Political Structures and Processes of the European Union

6 ECTS credits
155 h study time

Offer 2 with catalog number 1004830BER for all students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Possible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

Students must have taken ‘Introduction to Political Science’, before they can enroll in this course.

Taught in

English

Partnership Agreement

Under interuniversity agreement for degree program
Under agreement for exchange of courses

Faculty

Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool

Department

Political Science

Educational team

Alexander Mattelaer (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

16 contact hours Lecture
10 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
129 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

This course aims to provide students with an introduction to the history and functioning of the European Union (EU). Students are expected to acquire a basic understanding of the European institutions and policy-making processes. The course seeks to enable students to independently analyse and interpret various EU policies and the process of European integration itself. Various academic disciplines contribute to European studies. While this course is principally based on political science approaches, it seeks to integrate insights from history, law and economics.

Course material

Handbook (Recommended) : The Government and Politics of the European Union, Neill Nugent, 8de, Palgrave Macmillan, 9781137454089, 2017
Digital course material (Required) : Syllabus & weekly readings, Various authors, Canvas

Additional info

The course is built around a series of weekly lectures and classroom discussions covering the history of European integration, an overview of the principal institutions, and an introduction to selected policy areas. Students are expected to take notes to accompany the available reading materials. A full course overview is given in the course syllabus. For working students several wrap-up sessions are foreseen.

Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

Students gain insight in the history, decision-making and various policies of the European Union. They acquire the knowledge and skills to understand and interpret past evolutions as well as current events shaping the European construction in a multidisciplinary manner.
Students acquire the technical ability to consult the scholarly literature on the European Union as well as official EU policy documents and legislation.
Students are expected to “learn to learn”: instead of assimilating ready-made answers, students become proficient in distilling the essence out of a mass of information and formulating their own answers to complex questions.
As the course is taught in English, students acquire the knowledge and skill to read, write and communicate about European integration in the international lingua franca.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Schriftelijk Examen with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Students will be evaluated on the basis of an written exam, which will account for 100% of the course grade. As a matter of standard practice, the exam will be conducted in English. (Students enrolled in study programmes taught in Dutch have the right to request an exam in Dutch in line with the VUB Teaching and Exam Regulations. The student needs to file a request for such an exception via the procedure indicated on student.vub.be/en/es by the 1st of December.)

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context