Assessment
- Assesment is based on your essay (5000-6000 words). Moreover, you must pass the class test. Your essay title must be chosen from the list that I will distribute
- The Department’s universal deadline applies. There is only one deadline, and no extensions will be granted. Should you fall ill, you must provide a medical certificate.
- Please send your essays by mail (leaving enough time for delivery by the due-date), or hand it in to the
Essay titles
- What role has German-French cooperation played in the European integration process? Where do their particular interests overlap and where do they differ?
- What evidence is there for (a) supranationalism and (b) intergovernmentalism in the complex of institutions that comprises the Council of Ministers?
- How can the increase of power of the European Parliament be explained during the 1980s and 1990s?
- How has the balance of powers between the institutions changed since the founding treaties?
- What political and institutional impact did German unification have on the European Community in 1990?
- What are the political and institutional implications of the Single Market?
- Discuss the different reasons why four EU member states did not join the third stage of EMU in 1999. Will Denmark, Sweden and the UK join in the future?
- What has the reforms of Common Agricultural Policy made so difficult? Describe these reforms and explain the challenges for the CAP after the 2004/2007 enlargement.
- Why are foreign and security matters on EU level still predominantly intergovernmental?
- “The Treaty of Lisbon saved most of the failed Constitution’s substance” – discuss
- “Like Amsterdam and Nice, the Treaty of Lisbon is not a constitutional leap but rather just another minor amendment of the Maastricht Treaty”
Readings
You should buy one of these textbooks:
- Cini, M. (ed.), European Union Politics (Oxford: OUP 2009)
- Hix, S., The Political System of the European Union (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2005, 2nd ed.)
- Nugent, N., The Government and Politics of the European Union, (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2006, 6th edition)
- Wallace, H., Pollack, M. and Young, A. (eds), Policy-making in the European Union, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, 6th ed.)
Reading List
- We will put some of the texts on the ReaderPlus system. The Reader Number is 8334. You will get an access code (required for self-registration) at the start of term.
- Course Outline
General Information
Slides
- Lecture 1: Postwar Setting
- Lecture 2: Treaties (version for print out)
- Lecture 3: The European Commission (version for print out)
- Lecture 4: The Council of Ministers (version for print out)
- Lecture 5: The European Parliament (version for print out)
- Lecture 6: Decision Making in the EU (version for print out)
- Lecture 7: Political Integration Theory (version for print out)
- Lecture 8: The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (version for print out)
- Lecture 9: The Single European Market (SEM) (version for print out)
- Lecture 10: Economic and Monetary Union (version for print out)
- Lecture 11: Regional Policy (version for print out)
- Lecture 12: Common Foreign and Security Policy (version for print out)
- Lecture 13: Justice and Home Affairs (version for print out)
- Lecture 14: Enlargement (version for print out)