This course should link the programme activities to the current issues facing the European Union in order to give the students a grip on ongoing debates at stake.
Main themes
The course consists in two parts of 4 classes each. The first part of the course deals with with the theme "Inter-Institutional Disputes": this part studies a case of inter-institutional dispute involving the European
Parliament and the Council in the framework of securities at the comitology level. This case starts from the situation in place in the beginning of the 1990s up to the content of the Treaty of Lisbon.
The second part focuses on the understanding of the dynamics and shortcomings of the political and institutional system of the EU. The aim is to further an issue-based reflection so as to give a global insight in the logics that rule this system. On that subject, four actors will be analyzed in their political dimension: the European Parliament (through, notably, an analysis of the evolution of its powers and the explanation of its internal divisions), the European Commission (the emphasis will be on its working mode and the difficulties it faces in the exercise of its functions), the presidencies of the Council (and, in particular, the specific case of the Belgian Presidency of the EU) and the resort to European agencies as a new model of governance.
Content and teaching methods
For each part of the course, reading material will be available; all the texts will be part of the subject of the examination. The examination will be written.
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)
Period: 2nd semester.
Periodicity: yearly.
Language: French.
Prerequisite: none.
Evaluation: written examination.
Support: for each part of the course, reading material will be available.
References: to be determined by the professor in charge.