Introduction to EU Politics

Introduction

Part I: What is the EU?

How did we get there? Evolution of the integration process

Part II: The EU as a political system

The EU institutional framework

The European Council: the old new leader

The Council of Ministers: the decisive chamber

The European Commission: the steering institution

The European Parliament: the empowered veto player

The European Court of Justice and the supremacy of EU law

The EU competences and types of EU laws

The EU decision-making process

Part III: Politic of the EU

Politicising the EU

EU democracy and legitimacy

EU integration. Example of the Green Deal I

EU disintegration: Example of the Green Deal II

This course introduces the European Union as a political system. It includes its evolution, its institutional architecture, and its actors.

At the end of the course, students should be able:

• To understand the evolution of the EU and European integration and to compare past developments with current debates
• To understand how the EU and its institutions work
• To analyse key challenges and topics in EU politics

The course is composed of 11 lectures of 2 hours. Whenever possible, lectures with invited academics, experts, civil servants, and EU officials are organized.

The course will rely on this material:

• Powepoint presentations used in class
• Guest speaker’s intervention
• Compulsory readings
• Q&A session

Students will be granted access to the course material and the material will be available on the UV. This material is covered by intellectual property rights regulations. It is therefore not authorised to share it outside the UV. By registering for the course, you consent to these conditions related to the course material.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

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Support(s) de cours

• Podcast
• Université virtuelle

Contacts

Contact:

Camille Nessel
camille.nessel@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Examen écrit
• Autre

Examen écrit

Autre

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

The 3 hour exam will consist of two parts – an MCQ section (6/20) and an essay section (14/20), completed during the same exam period in January (and August for the resit).

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais