Continuing and Professional Education
Course search

Core Subject: Institutions, Policy Processes and Law in the European Union

Course content

The core course of the European Politics track is an advanced graduate seminar on EU policy-making and the constitutional design of the EU, as well as the substantial contents of key EU policy areas. The course is divided into two sections. The first section provides students with the essential analytical frameworks necessary for understanding the working of the European Union (EU). We will discuss the EU as a multi-level political system and the ”nature of the beast”, central principles of EU law, including its relationship to national law, implementation and theories of European integration. We will also discuss newer trends in EU theory and the effects of crises on decision making. Throughout the second part of the course, students will apply these theoretical frameworks to understand a broad range of important policy areas such as single market policies, social policies and employment, trade, digital policy, and justice and home affairs. In each policy area, we consider the role of all the different relevant political, administrative and non-state actors engaged in multilevel decision-making, both at the national and EU level. Ultimately, the goal of the different sessions is to conduct a theoretically informed analysis of why specific policies develop the way they do and to understand what is really going on in EU decision-making in Brussels and at the national level. The course ends with a discussion of normative aspects of policymaking including external speakers with different practical perspectives on EU policy. Moreover, the session will further prepare students for the written exam.

 

Course overview:

Part 1: Analytical Frameworks

1: The EU as a political system (4h)

2: The EU as a legal system (4h)

3: The EU as a form of integration (4h)

4: The EU as a multi-level system (4h)

5: Crisis theory and European integration (4h)

6: EU implementation and enforcement (4h)

 

Part 2: Policy Fields and Case-based Analyses

7: Social, Employment and Health policies (4h)

8: The Single Market and budget (4h)

9: EU Asylum Policy and the Refugee Crisis (4h)

10: Economic Security and EU Trade Policy (4h)

11: Climate & Environment (4h)

12: Economic and Monetary Union (4h)

13: Conclusions: Normative implications and More Exam Preparation (4 hours)

Education

Core subject in the core subject track in European Politics. Only accessible to students who are admitted to European Politics. 

Not accessible to students who have passed exam in the elective: "Political Advocacy, Lobbying and the Influence Production Process" (ASTK18437U)

 

NB! All exams (both ordinary and re-exams) will take place at the end of the autumn semester only, as the course is not offered in the spring

Notice: It is only possible to enroll for one course having a 3-day compulsory written take-home assignment exam due to coincident exam periods.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

  • Describe the central institutions of the EU

  • Give an account of the main modes of decision-making in the EU

  • Understand the main perspectives on the EU as a political system, a legal system, a multilevel system and a form of regional integration

  • Know and characterize different EU policy fields and specific legislation within them

 

Skills:

  • The ability to apply theoretical perspectives on the EU to understand decision-making in different EU policy areas and on specific cases

  • The ability to relate developments in the EU to theoretical perspectives and institutional, political and legal features of the Union

  • The ability to evaluate decision-making in the EU in positive and normative terms

     

Competences:

  • Critical analysis of decision-making in different European policy areas
  • Collaboration and knowledge transfer to address a specific case of EU legislation, its genesis and implications
  • Independent reflection on institutional, political and legal features of the EU that empower or disempower actors

The teaching style is centered on case-based learning, informed by theoretical input from the teaching team. The seminar crucially depends on active participation of students. After the first foundational weeks, each week of the course discusses policymaking in a policy area in detail.

The typical seminar format will be divided into two sections: The first half of the session will be organized by the lecturer, in which the general features of policy-making in the policy field are presented and discussed. Thereafter, the second half is set aside to illustrate decision-making with specific policy cases. This session is student-led and examines decision-making in practice. The task of student teams is to provide a sophisticated, theoretically informed view about the central features and dynamics in the case. Students identify literature and relevant sources for the case themselves (100+ pages) and distil the content into a theoretically guided presentation. Team presentations take a maximum of 25 minutes and will be followed by discussion with the whole class, organized and steered by the presenters. These presentations have to be prepared very thoroughly and should be the result of real teamwork (rather than just splitting up the work among team members).

The teams have to provide information about:
· The theoretical lens/approach guiding their analysis
· The central issues (controversial items) in the case
· The way decisions are taken in the case (Which actors are involved? Which types of procedures are used?)
· The preferences of different actors with regard to these issues: EU Commission, European Parliament, (coalitions) of member states, interests groups, additional actors
· The main developments regarding the case and an explanation for these developments
· Input for the class discussion/interaction and/or additional relevant questions

The seminar will be based on a number of different readings and the following textbook:

Wallace, Helen, Pollack, Mark A., Roederer-Rynning, C and Young, Alasdair R. (2025). Policy making in the European Union (9th edition), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Additional required literature is either electronically available (Library) or will be made available on Absalon.

 

If you read Danish and have not followed the BA course on European Politics you should familiarize yourself with Jensen, Martinsen and Wind (2021), Europa I Forandring, Reitzel.

 

In addition, the students will independently find the material needed for analysing their cases including these useful sources:

Basic knowledge about EU institutions and the policy-making process in the EU is required. Students that have not attended the BA course on European Politics at the department are advised to consult the most recent edition of an introductory text book as background reading, for instance: Lelieveldt, H. and Princen, S. (2023). The Politics of the European Union, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (3rd Edition) If you read Danish you should be familiar with: Jensen, Martinsen & Wind, Europa i forandring, 2021.

Oral
Collective
ECTS
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Home assignment
Type of assessment details
Three-day compulsory written take-home assignment.
See the section regarding exam forms in the programme curriculum for more information on guidelines and scope.

The students will be assessed in a take-home exam in which students have a choice between answering three different essay questions by drawing on knowledge of decision-making in different policy areas.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Re-exam

In the semester where the course takes place: Three-day compulsory written take-home assignment

In subsequent semesters: Free written assignment

 

NB! All exams (both ordinary and re-exams) will take place at the end of the autumn semesters only, as the course is not offered in the spring.

Notice: It is only possible to enroll for one course having a 3-day compulsory written take-home assignment exam due to coincident exam periods.

Criteria for exam assessment

Meet the subject's knowledge, skill and competence criteria, as described in the goal description, which demonstrates the minimally acceptable degree of fulfillment of the subject's learning outcome.

Grade 12 is given for an outstanding performance: the student lives up to the course's goal description in an independent and convincing manner with no or few and minor shortcomings

Grade 7 is given for a good performance: the student is confidently able to live up to the goal description, albeit with several shortcomings

Grade 02 is given for an adequate performance: the minimum acceptable performance in which the student is only able to live up to the goal description in an insecure and incomplete manner

  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 56
  • Preparation
  • 264,5
  • Exam Preparation
  • 56
  • Exam
  • 36
  • English
  • 412,5

Kursusinformation

Language
English
Course number
ASTK18015U
ECTS
15 ECTS
Programme level
Full Degree Master
Duration

1 semester

Placement
Autumn
Studyboard
Department of Political Science, Study Council
Contracting department
  • Department of Political Science
Contracting faculty
  • Faculty of Social Sciences
Course Coordinator
  • Marlene Wind   (3-707a6c436c6976316e7831676e)
Teacher

Dorte Martinsen,
Sara Hagemann,
Silje Hermansen,
Jens Ladefoged Mortensen

Saved on the 02-05-2025
Back

Are you BA- or KA-student?

Are you bachelor- or kandidat-student, then find the course in the course catalog for students:

Courseinformation of students

University of Copenhagen
Nørregade 10
1165 København K
Contact:
Continuing and Lifelong Learning
LifelongLearning@adm.ku.dk