Actors of the European political system

leusl2015  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

Actors of the European political system
Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
5 credits
30.0 h
Q2
Teacher(s)
Delreux Tom;
Language
English
Main themes
The aim of the course is to understand and to critically assess the functioning, role and significance of the main institutions and actors in the political system of the European Union. Recent political science literature on the political and bureaucratic functioning of the main actors in contemporary EU politics will be discussed. Besides the main institutions (European Commission, Council of the EU, European Parliament, European Council, Court of Justice of the EU), attention will be paid to the interaction between the institutions in the formulation and implementation of EU policies, to interest groups and non-state actors, as well as to the increasing importance of EU-level agencies and national parliaments in EU policy-making.
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1 Students will have a global understanding of the whole set of collective actors that contribute to the political system of the EU, as well as of the main type of interactions among them. They will have acquired analytical tools to evaluate their functioning, role and significance critically.
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
- Introduction to the political system of the EU and the role of actors in that political system
- European Commission
- European Parliament
- Council of the EU
- European Council
- Interinstitutional relations and decision-making
- Court of Justice
- Agencies
- National parliaments
- Interest groups and societal interest representation
Teaching methods
Lectures.
Evaluation methods
Written exam. The exam covers all the material discussed during the lectures and presented in the reader.
Teaching materials
  • portefeuille de lectures ('reader'), mis à disposition des étudiants sur Moodle
Faculty or entity
EURO


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Master [120] in Public Administration

Master [120] in European Studies