Module description: European Institutions and Politics
Module name
European Institutions and Politics
Credit points
5 ECTS credits
Courses
Master Seminar (2 hours/week) : 5 ECTS
Mandatory assistance
No.
Lecturers
Module Coordinator
Contents
See course description (pdf file).
Learning objectives and skills
Intellectual capacities:
- Students will build up and develop capacities of analysis and synthesis, of critical reasoning and innovative thinking with regard to problem-solving and concrete application of decisions.
- Students demonstrate the capacity of analysing a situation, a process, an environment and of identifying and integrating relevant information.
- Students show the capacity of critical thinking in elaborating an argumentation on concepts and projects.
Interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills
- Students will develop personal and interpersonal communication skills relevant for each discipline through a pedagogy encouraging project-oriented group work
- Students show proficiency in the effective organisation and convincing written and oral presentation of information.
- Students develop and apply skills of personal organisation, anticipation, planning (time management) and methodological rigour.
Prerequisites
None
Integration in curriculum
Second semester (summer semester).
Module compatibility
Master program “Development Economics and International Studies”: Regional module, elective module, or elective complementary module
Method of examination
Presentation (ca. 45 min) and Research Paper (15 pages).
Grading procedure
- Presentation (33%)
- Research Paper (66%)
Module frequency
Yearly (summer semester).
Resit examinations
Failed exams can be retaken twice. Re-sits will be offered on the basis of an extended and different research paper.
Workload
- Class time: 30 hours
- Study time: 120 hours
Duration
One semester (bloc seminar)
Teaching and examination language
English
Recommended reading
Session 1: Introduction
» Presentation of the course
» The Schuman Declaration 9 May, 1950
» Student activity: Discussion of the guiding ideas of European integration
Readings:
Robert Schuman, The Schuman Declaration, 9 May 1950, as handed out in the reader.
Session 2: The institutional framework and the decision-making process
» Why was the EU created?: The background of World War II
» The European Commission as supranational institution
» The European Council as intergovernmental institution
» The European Parliament as democratic representation
» The decision-making process in the institutional triangle
» A survey of other major European institutions
» Student activity: Comparison of public opinion in different states of the EU using public opinion polls. Are the national concerns so very different from state to state? Are you able to identify similarities/differences between the national views?
Readings:
Hans & Sophie Scholl, extracts from a leaflet of the “White Rose Movement”
1942, as handed out in the reader
Jean Monnet, The Algiers Memorandum, 5 August 1943, as handed out in the reader
Anne Deighton, Building postwar Europe, Macmillan, 1995, Chs. 2, 3, 4, 6, 8
Desmond Dinan, Ever Closer Union, Palgrave, 2005, Part II
Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, Debates on European Integration, Palgrave, 2006, Part III
James Humphreys, Negotiating the EU, Century, 1997, Chs. 2, 3, 5
Beate Kohler-Koch, Debating the Democratic Legitimacy of the EU, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, Chs. 4, 5, 6
John McCormick, Understanding the EU, Macmillan, 2000, Ch. 4
Neil Nudget, EU Enlargement, Palgrave, 2004, Ch. 8
Ben Rosamund, Theories of European Integration, Macmillan, 2000, Chs. 6, 7
Session 3: Post war Europe
» Destruction
» Rebuilding
» And Marshall Aid
» Student activity: What is the importance of history for the present? See H.-G. Gadamer, ‘Hermeneutics’, e.g. Truth and Method
Readings:
George C. Marshall, Speech at Harvard, 5 June 1947, as handed out in the reader
Oliver Daddow, Britain and Europe since 1945, MUP 2004, Ch. 2
Desmond Dinan, Ever Closer Union, Palgrave, 2005, Ch.1
Tony Judt, A grand Illusion ?, Penguin, 1997, Ch. 1
John McCormick, Understanding the EU, Macmillan, 2000, Ch. 2
Jean Monnet, Memoirs, Collins, 1978, Chs. 6, 7, 8, 9, 11
Craig Parsons, A certain Idea of Europe, Cornell UP, 2006, Chs. 1, 2
Simon Sweeney, Europe, the State and Globalisation, Longman, 2005, Ch. 4
Session 4: The emergence of the institutions of the European Union
» the theories and actions of Jean Monnet
» the innovative character of the European institutions
» Enlargement
» Student activity: Discuss different integration theories
Readings:
Jean Monnet, Memorandum to Robert Schuman and Georges Bidault, May 1950, as handed out in the reader
Desmond Dinan, Ever Closer Union, Palgrave, 2005, Chs. 3, 5
François Duchêne, Jean Monnet, Norton, 1994, Chs. 4, 5, 6
Birgit Hegge, SMEs and European Integration, Routledge, 2002, Ch. 7
Maria Jespen, Unwrapping the European Socail Model, Policy Press, 2006, Ch. 7
Tony Judt, A grand Illusion ?, Penguin, 1997, Ch. 2
Jean Monnet, Memoirs, Collins, 1978, Chs. 10, 15, 16, 17
Neil Nudget, EU Enlargement, Palgrave, 2004, Chs. 1, 3, 4
Simon Sweeney, Europe, the State and Globalisation, Longman, 2005, Ch. 7
Jan Zielonka, Europe unbound, Routledge, 2002, Chs. 5, 6, 12
Session 5: Institutional Reform
» Institutional reform proposals for the EU
» The constitutional debate between 2000 and 2008
» The work of the European Convention
» Student activity: Discussion – What is a constitution? List as many different types of constitution as you can. Does the EU have a constitution? Is it important for the EU to have a constitution?
Readings:
From Confederacy to Federation – Thoughts on the finality of European integration” Speech by Joschka Fischer at the Humboldt University in Berlin, 12 May 2000, as handed out in the reader
Tony Judt, A grand Illusion?, Penguin, 1997, Ch. 3
Beate Kohler-Koch, Debating the Democratic Legitimacy of the EU, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, Chs. 1, 2
T. R. Reid, The United States of Europe, Wheeler Publication, 2005
Larry Siedentop, Democracy in Europe, Penguin, 2000, Ch. 5
Session 6: Enlargement and Treaties
» The borders of Europe
» Institutional consequences of past and future enlargements
» Neighbourhood Policy and preparation for Membership
» The Treaty of Lisbon
» Student activity: Prepare reports on the current status of accession negotiations with selected states.
Readings:
Winston Churchill, Speech in Zurich, 19 September 1946, as handed out in the reader
Desmond Dinan, Ever Closer Union, Palgrave, 2005, Chs. 4, 6
François Duchêne, Jean Monnet, Norton, 1994, Chs. 7, 8, 9
Jean Monnet, Memoirs, Collins, 1978, Chs. 12, 13, 14
Andrew Moravcsik, The Choice for Europe, Cornell UP, 1999, Ch. 2
Nicolas Moussis, Guide to European Policies, European Study Service 2001, Ch. 2
Craig Parsons, A certain Idea of Europe, Cornell UP, 2006, Chs. 4, 6
Session 7: Case Study: European Energy and Environmental Policy
» The founding energy Treaties
» Environmental degradation
» A European Environmental Conscience
» Student activity: Why are energy and environmental policies important? How have they changed?
Readings:
Thomas Hoerber, The Origins of Energy and Environmental Policy in Europe – The beginnings of a European environmental conscience, Routledge, London, 2013
Pamela M. Barnes, Thomas C. Hoerber (eds.), Sustainable Development and Governance in Europe – The evolution of the discourse on sustainability, Routledge, London, 2013
Session 8: Case Study: European Space Policy
» Intergovernmentalism vs. Supranationalism
» The European Space Agency (ESA)
» The growing importance of space
» EU-ESA relations
» Student activity: Why is space policy important? What potential for the future?
Readings:
Thomas Hoerber (ed.), ‘New Horizons for Europe – A European Studies Prespective on European Space Policy’, in: Space Policy, Vol. 28, Issue 2, May 2012
Thomas Hoerber, ‘The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union (EU) – The next step on the road to the stars’, in: Journal of Contemporary European Research (JCER), Vol. 5, No 3 (2009), pp. 405-414
Session 9: What is Europe?
» Geography
» Culture
» A kind of a United States of Europe
» Student activity: What is Europe? Where does Europe start, where does it end?
Readings:
Furio Cerutti, A Soul for Europe, Peeters, 2001, Ch. 6
Anthony Everitt, Europe united or divided by Culture, Institute of Welsh Affairs, 2008, Chs. 1, 2, 3, 6
Oliver Schmidtke (ed.), Europe’s last Frontier, Palgrave, 2008, Chs. 1, 7, 10
Jan Zielonka, Europe unbound, Routledge, 2002 Chs. 2, 3, 4
Last modified
March 2018