Module SGIA3331: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3331: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The aim of this module is to enable students to gain profound knowledge of the impact of EU enlargement on the Single European Market and the development of a common European Social Model.
• It offers students the chance to analyse the EU policy approach in the area of Single Market reform and to study the national varieties of economic and welfare state models in various member states.

Content

• The module will introduce students to the conceptual EU policy approach of the Internal Market and the Lisbon Strategies.
• The main emphasis of the module is put on studying the interaction between the EU institutional and the domestic member state level in the process of deepening the Single European Market.
• Special attention will be put on how the enlargement of the EU to ten new members in 2004 and the imminent next wave of enlargement in 2007 is changing and challenging the internal structure of the SEM.

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the module students will:-
• have gained a profound knowledge of EU policy approaches in the areas of market liberalisation and social cohesion, including current debates about structural weaknesses and strategic changes;
• be able to critically analyse the tensions between economic liberalisation and social integration and the difficulty of integrating the varieties of national socio-economic models into a the common European framework of the SEM ;
• comprehend the extent to which the process of enlargement presents challenges and opportunities for the creation of a common European Social Model and how these will determine the shape and pace of future waves of enlargement .

• On successful completion of the module students will:-
• be familiar with the major primary and secondary sources in the policy areas of Single Market integration and enlargement, including primary member state and EU documentation and statistics;
• be able to analyse these sources critically and use them as a basis for their own independent research;
• understand the multi-level system of governance in the EU, which involves the interaction between a multiplicity of actors on different levels;
• be able to analyse the notion of a European Social Model on the basis of major scholarly approaches.

• On successful completion of the module students will:-
• have engaged in independent research based on an informed selection of primary and secondary sources;
• be able to develop an individual research schedule which allows them to work towards the achievement of the learning outcomes;
• be able to produce a critical analysis of the key issues raised as part of a time-constrained final written examination, on the basis of the multiplicity of sources studied during their independent research.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is taught on the basis of 13 one-hour lectures and 12 one-hour seminars, to allow the coverage of the wide range of issues which are related to the enlargement of the Single European Market.
• The lectures introduces students to the process of policy-making in the EU and particularly concentrates on the explanation of the open method of co-ordination which the EU has adopted as the policy strategy for the reform of the Single Market and the ambition to create a common European Social Model.
• In the lectures students will also get an overview of the varieties of economic and social models in the EU, based on major theoretical frameworks such as the 'Varieties of Capitalism' and the 'Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism'.
• In the tutorials students will have to opportunity to discuss the issues raised in the lectures, based on a wide variety of primary and secondary sources.
• The students will be asked to analyse at least two primary texts for each tutorial. A critical summary of the texts will be delivered at the beginning of each tutorial in the form of two student presentations. This will be followed by a collective discussion, which should be led by the presenters and which will allow students to raise essential issues and questions and guide them towards further reading and research.
• This method of teaching is aimed at helping students to develop their ability to embark on a critical analysis of major issues, based on substantial independent research and to able to explain them during oral presentations, in collective seminar discussions and finally in a time-constrained written examination.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Individual student presentation (15 minutes) of a key primary text, followed by a student-led discussion in the seminar

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University