European Union, by and for the people?

Course goals

After completing this course, the student:

• has knowledge of, and is familiar with different theories with regard to citizens’ rights and participation in the European Union;
• has knowledge of, and is familiar with different theories with regard to social-economic and political effects of European integration;
• has knowledge of and is familiar with different theories with regard to the legitimacy of, and public opinion on European integration;
• is able to assess legal, social-economic and political consequences of particular European policies for different groups within EU citizens;
• is able to apply these insights to topical events and to analyze EU policies on their possible economic, social, political and legal consequences for the European people.

Content

In the American context, the essence of democracy is often eloquently described ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people’. With regard to European Union governance, the debate as to what extent this phrase holds is ongoing. In addition to the infamous democratic deficit debate, more recently questions have also been raised about the extent European integration actually serves (the needs of) the people. This is remarkable, because building a better and safer world was the very rationale behind the European project from the outset. The early engineers of European integration saw it as a way to ensure peace for the European people and increase their welfare by means of breaking down national economic barriers. Moreover, over time, the EU also gained the image of being a bastion and guardian of human rights, around the world as well as within its own territory. This culminated in the introduction of EU citizenship in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty and entry into force of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union on 1 December 2009. However, over the past crisis-ridden decade, doubts have risen about the extent to which European integration has indeed served the legal, political and economic needs of its people. Moreover, increasingly this output-dimension of EU integration is seen to impact the legitimacy of, and support for European integration amongst European citizens.

In this course, we will critically examine the consequences of European integration for the daily lives of different groups of European citizens. In doing so, the course will take an interdisciplinary approach and focus on the legal, economic and political effects of European policies as well as how these effects interact. In order to do so, we will discuss the following questions:   

• What problems do different groups in European society face when trying to exercise their citizenship rights?
• What are the social economic effects of EU policies for different groups of EU citizens?
• What are the effects of European integration on the possibility of citizens to exercise their political rights and participate in EU decision making?
• What factors determine peoples’ support for and trust in the European Union?
• What could the EU do to influence these issues?

Throughout the course, theoretical insights will be linked to current and salient cases that have revealed beyond doubt that European integration has legal, social-economic and political impact on the daily lives of its people; Sustainability the Eurozone, refugee crisis and rule of law crises. Moreover, you will be asked to develop a class with a fellow student to put the lessons learned into practice.

For the final paper, you will identify an actual case in European society of (a group of) citizens facing the legal, social-economic or political consequences of an existing EU policy. You study the details of the relevant policies and document the citizens’ perception of that EU policy and its consequences. You are required to incorporate an interdisciplinary perspective and highlight legal, economic and political dimensions at play in the case using the insights offered during the course (see full instructions on Blackboard).