This session will address the usefulness of locally relevant language assessment systems, the impact that the CEFR has had in their planning and development, and the past, present and future challenges that such systems face in striving to achieve and sustain quality over time.

"Mutual" is a word that crops up in numerous text types, from business (e.g. mutual insurance fund, mutual financial interests) to legal (e.g. mutual legal assistance) to humanistic documents (e.g. mutual understanding). In this paper, I will investigate a number of frequent collocations of "mutual" such as, and among others, "mutual recognition", "mutual respect", "mutual support" with a view to discussing the implications of their use in the fostering of language learning in higher education throughout Europe. I will also base my contribution on the overall key concept of "mutual collaboration and co-operation" as applied to and by national and European institutions, teachers and learners alone or together, each in their own professional and/or teaching - learning environments.

Bearing in mind that CercleS and its members are the pivotal force of my discussion, my aims are manifold. First, I will highlight the areas in which we as members of CercleS are already mutually supportive of each other. As an extension to this, I will also observe where we are meeting the challenge for further mutual recognition and accreditation as well as support of our activities. Finally, I will stress where we need to strengthen our mutual collaborative efforts in the internationalization of higher education, and the significant role that language centres must necessarily play in the process.