Hispanic and European Studies Program
Course title: An Introduction to the European Union
Language of instruction: English
Professor: Javier Arregui
Professor’s contact and office hours: [email protected]
Thursday from 15:00 to16 :00
Course contact hours: 45
Recommended credit: 3 US credits-5 ECTS credits
Course prerequisites: None
Language requirements: English
Course focus and approach: The growing international economic
and political integration is challenging nation states’ role and their
traditional models of governance. The European Union - neither a
state nor a federation – represents an institutional organization of a
unique kind that groups together 27 sovereign states. How is
European policy making defined? And who are the relevant actors of
European decision-making?
Course description: The course is aimed at introducing the main
institutions and the structure of the EU to US students. Module 1 of
the course will examine the origin and the development of European
integration process, the main theories behind the process of
integration and the institutional structure of the EU. Module 2 is more
policy-oriented and it will focus on some of the most relevant issues
surrounding the contemporary debate on European integration:
formulation of the EU budget, enlargement, neighborhood policy, the
EU in the international scenario and the democratic deficit.
Learning objectives:
 to trace, critically analyze and explain the process of European
integration both from a historical and a political science perspective
 to compare and contrast the US political system with the EU hybrid
political system in order to highlight points of convergence and
divergence
 to show a capacity for synthesis as regards the politics and the
institutions of the process of European integration and of the EU
itself
 to understand the key concepts used in traditional European
integration studies
 to demonstrate an appropriate use of political vocabulary when
referring to European Union integration process
 to develop critical skills useful in the understanding of the EU
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Hispanic and European Studies Program
 to understand the day-by-day functioning of the most relevant
European institutions
 to develop further university level research skills in essay
presentation, library source searches and critical thought
Course workload: The format of the course will be based around
weekly lectures. Each lecture will present a coherent set topic with
prescribed readings. Lecture format will be integrated with slides,
active use of Internet web pages, student presentations, work
groups, special activity, seminars, round tables and field studies.
Teaching methodology: All classes will begin with a brief review of
the key ideas of the session. It is assumed that students will come to
class well-prepared and they are expected to actively participate in
class discussions.
Students must complete the readings before the date for which they
are listed in the course outline. Each student must offer a short
presentation of the scheduled reading to fellow classmates. This
summary (5-10 minutes) will sketch out the main arguments
contained in the reading. These presentations will have previously
been assigned by the course instructor.
Assessment criteria:
Attendance
Class Participation
Field studies
Class presentation
Mid-Term Exam
Final Exam
Mandatory
10%
20%
10%
25%
35%
Class Participation (10%): Your involvement throughout the
course will be closely monitored by the instructor and includes
various aspects. You will be asked to present and introduce to your
fellow classmates, at least, one reading from the reading list.
Mid-Term and Final Exams (25%+35%): The mid-term and final
exams are designed to establish and communicate to you the
progress you are making towards meeting the course learning
objectives. There will be a number of options where you will have to
develop one essay question. The essays will be marked according to
the amount and quality of information you master; the accuracy of
the information you present; and the significance you ascribe to the
facts and ideas you have integrated across your study in this course.
The written mid-term examination will cover the first module of the
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course whilst the final examination will cover all material presented
and discussed in the course.
Class (10%): As European integration is an ongoing process; you
will be required to discuss contemporary developments in European
integration in light of the theories and concepts studied in class. At
the beginning of the course, you will be able to choose a topic for
your presentation. A formal presentation ( with Power Point included)
will be due where you will openly debate the topic at stake (more
instructions will be given along the course).
Field studies (20%): we will make a simulation of the negotiation
process within the European Council and also a visit to the EU
headquarters in Barcelona. In both cases you will have to make a
short essay (more instructions will be given along the course).
Absence policy
After the add/drop, all registrations are considered final and HESP
Absence Policy begins to apply. For the academic year 2011-2012,
such policy is as follows:
Attending class is mandatory and will be monitored daily by
professors. Missing classes will impact on the student’s final grade as
follows:
Absences
Up to two (2)
absences
Three (3) absences
Penalization
No penalization
1 point subtracted
from final grade (on a
10 point scale)
2 points subtracted
from
final grade (on a 10
point scale)
The student receives
an INCOMPLETE (“NO
PRESENTAT”)
for the course
Four (4) absences
Five (5) absences or
more
The PEHE/HESP attendance policy does not distinguish between
justified or unjustified absences. The student is deemed
responsible to manage his/her absences.
Emergency situations (hospitalization, family emergency...) will be
analyzed on a case by case basis by the Academic Director of the
HESP.
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Hispanic and European Studies Program
Classroom norms:
- No food or drink is permitted in class
- Students will have a ten-minute break after one-hour session
- Students are expected to act and behave correctly
Required readings: The required course textbooks listed below are
available for purchase at the local bookstore. You must have constant
access to these texts for reading, highlighting and marginal notetaking.
CINI, Michelle and Nieves Pérez Solorzano European Union
Politics, Oxford: OUP – Third Edition 2010 (or Edition 2007)
Hix, Simon and Bjorn Holland, The Political System of the
European Union, Palgrave, 2011, third edition.
Periodical literature, articles, documents, digital images and other
sundry materials also required for your class are available in PDF or
Word format, are stored in the e-course file assigned to each class.
You will be required to use these resources throughout your studies.
Recommended Readings (not compulsory):
BEN, R., 2000, Theories of European Integration, (Introduction) New York:
St. Martin Press
BOMBERG, E. and Stubb, A., 2003, The European Union: How Does it Work,
Oxford: OUP.
HIX, S. and Hoyland. 2011. The Political System of the European Union.
Palgrave.
MAU, S. AND R. VERWIEVE. 2010. European Societies, Portland: The Policy
Press.
McCORMICK, J. 2011. European Union Politics, New York: Palgrave.
MORAVSCIK, A., 1998, The Choice for Europe, London: UCL Press.
PINDER, J., 1998. The Building of the European Union, third edition, Oxford
University Press, Oxford.
POLLACK, M. A., 2002, The Engines of European Integration: Delegation,
Agency, and Agenda-Setting in the EU, Oxford: OUP.
RICHARDSON, J. (ed) 2001. European Union: Power and Policy-making,
second edition, London: Routledge.
WALLACE, H and W Wallace (eds) 2000. Policy-making in the European
Union, fourth edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Complementary references (thematic articles and reviews):
Churchill (pp.7-11); Schuman (pp.13-14); Preambles to Treaties of Rome
(pp.15-17) and Monnet (pp. 19-26) all reprinted in Brent F. Nelsen and
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Hispanic and European Studies Program
Alexander C-G Stubb, 1998. The European Union: Readings on the Theory
and Practice of European Integration. Second Edition, Boulder: Lynne
Rienner Publishers.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 2001, The White Paper on European Governance,
COM, 2001
HABERMAS, J., 2001, So Why Europe need a Constitution ?, in New Left
Review 11, Sept-Oct 5-26
MORAVCSIK, A. 1995, Liberal Intergovermentalism and Integration: A
Rejoinder, Journal of Common Market Studies, 33: 611-28
NORRIS, P., 1997, Representation and the Democratic Deficit, in European
Journal of Political Research 32, pp.273-282
PETERSON, J., and E. BOMBERG, 1999, Decision Making in the European
Union, Chapter 5: the Common Agricultural Policy, New York: St. Martin’s
Press
PETERSON, J., and E. BOMBERG, 1999, Decision Making in the European
Union, Chapter 7: Environmental Policy, New York: St. Martin’s Press
PIERSON, P., 1996, The Path to European Integration: a historical
Institutionalist Analysis, pp. 295-321, reprinted in Brent F. Nelsen and
Alexander C-G Stubb, 1998.
SCHARPF, F.W., 1996, Economic Integration, Democracy and the Welfare
State, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Society (MPIfG) Working Paper
96/2, July 1996
STRANGE, S., 1998, Mad Money: When markets Outgrowth Governments.
pp.66-77, The University of Michigan Press (Chapter 4: Political
Underpinning, Disunited Europe)
SVERDRUP, U., 2002, An Institutional perspective on treaty reform:
contextualizing the Amsterdam and Nice Treaties, Journal of European Public
Policy 9:1, 120-140
THOMAS, D., Europe’s Constitutional Crisis in Historical Perspective,
Newsletter of the European Union Center, University of Pittsburg, Fall 2005
Online Reference & Research Tools:
Institutional Internet Links
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European Council (http.//www.ue.eu.int/en/info/eurocouncil)
The Council’s Secretariat General Internet website (www.ue.eu.int)
The Commission’s own website (www.europa.eu.int/comm)
The European Voice newspaper (www.european-voice.com)
European Policy Centre (www.theepc.be)
Commission’s webpage on the Convention
(http://europa.eu.int/futurum/index_en.htm)
The Parliament website (www.europarl.eu.it)
The Economic and Social Committee’s website
(www.europa.esc.eu.int)
The Committee of Regions website (www.europa.cor.eu.int)
Other useful links
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Hispanic and European Studies Program
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Celebrating 50 years of Europe (http://europa.eu/50/index_en.htm)
Eurobarometer – public opinion polls in the EU
(http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm)
Selection of analyses and reports (www.euobserver.com)
Transitions online (formerly Central Europe Review) (www.tol.cz)
University of Leiden - EU History Site - Home Page - http://www.euhistory.leidenuniv.nl/index
European Navigator from Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur
l'Europe
http://www.ena.lu/mce.cfm
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Hispanic and European Studies Program
Weekly schedule
Session
1
Topic
Introduction
Presentation of the syllabus, the
course and the defining concepts
Activity
Personal and academic presentation
General overview of the course,
methodology and bibliography
Student Assignments

Prepare reading for next class
Module 1: THE EU AS A POLITICAL SYSTEM: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND INSTITUTIONS
Europe: Facts and Figures
2
3
Europe and the EU: numbers, facts
and figures
The EU as a global actor
Europe: The Old Continent
The European culture
Nation States after WW II
Review of the main socioeconomic
variable for Europe and the EU
The EU in a nutshell
Review of Churchill, Schuman and
Monnet text
Student presentation of Unwin’s text
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION, EU
integration seen through statistics:
Key facts of 18 policy areas, 2006;

Churchill (pp.7-11); Schuman
(pp.13-14); Preambles to Treaties of
Rome (pp.15-17) and Monnet (pp.
19-26)
Unwin, D. W., 2006 The
European Community: from 1945
to 1985 in Michelle Cini, 2010,
European Union Politics, Oxford
University Press
http://europa.eu/about-eu/euhistory/index_en.htm
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Hispanic and European Studies Program
Session
Topic
The integration process:
theoretical perspectives
4
Realism and Neofunctionalism today
The new emerging theory
Globalization and the decline of
nation state
Activity
Review of Burgess text and student oral
presentation
Lecture and discussion
Student Assignments
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Burgess, M., 2007, Federalism
and Federation, in Michelle Cini,
2007, European Union Politics,
Oxford University Press

Simon Hix and Bjørn Høyland,
2011, The Political System of the
European Union, 3rd edition,
Palgrave, Introduction
Account by Paul M. G. Lévy on the
creation of the European flag:
http://www.ena.lu?lang=1&doc=207
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The EU as a Political System
5
6
The origin of the studies on the EU
IR and political sciences
The classical debate: -Realist vs
functionalist
The Institutions of the EU (1):
the European Commission
The EC as the agenda setter
The College of Commissioners
The role of the EC
7
The Institutions of the EU (2):
The Council
The Institutional Triangle
The equilibrium between the EP, the
EC and the European Council
Review of Simon Hix text and student
oral presentation
Lecture and discussion
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Review of Egeberg article and student
oral presentation
Lecture and discussion
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Review of Lewis article and sudent oral
presentation
Lecture and discussion
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2
Egeberg, M. 2007, The European
Commission, in Michelle Cini, 2007,
European Union Politics, Oxford
University Press
The Commission’s own website
www.europa.eu.int/comm)
Lewis, J., The Council of the
European Union in Michelle Cini,
2007, European Union Politics,
Oxford University Press
The Council’s own website
www.consilium.eu
Hispanic and European Studies Program
Session
Topic
Activity
Student Assignments
The European Council
The Institutions of the EU (3):
the European Parliament
8
9
The voice of the Europeans
The Elections for the EP
The EP and the Europeans
The Institutions of the EU (4):
the European Court of Justice
Judicial Politics
Constitutionalization of the EU
Explanation of EU Judicial Politics
Interest Representaton in the
EU and the EU as a pluralistic
system
10
11
EU interest groups and EU policymaking
Explaining the power of interest
representation in EU institutions
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Review of Scully article and student oral
presentation
Lecture and discussion
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Review of Hix and student oral
presentation
Lecture and discussion
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Review of Hix and student oral
presentation
Lecture and discussion
Course review
DGs presentation tutorials
3
Scully, R, 2007, The European
Parliament, in in Michelle Cini,
2007, European Union Politics,
Oxford University Press
The Parliament’s own webpage
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/
Hix and Holland, 2011, The
European Court of Justice,
Palgrave Publishers
The ECJ webpage
http://europa.eu/abouteu/institutions-bodies/court-justice
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Hix and Holland, 2011, Interest
Representation, Palgrave
Publishers
The European Roundtable of
Industrialist:
http://www.ert.eu/

Prepare questions and doubts for
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Hispanic and European Studies Program
Session
Topic
Activity
1ST Collective Tutorial for the
final exercise
12
MID-TERM TAKE-HOME EXAM
Student Assignments

mid-term exam
Tutorials for the final exercise
Mid-term take-home exam
MODULE 2: THE EU IN THE CONTEMPORARY DEBATE – SELECTED POLICIES AND KEY ISSUES
13
The EU budget and Social
Cohesion
How does the EU finance herself?
Net Payers and Beneficiaries
Budget cut in the era of financial
crisis
Review of Bourne lecture and student oral
presentation
Lecture and discussion
14
A window on 2014-2020 EU
budget
SPECIAL ACTIVITY 2:
Seminar on the negotiation process for
the new 2014-2020 budget
15
SIMULATION OF THE EU
NEGOTIATION PROCESS OF THE
2007-2013 BUDGET
Simulation of the EU negotiation process
of the 2004-2020 budget

ANGELA K. BOURNE, 2007,
Regional Europe, in Michelle Cini,
2007, European Union Politics,
Oxford University Press
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The budget at a glance:
http://ec.europa.eu/budget/budget_
glance/index_en.htm
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Hix and Holland, 2011, Interest
Representation, Palgrave
Publishers
Economic and Monetary Union
16
The Political Economy of the
Monetary Union
Review of Hix and student oral
presentation
Lecture and discussion
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Hispanic and European Studies Program
Session
Topic
Activity
The BCE
Explaining the problems in the
working of EU monetarian policies
Student Assignments
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The European Central Bank
http://www.ecb.int/home/html/inde
x.en.html
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Chryssochoou, D., 2007,
Democracy and the European
Polity in Michelle Cini, 2007,
European Union Politics, Oxford
University Press
The Democratic deficit (1)
17
The democratic legitimacy of the EU
The contestable notion of
democracy
The EU compared to other relevant
democracies
The democratic deficit (2)
18
19
20
Andrew Moravcsik speaks at
Princeton University's Woodrow
Wilson School of Public and
International Affairs:
Visit to the Delegation of
European Parliament and
European Commission in
Barcelona
(to be confirmed)
2st Collective Tutorial for the
Review of the article and oral student
presentation
SPECIAL ACTIVITY 4: Video Lecture by
Andrew Moravcsik: Is there a
democratic deficit in the world
politics? available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNnx-Q5xx4
Field Study
Delegation EU Commission in Barcelona
●
Course Review
5
Prepare questions and doubts
for the final exam
Hispanic and European Studies Program
Session
Topic
Activity
Final Take-Home Exam
Final- Take Home Exam
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
final exam
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Last revision: June 2015
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Student Assignments