diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b0d64ff..7379f98 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -86,19 +86,12 @@
 
 ## Installation
 
-Koral requires Java 1.7 particularly to compile Cosmas2 ANTLR grammars. 
-Set an environment variable JAVA7_HOME to the location of Java 1.7 in your system. 
-
-	set JAVA7_HOME="/usr/local/java/jdk1.7.0_79"
-	
-
 Installation is straightforward (Maven3 required):
 
     git clone https://github.com/korap/Koral [install-dir]
     cd [install-dir]
-    mvn compile
-    mvn test -Dhttps.protocols=TLSv1.2
-    mvn install
+    mvn package
+    mvn test -Dhttps.protocols=TLSv1.2    
 
 There is also a command line version. After installation, simply run
 
@@ -106,7 +99,7 @@
    
 ## Prerequisites
 
-* Java 7 (OpenJDK or Oracle JDK with [JCE](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jce-7-download-432124.html))
+* Java 8 (OpenJDK or Oracle JDK with JCE)
 * [Git](http://git-scm.com/)
 * At least [Maven 3.2.1](https://maven.apache.org/)
 * Further dependencies are resolved by Maven.
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e63d6c9..7087576 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 	<properties>
 		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>		
 		<jackson.version>2.9.1</jackson.version>
+		<java.version>1.8</java.version>
 	</properties>
 	
 	<repositories>
@@ -178,14 +179,14 @@
 			<plugin>
 				<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
 				<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-				<version>3.3</version>
+				<version>3.7.0</version>
 				<configuration>
 					<!-- <verbose>true</verbose>
 		          	<fork>true</fork> -->
-		         	<executable>${env.JAVA7_HOME}/bin/javac</executable>
-					<compilerVersion>1.7</compilerVersion>
-					<source>1.7</source>
-					<target>1.7</target>
+		         	<!-- <executable>${env.JAVA7_HOME}/bin/javac</executable> -->
+					<compilerVersion>2.0</compilerVersion>
+					<source>${java.version}</source>
+					<target>${java.version}</target>
 				</configuration>
 			</plugin>
 			<!-- <plugin>
@@ -240,9 +241,9 @@
 				<configuration>
 					<configFile>${project.basedir}/Format.xml</configFile>
 					<overrideConfigCompilerVersion>true</overrideConfigCompilerVersion>
-					<compilerSource>1.7</compilerSource>
-					<compilerCompliance>1.7</compilerCompliance>
-					<compilerTargetPlatform>1.7</compilerTargetPlatform>
+					<compilerSource>${java.version}</compilerSource>
+					<compilerCompliance>${java.version}</compilerCompliance>
+					<compilerTargetPlatform>${java.version}</compilerTargetPlatform>
 				</configuration>
 			</plugin>
 			<plugin>