Institutional architecture and communication in the European Union
For communication professionals in preparation for Romania's 2019 EU Council presidency
This course is an introduction to the process of European integration and the current workings of the European Union as a political system. The first part of the course presents the main principles of European integration, the nature, values and actors of the EU and, last but not least, the main theories that will help us understand the process of European integration and the institutional architecture of the EU. In the second stage of the course participants are offered a comprehensive overview EU policy-making along the policy cycle, from initiation to implementation, in accordance with the latest treaty provisions. Finally, the third stage of the course completes the overview on the EU’s political system by outlining perspectives about the future of the European project.
PART 1: 1. Parameters of EU integration. 2. The normative system. 3. Competing theories. 4. The EU between supranationalism and intergovernmentalism. 5. The birth and consolidation of the EU: from Maastricht to Lisbon. PART 2: 6. The structure and functioning of EU’s institutions. 7. Principles and structures of EU policy-making. 8. The EU’s institutional triangle and legislative procedures. 9. Decision-making and negotiations in the ordinary legislative procedure. 10. The ordinary legislative procedure: case studies. 11. Implementation at EU level: from commitology to delegated and implementing acts. PART 3: 12. The future of European integration: deepening, widening or consolidation?
Bărbulescu, I. G. (2011). Europa viitorului: Tratatul de la Lisabona. Polirom; Hix, S., & Høyland, B. (2011). The political system of the European Union. Palgrave Macmillan; Ion, O. A. (2013). Guvernanța Uniunii Europene: abordări actuale. Polirom; Varela, D. (2008). Guvernarea Uniunii Europene. Institutul European. Further reading: Cini, Michelle & Solorzano-Barragan, N. 2014. European Union Politics. New York: Oxford University Press; Dinan, Desmond. 2014. Europe Recast: A History of European Union. Lynne Rienner Publishers.