Advanced European Law

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This course is devoted to the advanced study of European Union law. It is primarily addressed to those students who have followed one or more introductory courses of EU law. However, students with little prior knowledge of EU law are also welcome to participate. Indications of recommended literature will help them to make up for possible knowledge deficits. The course proposes an integrated study of EU law, in the sense that it emphasizes the interaction between the two traditional subdivisions of ‘Institutional EU law’ (which deals with decision-making processes and the role of the judiciary) and ‘Substantive EU law’ (which deals with the content of EU law in the various policy areas). The course will thus explore both how substantive EU law is influenced by the structure of the EU Treaties and institutions, and how the EU’s institutional framework has evolved in response to new social, political and economic challenges. This integrated study will take the form of a weekly general lecture for all participants, combined with interactive tutorial meetings at which, each time, one specific and current legal problem area will be examined from both institutional and substantive perspectives. The course also seeks to integrate legal analysis with the social and political context in which the law emerges and operates, which involves the use of non-legal literature.