Political Integration after Lisbon

Assessment

• Assesment is based on your essay (5000-6000 words). Moreover, you must pass the class test. Your essay title must be chosen from the list that I will distribute
• The Department’s universal deadline applies. There is only one deadline, and no extensions will be granted. Should you fall ill, you must provide a medical certificate.
• Please send your essays by mail (leaving enough time for delivery by the due-date), or hand it in to the

Essay titles

1. What role has German-French cooperation played in the European integration process? Where do their particular interests overlap and where do they differ?
2. What evidence is there for (a) supranationalism and (b) intergovernmentalism in the complex of institutions that comprises the Council of Ministers?
3. How can the increase of power of the European Parliament be explained during the 1980s and 1990s?
4. How has the balance of powers between the institutions changed since the founding treaties?
5. What political and institutional impact did German unification have on the European Community in 1990?
6. What are the political and institutional implications of the Single Market?
7. Discuss the different reasons why four EU member states did not join the third stage of EMU in 1999. Will Denmark, Sweden and the UK join in the future?
8. What has the reforms of Common Agricultural Policy made so difficult? Describe these reforms and explain the challenges for the CAP after the 2004/2007 enlargement.
9. Why are foreign and security matters on EU level still predominantly intergovernmental?
10. “The Treaty of Lisbon saved most of the failed Constitution’s substance” – discuss
11. “Like Amsterdam and Nice, the Treaty of Lisbon is not a constitutional leap but rather just another minor amendment of the Maastricht Treaty”

Readings

You should buy one of these textbooks:

• Cini, M. (ed.), European Union Politics (Oxford: OUP 2009)
• Hix, S., The Political System of the European Union (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2005, 2nd ed.)
• Nugent, N., The Government and Politics of the European Union, (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2006, 6th edition)
• Wallace, H., Pollack, M. and Young, A. (eds), Policy-making in the European Union, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, 6th ed.)

Reading List

• We will put some of the texts on the ReaderPlus system. The Reader Number is 8334. You will get an access code (required for self-registration) at the start of term.
• Course Outline

General Information

• The official EU website
• European Voice
• EU Observer
• Euractiv

Slides

• Lecture 1: Postwar Setting
• Lecture 2: Treaties (version for print out)
• Lecture 3: The European Commission (version for print out)
• Lecture 4: The Council of Ministers (version for print out)
• Lecture 5: The European Parliament (version for print out)
• Lecture 6: Decision Making in the EU (version for print out)
• Lecture 7: Political Integration Theory (version for print out)
• Lecture 8: The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (version for print out)
• Lecture 9: The Single European Market (SEM) (version for print out)
• Lecture 10: Economic and Monetary Union (version for print out)
• Lecture 11: Regional Policy (version for print out)
• Lecture 12: Common Foreign and Security Policy (version for print out)
• Lecture 13: Justice and Home Affairs (version for print out)
• Lecture 14: Enlargement (version for print out)