S1418 Evolution of EU Law and its impact on the Member States

In this course, we will look at both the historical development of EU law, and its impact on the Member States’ legal, political and economic conditions. For our purposes, the sixty years of the EU’s history is divided into three periods: 1951-1992 (the EC period); 1993-2009 (the three pillars EU period); 2009-present (the single EU period). For each period, we will look at three dimensions: the legal and political power of the EC/EU at the time, the significant EU Court judgments, and the legal, political and economic changes in the Member States that could be argued as the consequences of the development of the EU law. The significant EU Court judgments will include the cases relating to the division of power between the EC/EU institutions, and between the EC/EU and the Member States, the landmark cases in the field of free movement of goods, services and workers/persons, and European citizenship, as well as the major cases in relation to the external competence of the EC/EU. Our final goal is to identify the unsettled issues of the current EU constitutional order under the Lisbon Treaty. Students are also encouraged to discuss whether the criticism directed towards the activism of the Court of Justice of the EC/EU is misplaced or not.

Outcomes

Students will be able to identify the unsettled issues of the current EU constitutional order under the Lisbon Treaty.

Teaching and evaluation methods; bibliography

Seminar style course: presentation of the general topic by the lecturer, followed by students’ presentations and discussions of each specific topic.

Text: materials compiled and edited by the lecturer.