210140 SE EC: The EU’s regulatory policies (2020W)

The European Union (EU) has been conceptualized as a regulatory state, which has specialized in a range of regulatory functions related to market creation and the management of externalities. This course introduces students to central regulatory approaches and policies of the EU. Key questions addressed in this course include: How are regulatory EU policies made and implemented? How do EU policies affect the EU member states and citizens? What are the main challenges in making and implementing the EU policies and how can these challenges be addressed? Moreover, the course introduces students to important policies of the EU, including the single market, the economic and monetary union, agricultural policy and environmental policy. In addition to its focus on the internal EU-context, the course examines the EU’s ‘regulatory’ power in the context of global multi-level governance. Here, the course will focus on concepts such as EU ‘market power’ and ‘regulatory power’ and will explore the EU’s regulatory interactions with international policy regimes and other key international actors like the US.

The course will take place in a digital format. The main course contents and materials will be provided through the moodle-platform, including video recordings, online lectures, small group meetings and individual exercises. This will ensure a an interactive format that relies on student participation.

• Phase one of the seminars presents key theoretical and empirical works on EU regulatory governance and policies as described above.
• The second phase consists of plenary sessions to hold and discuss student presentations of their seminar papers. Students will be divided into groups in line with their selected topics and guided in developing the research design of their seminar paper. The sessions will allow for in-depth debt debate of individual topics, and student-only meetings in each group. Methods include individual work, peer feedback, presentations, and debate.