1. The MBA is a postgraduate degree at the Master's level and must correspond to minimum intellectual and academic standards for such degrees. Admission to an MBA programme will normally require a first degree or equivalent. This requirement can only be lowered exceptionally in the case of candidates with substantial and proven professional experience.
2. The MBA is a postexperience degree seen as a career accelerator or a means to make a career shift after a minimum  of 2 or 3 years' professional experience. Programmes designed to help young graduates prepare for their entry into professional life should normally carry an alternative title.
3. The MBA is a generalist degree in business administration. In line with the previous guideline it is a broadening programme.  As a result a specialized Master's degree should not be called an MBA.
4. It is important that the MBA be clearly identified with a certain type of content.   The MBA curriculum provides broad coverage of the main functional areas in management, namely accounting, finance, marketing and sales, operations management, information systems management, law, human resource management. It is also expected to provide basic instruction in economics and quantatitive analysis. The Curriculum will normally be highly integrative and will include courses in business policy and strategy. Beyond the mere acquisition of knowledge and technical skills the curriculum is expected to put theory into practice by focusing on the personal development of  participants through such competencies as decision-making, team work, leadership skills, entrepreneurial potential, negotiation skills, communication and presentation skills. The later part of the programme should make provision for electives and may include the possibility for participants to choose a major area of study.  
5. The MBA has a minimum length of  one academic year of full-time study or the equivalent when the programme is offered on a part-time basis.
6. The MBA will require a minimum of 400 hours of classroom study or structured contact. In all the programme should require a minimum of 1200 hours of  personal  work.
7. An MBA programme should be intellectually demanding and require a substantial personal investment in terms of commitment and effort
8. Admission to an MBA programme should be through a rigorous process of selection to ensure that only qualified participants are given access to the degree.
9. Participants in an MBA programme should be rigorously assessed through a regime of examinations and graded work in order to ensure that learning objectives are being met up to Master's degree standards

Implementation
 
It should be stressed that these are merely guidelines and have no formal basis in law.   However, the supporting national associations' aim is that they become widely used across Europe over time as a minimum standard.   It is anticipated that schools and countries which do not yet meet these guidelines will evolve towards them, or superior, thus resulting in a common European understanding of the MBA