| CODE | EST3150 | ||||||
| TITLE | EU Policies and Political Dynamics | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | European Studies | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Study-Unit Aims - This study-unit aims to build on previous courses and raise an awareness of the EU that, as the most complex political system in the world, a central complexity is that the role and power of actors shifts depending on the policy area concerned. - In addition to a more sophisticated notion of the EU political landscape the study-unit also aims to cover EU policy areas which have not been covered in other courses but which the students should have knowledge of, especially those who intend to work within the Maltese Public Service and who could find themselves dealing with diverse EU policies. - In addition to increasing student’s knowledge of the EU the study-unit aims to heighten their analytical skills by showing the relativity of politics and the need to think ‘outside the box’ when dealing with EU affairs. - Students will also be encouraged to analyse issues from different perspectives and to present their findings in a short and analytical way as will be the format they will have to adopt should they join the national or EU public service. - Class participation is encouraged with the aim to foster a greater confidence in students to formulate and present their opinions and be able to engage in constructive debate with their fellow class members. Study-Unit Structure Study-Unit Overview: This study-unit aims to give students a thorough understanding of the shifting decision-making processes which can be found within the EU. Conservative estimates calculate that there are at least twenty-five different decision-making mechanisms operating across the EU's various policies. This figure does not include the additional complication of informal political dynamics which can further complicate and condition the official decision-making mechanisms. This credit aims to show clearly this complexity by taking some of the key EU policies, especially from within Pillar I, and analysing how decisions are made and who conditions policy outcomes. Each policy will be analysed in detail, starting with an overview of the actual policy and what competence the EU has in that matter before moving on to look at the main players within each policy sector, the relationship between actors and the role played by institutions marginalised in certain sectors. Study-Unit Structure: The study-unit will be divided into two aspects of policy, namely a generic element which will look at the policy-process and problems of implementation as well as specific areas of EU policy. The subjects covered will be: Understanding the EU Policy Landscape: the study-unit will begin by looking at the range of EU policies, primarily by concentrating on the classification of policy as articulated by leading academics such as Nugent and Wallace. Policy-Making in the EU as a Generic Process: the aim of this study-unit is to show the complexity of the EU policy spectrum but this lecture will focus on more generic issues, generalisation that apply across the policy spectrum and which are characteristic of EU policy. Agriculture and the Management of EU Monies: as the dominant policy for much of the Union’s history, agriculture is a key policy and one which we will study in terms of the actual policy and the difficulty of effecting reforms as well as the decision-making system which invests extensive power in the hands of the Member States and lobby groups. Fisheries and the Union’s Attempts at Preserving EU Fish Stocks: a policy which emerged late in the day, fisheries has become highly contentious and EU attempts at restricting fishing always prove unpopular. Of additional interest is the fact that fisheries operates under the same arrangement as agriculture but the dynamics are totally different, especially the restricted role of lobby groups in decision-making. Enlargement and the Politics of Eligibility: a central element of European history, enlargement actually represents a highly complex interaction of actors, from the applicant state to the Commission, the Member States and the EP. In addition to the political dynamics behind enlargement politics we will also analyse how the criteria and method of enlargement has changed over time. The EU Budget as a Blue-Print for Effective Inter-Institutional Cooperation: while not a policy domain on its own, the EU budget has the capacity to impact all EU policies and a principal input to the annual process of determining the budget is the input of each EU commissioner. Additionally, the process is an interesting case of effective inter-institutional cooperation and one which involves all three of the core institutions. The EU Energy Policy, Fighting for Supplies: an increasingly high profile element in EU external relations, the EU energy policy aims to meet the challenge of keeping EU energy demands met while balancing the Union’s green commitments. However, behind the facade of cooperation, internal divisions remain. EU Cultural Policy and Whether Anyone Cares about Culture: our final policy area is one which is seldom mentioned but one which has been developing for over fifteen years. However, its looseness is a central factor in its decision-making system as will be analysed in this lecture. Implementation and the Avoidance of the Inevitable: our final topic will analyse the implementation gap at the heart of Europe, including the difficulty of evaluating compliance and the action which can be taken to ensure Member States follow their words with action. Reading List There is no single core text for this study-unit but I have indicated a list of texts below. However, the primary texts are the books by Wallace, Wallace and Pollack. - Andersen, Svein and Eliassen, Kjell (eds.) (2001). Making Policy in Europe. 2nd edition, Sage Publications, UK - Bache, Ian and George, Stephen (2006), Politics in the European Union. 2nd edition, Oxford, UK - Cini, Michelle (2007), European Union Politics. 2nd edition, Oxford, UK - Hix, Simon (2005), The Political System of the European Union. 2nd edition, Palgrave, UK - Nugent, Neill (2003), The Government and Politics of the European Union. 5th edition, Palgrave, UK - Richardson, J. (ed.) (2006), European Union: power and policy-making. Routledge, UK - Wallace, Helen; Wallace, William and Pollack, Mark (2005), Policy-Making in the European Union. 5th edition, Oxford, UK |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Students are required to register for Level 1 units if they are in Year 1, for Level 2 units if they are in Year 2 and for Level 3 units if they are in Year 3 or 4 of their course. | ||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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