INSTITUTIONS AND POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION (14/02)
COURSE OUTLINE AND EVALUATION
There will be questions on current affairs happening in the EU on the exam!
You don’t need to know all the names but you do have to know the people who made the
fundamental theories!
INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC
WHAT IS THE EU AND WHAT DO EUROPEANS KNOW AND THINK ABOUT IT?
1) Different levels of knowledge about the EU within the EU
A lot of people think they know a lot about the EU but in reality they don’t.
Europe ≠ European Union!!
2) Different views about ‘being European’
For example British people have a different feeling about the EU than most other
countries
3) Different views about the EU and its policies
4) Different views on EU democracy
CONCLUSIONS
The EU means a lot of different things to different people. It requires nuance to talk about
it. It’s difficult to consider what and who is and is not ‘the EU’.
SESSION 2 (21/02) WHAT IS THE EU?
THIS WEEK IN THE EU:
- General feeling: Europe is on its own and Trump is more Putin’s ally than NATO’s
defender
- World leaders have decided to go to Ukraine to show a unified front first step to
real action
- Crises have been good for the European Integration process every time we
overcome our differences to work together
- This week there will be elections in Germany AfD is likely to be very popular,
the whole of Europe is looking at what’s going to happen because Germany is
considered to be a motor of European Integration together with Paris
- CDU leader Merz wants Europe to be more competitive globally, he has a rather
bad relationship with Ursula Von Der Leyen (Merz is old-school right wing and VDL
is more a centrist)
- Slide 7: watch the video!
THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THE EU
A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY: when we talk about European politics and so on, we mean
EU politics
,Sui generis = it’s a term used to describe the EU politics because it’s not really
compatible with anything else
WHY CONCEPTS AND THEORIES?
We need them to understand reality and to make sense of unrelated facts. They help us
to select and structure everything that is relevant or irrelevant. This way we can explain
things and even try to predict things that will happen in the future. But we are very bad
at predicting the future because we have so many variables to take into consideration.
Our lab doesn’t exist, our lab is the social reality. We look to the past and explain to then
try to predict something.
CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO THE EU
There are 3 different ways of looking at the EU: State, political system or international
organization
WHAT IS A STATE?
1) Operates within a fixed and populated territory (its borders don’t change too much
and there is a population)
2) There needs to be a government that has legitimate authority over the state (only
authority that can use violence on its population or lock them up)
3) Is legally and politically independent (Eastern Germany was legally independent
but politically under the reign of the SU)
4) Is recognized by its people and by other states (internationally recognized)
IS THE EU A STATE?
1) Fixed and populated territory?
Its borders are recognized, sum of its Member States’ territory
It has a flag and various symbols, also an anthem
EU keeps expanding their territory so its borders aren’t necessarily fixed
EU doesn’t fully operate its territory, but the Member States do
2) Authority over that territory?
EU system of law to which Member States subject it has a lot of authority
EU competences vary, no all-encompassing authority (not on all aspects)
3) Legally and politically independent?
Rather independent of other international actors
Rather dependent of its Member States (they have to implement the law and their
policies)
4) Recognized by its people and by other states?
, In general it’s generally recognized by its people and other states (especially when
it comes to trade Member States are not allowed to independently sign trade
laws with non-European countries)
There is something as EU citizenship (most people feel like EU citizens)
Variation in extent of recognition by other countries
Various extent of ‘feeling European’ among EU citizens
WHAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION?
See definitions in textbook and slides
It has voluntarily decision to join and delegate authority.
EU exceeds each of the criteria compared to other IGOs.
IS THE EU AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION?
Slide 25: data when the EU comes together for a meeting
WHAT IS A POLITICAL SYSTEM?
The EU is a political system sui generis. It’s quite different and something on its own, it
can be compared to other systems but it’s difficult. (see slide)
Key characteristics of a political system:
- Institutions for collective decision-making and a set of rules governing relations
EU does have the institutions and treaties but there is variance in rules/procedures
- Citizens realize their political desires through the political system
Representation of citizens through European Parliament, but there is a big
distance between the EU and its citizens
- Collective decisions significantly impact resources/values
Far-reaching impacts of EU decision-making (example: Euro)
- Continuous interaction
Feedback loops within EU policy-making
Judiciary power European Court of Justice
SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION (14/02)
COURSE OUTLINE AND EVALUATION
There will be questions on current affairs happening in the EU on the exam!
You don’t need to know all the names but you do have to know the people who made the
fundamental theories!
INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC
WHAT IS THE EU AND WHAT DO EUROPEANS KNOW AND THINK ABOUT IT?
1) Different levels of knowledge about the EU within the EU
A lot of people think they know a lot about the EU but in reality they don’t.
Europe ≠ European Union!!
2) Different views about ‘being European’
For example British people have a different feeling about the EU than most other
countries
3) Different views about the EU and its policies
4) Different views on EU democracy
CONCLUSIONS
The EU means a lot of different things to different people. It requires nuance to talk about
it. It’s difficult to consider what and who is and is not ‘the EU’.
SESSION 2 (21/02) WHAT IS THE EU?
THIS WEEK IN THE EU:
- General feeling: Europe is on its own and Trump is more Putin’s ally than NATO’s
defender
- World leaders have decided to go to Ukraine to show a unified front first step to
real action
- Crises have been good for the European Integration process every time we
overcome our differences to work together
- This week there will be elections in Germany AfD is likely to be very popular,
the whole of Europe is looking at what’s going to happen because Germany is
considered to be a motor of European Integration together with Paris
- CDU leader Merz wants Europe to be more competitive globally, he has a rather
bad relationship with Ursula Von Der Leyen (Merz is old-school right wing and VDL
is more a centrist)
- Slide 7: watch the video!
THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THE EU
A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY: when we talk about European politics and so on, we mean
EU politics
,Sui generis = it’s a term used to describe the EU politics because it’s not really
compatible with anything else
WHY CONCEPTS AND THEORIES?
We need them to understand reality and to make sense of unrelated facts. They help us
to select and structure everything that is relevant or irrelevant. This way we can explain
things and even try to predict things that will happen in the future. But we are very bad
at predicting the future because we have so many variables to take into consideration.
Our lab doesn’t exist, our lab is the social reality. We look to the past and explain to then
try to predict something.
CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO THE EU
There are 3 different ways of looking at the EU: State, political system or international
organization
WHAT IS A STATE?
1) Operates within a fixed and populated territory (its borders don’t change too much
and there is a population)
2) There needs to be a government that has legitimate authority over the state (only
authority that can use violence on its population or lock them up)
3) Is legally and politically independent (Eastern Germany was legally independent
but politically under the reign of the SU)
4) Is recognized by its people and by other states (internationally recognized)
IS THE EU A STATE?
1) Fixed and populated territory?
Its borders are recognized, sum of its Member States’ territory
It has a flag and various symbols, also an anthem
EU keeps expanding their territory so its borders aren’t necessarily fixed
EU doesn’t fully operate its territory, but the Member States do
2) Authority over that territory?
EU system of law to which Member States subject it has a lot of authority
EU competences vary, no all-encompassing authority (not on all aspects)
3) Legally and politically independent?
Rather independent of other international actors
Rather dependent of its Member States (they have to implement the law and their
policies)
4) Recognized by its people and by other states?
, In general it’s generally recognized by its people and other states (especially when
it comes to trade Member States are not allowed to independently sign trade
laws with non-European countries)
There is something as EU citizenship (most people feel like EU citizens)
Variation in extent of recognition by other countries
Various extent of ‘feeling European’ among EU citizens
WHAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION?
See definitions in textbook and slides
It has voluntarily decision to join and delegate authority.
EU exceeds each of the criteria compared to other IGOs.
IS THE EU AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION?
Slide 25: data when the EU comes together for a meeting
WHAT IS A POLITICAL SYSTEM?
The EU is a political system sui generis. It’s quite different and something on its own, it
can be compared to other systems but it’s difficult. (see slide)
Key characteristics of a political system:
- Institutions for collective decision-making and a set of rules governing relations
EU does have the institutions and treaties but there is variance in rules/procedures
- Citizens realize their political desires through the political system
Representation of citizens through European Parliament, but there is a big
distance between the EU and its citizens
- Collective decisions significantly impact resources/values
Far-reaching impacts of EU decision-making (example: Euro)
- Continuous interaction
Feedback loops within EU policy-making
Judiciary power European Court of Justice
