OAGE 2070 - Europe's Coming of Age. Can the EU become a global economic and political actor?

This course looks at the bigger picture and aims to identify long-term trends influencing the capacity of the EU to deliver the goods. It draws lessons from Europe’s multiple crises and examines in some depth the main challenges and policy choices facing Europeans today. It covers a wide range of issues and policies from regulation and industrial policy to redistribution and the management of the euro, as well as the rise of populism and the crisis of democracy, the creation of new lines of divisions between and within member countries, further enlargement and Europe’s search for a geopolitical role. It ends with a discussion of likely scenarios for the future. The course has a strong policy orientation and requires some knowledge of economics, although not of a technical nature.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the semester, students will be able to:

• Create an original and personal argumentation
• Justify a position and defend an argumentation
• Identify, discuss European Union policy choices

Professional Skills

By the end of the semester, students will be able to:

• Working with a group of people to achieve a shared outcome
• Communicating effectively and adequately (orally and in writing)
• Engaging in reflective and independent thinking
• Analyzing information to increase understanding of an issue

• All the resources, including readings, lists of indicative topics (for both presentations and essays) and some additional materials (press, policy papers) are available for download on the website https://moodle.sciences-po.fr/. Students are invited to visit it regularly.
• The final grades of both the oral presentation and the written exam are individually e-mailed by the end of the semester.

Students are expected to prepare before each session (mostly readings), engage in discussion during class, and participate in one group presentation in class of 10 min/student (a list of indicative topics will be provided). Before the end of the semester, students will take a two-hour written exam in which they will be asked to answer two out of four questions (in either English or French) drawing from what has been discussed in class. Class participation and oral group presentation will account for 50% of the final grade and the written examination for the other 50%.

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 10 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 20 hours a semester