INTRODUCTION TO EU LAW
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2017/2018
- Teacher
- MAGDALENA ELISABETH DE LEEUW
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- IUS/14
Training objectives
- Main knowledge acquired: The course aims at providing students with a basic understanding of the EU’s legal system, i.e. its main principles and rules as laid down in the Treaties, secondary law and the case law of the European Court of Justice. Student’s attention will further be drawn to the specific features of EU law in respect to international law. The course is divided into a constitutional/institutional and a substantive law part; the aim of the latter part is to explain to students the concept of the internal market with its four freedoms, the issue of harmonisation, and the area of freedom, security and justice.
Main ability acquired:
After completion of this course students will be able to:
- find, interpret and apply the different sources of EU law;
- apply the main EU principles and rules to practical scenarios and find solutions for legal problems;
- find, interpret and analyse the case law of the ECJ;
- follow better the more specific courses proposed by the Faculty of Law in the fields of international and EU law. Prerequisites
- This course is only open for foreign visiting students. The course is highly recommended to all those students that would like to follow courses in the fields of international and European law but lack sufficient knowledge in those areas.
Course programme
- The European Union is an international organisation (sui-generis) with its own legal order, which is separate from international law and forms an integral part of the legal systems of the Member States. To fully understand its specific characteristics, it is also necessary to look briefly at the basic features of public international law; e.g. subjects, sources and the relationship between international law and national law.
The constitutional/institutional law part of this course addresses the following topics: (i) the creation and development of the EU; (ii) its institutional structure and functioning; (iii) competences; (iv) sources of EU law; (v) decision-making procedures; vi) direct effect and supremacy; (vii) fundamental rights; (viii) the judicial system and enforcement of EU law. The substantive law part of the course focuses in particular on the concept of the internal market and the four fundamental freedoms (goods, persons, services and capital), the process of harmonisation, and the area of freedom, security and justice. Didactic methods
- The course (40 hours) is an intensive course and will be taught in three weeks time (from February 13 to March 3, 2017). Besides traditional lectures in which the foundations of the EU legal system will be explained, the course will provide for seminars. Seminars have as their objective to deepen the student’s knowledge in respect of specific issues of EU law as well as to develop further their analytical skills by reading case law and solving (invented) case studies. There is also time for class discussion on topical themes, which will enhance the student’s oral skills.
Learning assessment procedures
- The course is concluded with a written examination. The examination aims to verify the student’s acquired knowledge and understanding of the EU’s legal system and to evaluate his/her capacity to solve legal problems in this area of law.
Reference texts
- The course will make use of a manual in EU law, which will be made known in due course (not yet decided). In addition, during the course other (obligatory or optional) material shall be indicated, e.g. legal journal articles, documents of the various institutions and case law of the European Court of Justice. The slides of the lectures will be made available on the website of the course.
Students are required to have a copy of the Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (the Lisbon Treaty) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (to be downloaded from the link on the course website or EU website).
