EU Institutions and Politics

Undervisningsspråk

English

Krav til forkunnskapar

Fulfilment of general admission requirements.

Læringsutbyte

Through this course students have acquired knowledge about the history and institutional development of the European Union (EU) from its beginning as an intergovernmental economic community in the 1950s to its present supragovernmental and constitutional structure as a political union. They know the basic theories of European integration, and are familiar with how the political processes and politicisation of the European Union. Students should be able to critically analyse and understand how the EU is functioning as a political system, and they should have an overview of the most important policy areas of the EU and its member states.

Kontaktinformasjon

post@isp.uib.no / studieveileder@sampol.uib.no/ 55583316

Undervisningssemester

Spring

Eksamenssemester

Spring

Undervisningsspråk

English

Krav til studierett

Open to all students at the University of Bergen

Mål og innhald

EU Institutions and Politics aims at giving a good understanding of the polity, politics and policies of the European Union from its beginning to the present. Much emphasis is put on the institutional development towards an ever closer union and the conflicts created by the constant enlargement of the EU. The theoretical perspective combines intergovernmental federalist and supragovernmental functionalist approaches to the understanding of European integration.

The first part deals with the history and institutional development of the European Union from its very beginning as an intergovernmental economic community in the 1950s to its supragovernmental and constitutional structure as a political union today.

The second part is focused on the political processes and politicisation of the European Union and takes as its point of departure the changes of its institutional structures and functions from the introduction of the Treaty on European Union in 1993 until the European Constitution agreement of 2004.

The third part brings an analysis of the most important policy areas of the European Union and its member states, such as the common agricultural policy, the structural and regional policy, cohesion, labour market and social policies, economic and monetary union, common foreign and security policy and research and development policy.

Læringsutbyte/resultat

Through this course students have acquired knowledge about the history and institutional development of the European Union (EU) from its beginning as an intergovernmental economic community in the 1950s to its present supragovernmental and constitutional structure as a political union. They know the basic theories of European integration, and are familiar with how the political processes and politicisation of the European Union. Students should be able to critically analyse and understand how the EU is functioning as a political system, and they should have an overview of the most important policy areas of the EU and its member states.

Krav til forkunnskapar

Fulfilment of general admission requirements.

Tilrådde forkunnskapar

Introductory courses in European Studies, MET102, SAMPOL110, SAMPOL115

Undervisning og omfang

Form: Lectures and seminars

Hours per week: approximately 4

Total number of hours: 24

Obligatoriske arbeidskrav

None

Vurderingsformer

Six hour written exam

Karakterskala

Grading A-F

Emneevaluering

The course is evaluated regularly

Kontaktinformasjon

post@isp.uib.no / studieveileder@sampol.uib.no/ 55583316