European Union

This course introduces the politics and policies of European integration. The European Union (EU), one of the most established international regional organisations in the world, has been an institution in the making for 60 years. The policies adopted at the supranational level now affect more than 500 million citizens of 28 countries; the bilateral and multilateral relationships that EU member states form are subject to the scrutiny of central institutions such as the European Commission, European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice, among others. By taking this course, you will learn about the historical motivations that led to the emergence of the European Union (and which alternative models were considered), the design and structure of European institutions (and how they have evolved over time), the core policy areas regulated at the EU level (and why some are outside the formal EU institutional framework), as well as theories that attempt to capture these complex and multilevel interactions.