Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
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LEUSL2704 - The political basis of European Integration


USL-B


Credits : 5

Lecturer :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

Language of instruction :
French

Learning outcomes :
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the European Union's political system and its functioning through the analysis of its institutions, actors, modes of government and public policies. The political effects of European integration on national policies and on the citizens of the Member States are also examined.
This course is part of the teaching programme linked to the Jean Monnet EUGENDERING Chair on the EU and the challenges of gender equality and diversity. Gender issues will therefore be a common thread in the sessions, explored through case studies and/or readings.


Prerequisites :
None

Co-requisites :
None

Course contents :
1. Introduction
How to analyze European integration: theories and concepts
2. The actors of the European institutional system
Member States at the heart of the system
The European Commission, the key to the system
- Case study: The European Commission and the EU Strategy for Equality

3. The actors of the European institutional system (continued)
The European Parliament, a parliament like any other?
Integration through law: the role of the Court of justice
The subsidiaries institutions
- Case study: Support and opposition to gender equality in the European Parliament.

4. The political regime and the governance of the European Union
The Community method and the decision-making system, overtaking and transformations
New modes of governance?
Decision-making in the EU
- Case study: Gender mainstreaming, a "new" mode of governance?

5. European policies and their effects on the Member States
What is a European public policy? Typology and degrees of integration
Europeanization of public policies and impact on national policies
- Case study: European gender equality policies: from Europeanisation to de-Europeanisation?

6. Representation of interests and specialized civil society
Public interest, private interests and European integration
Interest groups and influence
- Case study: The European Women's Lobby

7. Citizenship and identity (ies) in the European Union
How do European citizens perceive the European Union?
How does the European Union reconfigure society?
- Case study: Attitudes towards Europe and the gender gap




Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Lectures +reading seminar
Face-to-face and non-face-to-face (9h hours), first term, 30 hours

Assessment methods and criteria :
The evaluation of students will be based on two elements: a final written examination which will account for 75% of the final mark and an application exercise which will account for 25% of the final mark (application of the theories of European integration). The work done on the mandatory readings will give the opportunity to the students to get up to 2 bonus points. The grading system will be equivalent in case of on-line evaluation.

Recommended or required reading :
-- BULMER, Simon, PARKER, Owen, BACHE, Ian, GEORGE, Stephen, BURNS, Charlotte, Politics in the European Union, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020 (5e édition).
- COSTA, Olivier, BRACK, Nathalie, Le fonctionnement de l'Union européenne, Bruxelles, Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 2017 (3e édition).
- DEHOUSSE, Renaud (dir.), L'Union européenne, Paris, La documentation française, 2014 (4e édition).
- MAGNETTE, Paul, Le régime politique de l'Union européenne, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2017 (4e édition).
- MERAND, Frédéric, WEISBEIN, Julien, Introduction à l'Union européenne, Bruxelles, De Boeck, 2011.
- SAURUGGER, Sabine, Théories et concepts de l'intégration européenne, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2020.



Other information :
None