Universitat Internacional de Catalunya - BarcelonaEuropean Law
Main language of instruction: English
Other languages of instruction: Catalan,
Head instructor
Dra. Núria GONZÁLEZ - ngonzalezc@uic.es
Office hours
Through request by sending an email: nuria.gonzalez2@esade.edu
The European Union (EU) is a family of liberal democratic countries, acting collectively through an institutionalized system of decision-making. The EU was set up as a consequence of the negative experiences of the founding member states during and in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. The objective of peace went hand in hand with a desire to ensure that Europe was able to get back on its feet economically after 1945. Although the EU has changed dramatically since the early days of the Community, growth and employment remain at the top of the EU’s agenda. This course will review in depth the origins, evolution and current challenges of the European integration project.
Understand the basic concepts of European Union Law and differentiate the EU legal order from international and national legal orders;
Have a clear sense of the evolution of EU institutions, decision-making and EU constitutional principles;
Understand the goals and content of the main EU policies.
1.History of the european integration
In these introductory lectures, we will examine the history of the European integration process and the important role of law in that process. We will discuss the context within which the integration process was started, and the many changes (legal, political, geographical) that it has gone through from 1956 until today.
The rule of law is one of the EU’s foundational values and is generally considered a distinctive feature of the EU, which distinguishes it from other international organisations. Its rules and norms are considered by many to be similar to those of a federal state; yet, throughout its history the EU sought to avoid such description in its self-portrait presenting it as a “sui generis” entity. EU competences will also be examined.
2.EU institutions and eu legislative process
In these lectures, we will look at the institutional machinery of the EU (i.e. the Commission, the Council, the Parliament and the Council of the EU) and focus on what can be seen as its “political process”. It is generally recognised that there is no classical separation of powers in the EU between the legislature, executive and judiciary. Instead, each institution exercises a combination of these roles and their powers are further blurred by the distinction between national and supranational level of government. Understanding this proves fundamental to anybody interested in practising EU law or involvement in EU politics.
The Council acts as the EU’s legislator but comprises of the representatives of Member States’ executives. The European Parliament is elected by European citizens but it does not have the legislative initiative. The Commission is closest to the EU government but as we will see, it is largely controlled by the Members States. We will also carefully look at how the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP) divides power between these institutions in the legislative process, and how EU laws are made.
3. Enforcement and review of EU Law
The EU does not have a police force, or an elaborate system of EU courts to enforce the obligations that Member States enter into. So how does it ensure that Member States do not breach EU law but implement and enforce its norms? We will examine the judicial architecture of the EU, mainly the European Court of Justice, in Luxembourg. We will also look here at the infringement procedure, through which the Commission can take Member States to Court to ensure that it obeys EU law. We will also look at the possibility for institutions, Members States and individuals to challenge the validity of EU law in an action before the ECJ and we will also review the most important procedure, preliminary reference, through which national courts can send questions on the interpretation and validity of EU Law to the Court.
4.EU Law key principles: supremacy and direct effect
According to the Court of Justice, EU law is an autonomous legal order that limits national sovereignty and creates rights directly which individuals can invoke in national courts. EU law is based, mainly, on two principles: supremacy and direct effect, both of them created and developed by the Court of Justice. Both will be examined through the analysis of decisions.
5. Fundamental rights
The EU claims to be founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. But what is the reality? Does the EU have an autonomous notion of these values, and what role should fundamental rights play within the EU?
In this session we are going to discuss three issues: (a) the role of fundamental rights in the post-war European political and constitutional context, (b) the evolution of the legal system of fundamental rights protection in the EU, through the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the general principles of EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights; and (c) the question of how the EU can secure its fundamental values, which include fundamental rights, when its own Member States violate such rights.
6.EU citizenship
Union citizenship was introduced in 1992 in the Treaty of Maastricht as a ‘purely political declaration’. The idea was, bluntly put, that the construction of a Political Union presupposed the creation of a ‘European people’, even if just formally. Since then, the concept of Union citizenship has changed significantly, and now constitutes the ‘most fundamental status of nationals of the Member States’, entitling them to equal treatment wherever they find themselves in the EU. This lecture will analyse the content of the rights associated to EU citizenship.
7. Free movement of goods, workers and provision of services
These lectures will examine the political and historical reasons behind the internal market and the different legislative tools to harmonize legislation, mainly in the area of goods, the one that has been mostly developed. We will also study the main cases through which the Court of Justice has developed some of the concepts included in the treaties, like, for instance, “measures having equivalent effects”.
8. Area of freedom, security and justice
This area deals with matters politically sensitive, as it includes police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, visas, asylum, immigration, and judicial cooperation in civil matters. We will study how all these matters were firstly introduced by the Maastricht Treaty: they are considered compensatory measures made necessary by EU provisions on the free movement of persons.
9. Team presentations
We will devote the last two sessions of the course to team presentations on the following topics:
- Brexit
- Refugees’ crisis
- Pro-independence movements within the EU and the EU response
- European Common Defense Project
Topics and teams will be assigned during the first weeks of the course.
The learning methodology is aimed at promoting the self-learning capacities of the students themselves, thus becoming active subjects of their training. The teacher will combine the masterly teaching with the autonomous work of the student, inside and outside the class, which must be carried out, as individual training activities:
- Readings of EU doctrine, legislation and case law.
- Prepare and present in public the results of their learning.
- Solve practical cases.
- Respond to Test Exercises of True or False providing the appropriate reasoning to the answer.
60% of the grade is based on the final exam. In order to pass the course, it is necessary to obtain at least 5 out of 10 points. Passing the final exam does not guarantee passing the course, since the continuous assessment (40%) has to be taken into account, as well. Continuous assessment is based on (i) midterm exam; (ii) oral grade and (iii) team presentation.
Midterm exam will be celebrated in October. It accounts for 20% of the final grade; oral grade (i.e. significant contributions in class) accounts for 10%, while team presentation accounts for 10%.
NOTE: if there are too many students to be allocated among different teams, the oral presentation will be optional and the oral grade of those students not doing presentations will account for 20% of the final grade.
| EVALUATION SYSTEM | ECTS CREDITS | PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|---|
| classroom assistance and participation final exams reports & discussions avaluation |