From October 2013 to September 2014, the European University Association (EUA) implemented the European Commission Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) co-funded project entitled ‘Mobility Policy Practice Connect’ (MPPC), in partnership with the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA). MPPC followed up and built upon EUA’s and ACA’s earlier projects and research on the topic of mobility and internationalisation, such as the project ‘Mapping University Mobility of Students and Staff (‘MAUNIMO’: 2010-12) and ACA’s recent publications on mobility data, national mobility policies, mobility windows and portability of grants and loans . The project’s objective was to build or enhance capacity at system and institutional level to create, assess and implement comprehensive mobility strategies for higher education. France, Hungary and Lithuania were selected as case studies to illustrate the different contexts in which mobility strategies are developed and implemented. Carried out in partnership with the Lithuanian University Rectors’ Conference, the Conference of French University Presidents and the Hungarian Rectors’ Conference, MPPC consisted of a national workshop, focus group and a university site visit in each of the three countries.The workshop, in conjunction with a focus group, each targeted specific mobility-related themes and brought together university representatives, relevant national organisations, agencies and ministries. Other European experts and university representatives were invited to share practice and to facilitate the discussion on the complementarity of national and institutional mobility strategies. In addition, a site visit to a university in each country was organised to investigate how mobility of different types is managed and coordinated across the institution and how these practices could be enhanced.The MPPC activities demonstrated that institutional and national policies often differentiate and that national policies are sometimes slower to catch up with institutional needs. The three country cases, though distinct, proved that while national mobility and internationalisation strategies can indeed be helpful in guiding certain investments and actions, whether it be for the countries’ economic and educational attractiveness or for enhancing the international perspectives of ones’ own students, higher education institutions (HEIs) need their own distinct strategic orientation as well. This is why constant dialogue between HEIs and policy makers and a mix of bottom-up and top-down actions when it comes to student and staff mobility are crucial. The project results are presented in a publication: ‘Connecting mobility policies and practice: Observations and recommendations on national and institutional developments in Europe’. The paper provides a series of observations on and recommendations for enhancing the complementarity between higher education mobility policies (for both students and staff) at the institutional, national and European level. It highlights issues that could be of wider relevance across different national systems in Europe (for practitioners and policy-makers alike) and raises a number of important questions regarding how institutional and national policies both relate and at times diverge. This includes the extent to which different types of mobility of students and staff are strategically related within universities (degree-seeking students versus credit mobile students, for example), how language policy underpins mobility strategies, how promotion of mobility opportunities and general institutional management are done and relate to strategies. It is hoped that the project results will contribute to the ongoing policy reflection on European higher education internationalisation in the context of the Bologna Process, ET2020 and other related agendas. Further information about the project is available on the project website: http://www.maunimo.eu/mppc