External Action of the EU

The course examines the formation, shape and conduct of the external action of the European Union, including its institutional design and how it unfolds in practice.

'External action' is a relatively recent designation that emerged concurrently with the establishment of the European External Action Service. External action refers to the result of the combination of EU policy fields that used to be institutionally distinct before the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty - Community external relations, on the one hand, and the common foreign and security policy, on the other, together with defence aspects. These different domains have expanded significantly since and throughout the 1990s, beyond original concerns with development, economic cooperation and trade on the one hand, and the coordination of the foreign and defence policies of Member States on the other. The EU's external action today encompasses a wide range of subject matters, from established issues of development, trade, technical and financial assistance to candidate or neighbouring countries, to concerns with counter-terrorism, border and migration control. EU external action today also comprises both explicitly external measures and policies and the ‘external dimension’ of internal EU policies.

The course is structured in two broad sequences. We will first examine the frameworks and trajectories of EU external action, that is: 1) the making over time of the institutional and legal, political and material frameworks of action within which actors of EU external action operate today; 2) and the development of scholarship that aims to make sense and explain EU external action. Secondly, we will discuss the contemporary practices that make up EU external action, taking a look at either geographically focused (e.g. the 'neighbourhood') or thematically organised (e.g. democracy promotion, border and migration control) activities.

Overall, the class takes stock of the fact that over the course of its expansion and changes in denomination and focus, the EU's external action has also proven increasingly contentious. While some practitioners and scholars of EU external relations claim that the EU occupies a special place in international relations and exercises a civilising influence over international politics, we should recognise that such assertions have come under increasing internal and external scrutiny over the last decade.

On successful completion of the course, participants will have:

• acquired an MA-level factual and analytical understanding of the EU's external action, its history, its current institutional set-up and further knowledge of specific issue areas
• increased their knowledge of and ability to engage reflexively with the academic literature on the topics covered by the course
• improved their practical skills, including structured argumentation and writing, and analysis of primary and secondary sources

Connaissances et compétences pré-requises ou co-requises

A basic understanding of the theories, history, institutional, legal and decision-making features of European integration is highly recommended. Participants should have completed introductory courses (BA level, MA level would be an advantage) in European Union politics, European integration studies/theories and the history of European integration. Familiarity with key concepts and debates in international politics and political science is useful.

The course is designed as a series of 12 lectures (1 per week) totalling 24 hours of face-to-face time.

The course will be delivered in person and there is no provision for online learning. Depending on their availability, external speakers may be invited to share their knowledge and expertise on EU external action.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

Recommendations for set texts that course participants may wish to consult ahead of or during the course include:

• Hill, C., Smith, M., and S. Vanhoonacker, eds (2017) International Relations and the European Union, Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Keukeleire, S. and T. Delreux (2022) The Foreign Policy of the European Union, Third edition. London: Bloomsbury

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

Please check here for contact details and information on office hours.

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Autre

Autre

Coursework will be assessed as follows:

• Team policy brief (60% final mark): participants will be asked to work in teams of 2 or 3 persons, depending on the level of enrollment, to research and write a 3,500 words (pure text) policy paper on a relevant EU external action topic. Further instructions on the assignment will be provided at the beginning of term, but policy briefs will be modeled upon those prepared by the European Parliament Research Service (DG EPRS, see: https://europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/home.html). The policy brief will be due before the beginning of the second term exam period (mid-May, specific date to be communicated at the beginning of the course) and are to be submitted an electronic file on the course page of the Université virtuelle.
• Review paper (40%): participants will be asked to work individually on one of the scientific articles among the course readings. The assignment should provide an analysis of the authors' arguments and reasoning and provide an example of how they can be applied to an initiative, policy or measure in the field of EU external action. Review papers are 1,000 words long pure text and can be submitted at any point during the term (but logically after the session for which the reading the paper is based on has been assigned) as an electronic file on the course page of the Université virtuelle.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

Team policy brief: 60%
Individual review paper: 40%
 

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais