DSPO 27A06 - European Union and the National Political Systems (The)

The debate on the future of Europe and the need for the EU and its Member States to better meet citizens' expectations and deliver for all Europeans is at the heart of the EU agenda. Following the Bratislava meeting on 16 September 2016 and the Valletta meeting on 3 February 2017, the declaration adopted by EU leaders at the Rome meeting on 25 March 2017 pledged that: “In the ten years to come, we want a Union that is safe and secure, prosperous, competitive, sustainable and socially responsible, and with the will and capacity of playing a key role in the world and of shaping globalization. We want a Union where citizens have new opportunities for cultural and social development and economic growth.”

The Russian war in Ukraine and before, the COVID 19 outbreak and the BREXIT, have been leading to some geopolitical turning points in the European societies, from the NATO adhesion of Finland and Sweden to the high necessity for reshaping the energy policy and supply chains in many parts of Europe. The EU economy is now back but the high level of inflation and the increasing rate of interest threats its stable footing. More over significant social inequalities remain, and there are many persisting difficulties to tackle such as migrations, rise of extremist votes, new environmental requirements, instabilities and tensions within the international and transnational neighborhood. There is also a questioning of whether the EU enhancement, the innovation, technology shifts and the benefits and burdens accompanying open markets and societies are evenly distributed in society and will respect the citizen rights. Europe is at a crossroads and needs to decide how to tackle these numerous challenges, which question the necessity for the EU to complete its normative and civilian power by a military one. As a consequence, it questions the role of the EU but also the Member States themselves, as that of the “Non-State Actors” or even citizens. The course will focus on how, in the face of these new realities, the European Union and national political systems can move towards an effective new composition of their roles, at the institutional, geopolitical, economic and social levels, with various scenarios, and prevent the back to any difficult past.

The module provided students with the following:

• An empirical approach of features and major steps of the EU building and consequently, the critical analysis of insights from the state member policies in several key fields (history, law, foreign, economic, social, etc…)
• A detailed history of the early European integration process including the founding treaties, the revival of the single market project in the 1980s, political integration in the 1990s and the constitutional debate 3) An understanding of the EU’s decision making process, studying the EU as a mature political system with executive, legislative and judicial institutions
• An exploration of the history and theory of economic and monetary cooperation since the 1970s – focusing in particular on the European Monetary System, the development of European Monetary Union after 1992, and analysis of the causes and consequences of the Eurozone crisis
• An understanding of foreign, security and defence cooperation within the EU, the importance of recent geopolitical events questioning the EU’s military capabilities and decision making structures in the context of the European Strategic Compass and NATO 2022 Strategic concept.
• Critical analysis of European integration, political economy and governance approaches through their application to the integration process and the new perspectives of its enhancement.

English proficiency required

In addition to participating in the weekly seminar discussions, the students will act as a speaker of an oral presentation followed by an abstract writing, at the end of the course, they will write one critical paper. The components carry the following weight for the final mark: