摘要：The competencies have become the cornerstone of the educational systems reform, also in higher education. In the latter case, the Tuning project has played an incredibly important role at international level and has attracted as unwavering supports as devastating criticisms. This article begins with a very careful reading of the project’s texts, and aims a critical examination of his notion of competence. To this end, efforts will focus on salient aspects of the nature and main elements of the competences —in that plural which appears predominantly in Tuning— in relation to the educational process and student. Also will be under consideration the political and economic context in which arose the project; context from which its foundations, purpose and goals have been set. All this will be essential to assess the impact and evolution of the project in the process of reforming higher education
