlled access to data, so that to reduce the risk of unauthorised use and improve the overall system security.
The EMREG registry will play a more important role by being able to give more data to the client thanks to their registration and authentication.
EMREX 2.0 addresses issues related to same-site restrictions and risks of data mismatches with smartphone apps.
EMREX 2.0 is being designed to integrate with key frameworks such as the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet and the Once-Only Technical System (OOTS). A key objective is to make EMREX ‘wallet-ready’, enabling users to securely store, manage and share academic credentials through future European digital identity ecosystems.
The transition to EMREX 2.0 is expected to have differentiated impacts across the ecosystem. Impact analyses conducted by the EUG indicate that the EMPs may be most affected because they will need to implement authorisation-server functionality. While this entails higher implementation effort, it reflects a broader shift towards a more secure architecture.
4. Governance model & community
EMREX operates within a multi-stakeholder ecosystem involving higher education institutions, national data providers, and end users, who initiate and control the exchange of their academic records.
The solution is supported and maintained by the EMREX User Group, an independent international network that unites various actors interested in enhancing student data portability and facilitating cross-border data exchange. The creation of the EUG marked the conclusion of the Erasmus+ funding to EMREX and was intended to ensure long-term sustainability, maintenance, and governance of the solution beyond the project’s funding period.
A distinctive aspect of EMREX governance is its community-driven and non-profit character: the organisations implementing, operating or using EMREX components are also involved in the development and evolution of the solution. EU funding played an important role during the initial stages of the project. In addition to Erasmus+ funding, EMREX has benefited from a Jean Monnet Action Grant, supporting dissemination and awareness-raising activities. Today, the EUG acts as an international platform for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and expansion of the solution’s footprint.
Future developments of interoperability solutions may be jointly funded by interested public organisations. Such arrangements are voluntary and can take different forms, including financial and in-kind contributions. To learn more, explore Pathway 5 of the Guidelines: Cost-sharing agreements for future developments of interoperability solutions (Article 4(5)).
The EMREX governance model is formalised through a statute, which defines the roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes of the network. Governance is organised around two main bodies:
- The Annual Assembly, the EUG’s sovereign authority, which defines the general policy direction of the EUG, approves memberships, validates activities’ reports, can modify and approve the statutes and dissolve the organisation. The Annual Assembly meets at least once per year, and decisions require a ⅔ majority of the votes.
- The Executive Committee, elected by the Annual Assembly for a two-year term, and consisting of the Chair, Vice Chair and three to six further members, is responsible for maintenance and development of the solution. Moreover, it oversees the preparation of theyearly action plan and the organisation of stakeholder engagement activities.
The EUG includes different categories of memberships, including:
- full members (currently 9) – organisations responsible for one or more EMP. Full members have voting rights, generally one vote, with the possibility of getting an additional one for providing data for secondary level education;
- client members (currently 10) – organisations responsible for one or more EMC. They can participate in the activities but do not hold voting rights;
- and associate members (currently 28) – organisations interested in EMREX or that are considering building and EMP or an EMC. Associate members can participate in the activities but do not hold voting rights.
Membership is open and free of charge, and operational participation is linked to successful testing of the solution. Maintenance relies on in-kind contributions from members, particularly through the allocation of staff, time, and expertise, while organisations operating EMPs and EMCs are responsible for financing their own implementation and development.
Through regular governance bodies meetings and engagement activities, such as webinars and newsletters, the community actively contributes to the continuous development and improvement of the solution, ensuring it evolves in line with stakeholder needs. Participating in these exchanges is open and collaborative, allowing members to provide feedback and suggest improvements based on their implementation experience.
5. Impact, adoption & scalability
The EMREX network currently connects more than 1,700 higher education institutions, with over 170 million academic credentials available online. Its usage continues to grow steadily, with more than 110,000 successful data transfers recorded between 2022 and 2024, and over 140,000 exchanges in 2025 alone.
Adopting EMREX brings tangible benefits for both students and institutions, enabling students to retain greater control over their academic data, while reducing administrative burden and streamlining mobility processes for higher education institutions. More broadly, EMREX contributes to a more interconnected European Education Area, and its relevance has been recognised at EU level, with the first Annual Report on Interoperability in the European Union identifying EMREX as a good practice example of cross-border interoperability.
Although implementation requires initial investment, particularly for the integration of technical components requiring local development, EMREX can be implemented within existing server environments and systems where academic records are already available in digital form. Organisations can continue working within their own server environment and existing systems, provided that they implement the EMREX protocol and the standardised data structure.
To support adoption and facilitate onboarding, EMREX provides structured guidance and implementation materials. The onboarding process typically includes the following steps:
- consult the technical documentation to understand the architecture, standards, and expected workload;
- register for the EMREX test network to test the solution;
- set up the relevant components (EMC and/or EMP);
- after successful testing, join the EUG.
The onboarding process, combined with community support, helps organisations align EMREX implementation with their local organisational, technical, semantic and legal contexts. To facilitate adoption, the EMREX community has developed guidance materials at both technical and organisational level, drawing on implementation experiences and good practices from existing data providers. Support includes access to testing environments, workshops, webinars and hands-on assistance aimed at helping organisations implement the required code and integrate the solution into their local work. Implementation timelines vary depending on the local infrastructure, but deployment can generally be completed within a few months.
6. Lessons learnt
EMREX demonstrates that achieving cross-border interoperability in education requires technical standards as well as long-term collaboration and sustained stakeholder engagement. One of the main lessons learnt from the initiative is that building an international network of institutions is gradual and time-intensive, requiring continuous coordination and commitment over time.
A second lesson concerns the value of EMREX’s decentralised and flexible building-block approach. This flexibility has supported reuse and gradual expansion of the network across countries and institutions while allowing participating organisations to retain control over their own systems and data.
The EMREX experience also highlights the role of openly available specifications in supporting the sharing and reuse of interoperability solutions. The use of a common, openly documented protocol (EMREX) and data model (ELMO) has enabled different organisations to implement the solution within their own technical environments. This has facilitated EMREX’s expansion and illustrates how common, reusable specifications can help reduce barriers to adoption, support interoperability and enable reuse on a larger scale.
A third lesson is that governance and maintenance are as important as technical publication. EMREX illustrates that publishing a reusable interoperability solution is not limited to making code or documentation available. It also requires clear ownership, community processes, testing arrangements, version management and channels through which implementers can obtain support and contribute feedback.
Another key success factor of EMREX has been its ability to deliver added value for both universities and students: stakeholders involved in the ecosystem report high levels of satisfaction with both the functionality of the solution and the collaboration model supporting it.
The continuous evolution of the solution also highlights the importance of community-driven development. The collected feedback has directly informed improvements to the solution, including the development of EMREX 2.0 and the move towards a more standards-agnostic and interoperable architecture.
[1] Dahl, A., Mattila, R., Olkkonen, L., Saarinen, H., Sandell, T. and Törnroos, T., 2021. Baseline study of cross-border data exchange in the Nordic and Baltic countries: Final report. TemaNord 2021:547. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers. Available at: https://doi.org/10.6027/temanord2021-547.
