Course Description

Course Name

The European Union (in English)

Session: VSVS2324

Hours & Credits

6 ECTS Credits

Prerequisites & Language Level

Taught In English

  • There is no language prerequisite for courses at this language level.

Overview

Course Description

After initially situating the students within the context of the present EU of 27 members, the course begins by offering the students an historical overview of the motives and often conflictual forces lying behind the creation and subsequent development of the EU, best reflected in the main treaties signed. Policy-making is notoriously complex in the EU. Getting to grips with it demands a clear understanding of the role and responsibilities of its principal institutions and how they interact with each other (and national governments), to produce hybrid ‘supranational’ laws/policy initiatives; a complex policy process, which of course, is not without its many detractors.

At the heart of the EU is the Single Market and its connected Competition Policy. As regional/global social forces pushed the four freedoms and deepened the process of economic integration pressure for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) increased. How and why the member states chose to abandon their currencies in favor of an untested common currency needs to be examined, as do the structural challenges facing the ongoing management of the eurozone (especially pertinent during the present debt crisis), and the euro’s effects both on the region and the international monetary system at large.  

Yet the EU is more than just an ‘economic club’; the process of economic integration “spilling-over” into a wide range of connected nominally “political” policy areas, which, the EU claims, have improved the quality of life of EU citizens. But not all citizens are convinced of the virtues of this deepening integration. The “freedom of movement of people”, especially, has been vilified by the popularist Right (which in turn has seen its support increase), constituting a key rallying point, amongst others, for the Brexit referendum.

Britain’s departure from the EU evidently constitutes one of the biggest challenges the organization has ever faced. This course will study how this came about, the dynamic of the ‘divorce’ negotiations, and the possible future for UK-EU relations. 

The EU’s place in globalized post-Cold War world is then addressed, comprising of a review of the region’s external trade relations (special attention being paid to transatlantic commerce) and evolving common foreign and security policy and how this relates to NATO, especially following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.  

Finally, the course seeks to shed light on the dynamics of EU enlargement: the criteria, costs and benefits, institutional process etc. It focuses especially on the eastward expansions from 2004 onwards – analysing the socio-economic, politico-juridical and logistical challenges posed for ‘old’ and ‘young’ members alike – and the present situation with candidate countries. One of those, Turkey, will be singled out and its credentials for possible future incorporation into the EU be assessed. 

 

Course Objectives

The aim of this course is that on its completion students will have a much better understanding of the interests, ‘identity’ and functioning of, not to mention challenges faced by, the EU, both as a geographical regional polity, and as a highly complex ongoing – though not uncontested – process of economic, political and social integration.

 

Methodology

Given the course objectives stated above, and the highly complex nature of the subject matter, the course adopts multidisciplinary approach: historical, geographical and cultural aspects considered necessary accompaniments to the main politico-economic framework adopted.

 

Course Requirements and Grading

The distribution of the final grade is the following:  

Quiz    15%

Midterm Exam   25%

Presentation   15%

Final Exam (TBA)  25%

Participation  20% 

 

Readings

Required text book: McCormick, John, Understanding the European Union: a Concise Introduction, 8th Edition (Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). 

 

Class Schedule

(This is only a general guide and may be subject to change)

WEEK 1: January 25th

  • Presentation of course;
  • EU Geography

WEEK 2: January 30th/February 1st

  • TOPIC 1: EVOLUTION OF THE EU
  • Explaining the beginning of European integration
  • ‘Progress’ in the 1950s

WEEK 3: February 6th/8th

  • Single European Act
  • Treaty of Maastricht

WEEK 4: February 13th/15th

  • Developments Post-Maastricht I
  • Developments Post-Maastricht II

WEEK 5: February 20th/22nd

  • QUIZ + Debate
  • TOPIC 2: INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK/LAW-MAKING
  • Functioning of EU Institutions I

WEEK 6: February 27th/March 1st

  • Functioning of EU Institutions II
  • Law-making in the EU

WEEK 7: March 6th/8 th

  • TOPIC 3: EU POLICY-MAKING PROCESS
  • Principles, policy environment & policy cycle
  • Features of the policy process

WEEK 8: March 13th/15th

  • MIDTERM EXAM
  • TOPIC 4: ECONOMIC & MONETARY UNION (EMU)
  • Beginnings of Economic & Monetary Union (EMU)

WEEK 9: March 20th/22nd

  • Maastricht, stages, criteria & launch of EMU
  • Functioning & management of eurozone

WEEK 10: March 27th/29th

  • Eurozone crisis and beyond
  • TOPIC 5. INTERNAL POLICIES
  • Competition Policy & the Single Market

WEEK 11: April 3 rd/5th

  • No Classes (Semana Santa)

WEEK 12: April 10th/12th

  • Common Agricultural Policy
  • Brexit

WEEK 13: April 17th/19th

  • TOPIC 6. EXTERNAL POLICIES
  • External Trade Policy
  • Transatlantic Trade
  • Foreign & Security Policy I

WEEK 14: April 24th/26th

  • No Classes (Feria de Abril)

WEEK 15: May 1st/3rd

  • No Class (Workers’ Day)
  • Foreign & Security Policy II

WEEK 16: May 8 th/10 th

  • Enlargement I: Process; Pros/Cons; Candidates
  • Enlargement II: Turkey

Final Exam: May 12th -17th

*Course content subject to change