1-1) The National Council for Evaluation of Universities (CNE) An external evaluation system was formed in France in the middle of the 1980s. The University Committee (CNE) was set up in 1984 and played a central role in evaluation. It was an autonomous administrative entity that reported directly to the President of the Republic and the mission was to evaluate universities, schools and other institutions in the areas linked to the missions of the higher education public sector. The AERES (Evaluation Agency for Research and Higher Education) inherited the mission.