The course has three main goals: 1) To offer an introduction to the process of European integration from the start of the EEC to 2022; 2) To explain how the European Union is ruled; 3) To examine the representation process within the EU, with special attention to the political parties and countries that most contributed to European politics in the last 15 years.
Above all, the course will focus on the 2024 EP elections, core of the classes and of the students' activities.
9 CFU
M. Brunazzo e V. Della Sala, La politica dell’Unione europea, Mondadori, edizione aggiornata del 2019 (whole book)
E. Gualmini, Mamma Europa. Una nuova Unione dopo crisi e scandali, il Mulino 2023 (whole book)
6 CFU
M. Brunazzo e V. Della Sala, La politica dell’Unione europea, Mondadori, edizione aggiornata del 2019 (capitoli da 1 a 10 e cap. 16E. Gualmini, Mamma Europa. Una nuova Unione dopo crisi e scandali, il Mulino 2023 (whole book)
Learning Objectives
The course aims to provide students with the knowledge and analytical tools necessary to understand political dynamics within contemporary EU. On top of knowledge and analytical independence, the course also aims to foster the students’ interest on Eu current affairs and to promote their critical thinking skills on EU politics.
Prerequisites
Daily reading of national and/or international press.
Ability to read publications in foreign languages
Teaching Methods
Lectures; individual or group research activities
Type of Assessment
Final written examination with a mix of multiple choice and open-answer questions (to be completed within one hour)
There is no mid-term exam
Course program
The course is divided into three parts:
First part
Introduction to the EU;
The process of European integration from the 50s to the 2004 great enlargement;
The impact of the great recession and Brexit on the integration process;
Present and future perspectives on the integration process
Second part
Features of the European decision-making process;
How works the European Parliament
The 2019 EP elections: features and novelties;
the campaign towards the 2024 elections
Third part
The main actors of the European political process in the last 15 years: countries and political parties