SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY MADRID CAMPUS BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT ECON395 POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE EU COURSE INFORMATION Course Title Political Economy of the European Union Course number ECON 395 Prerequisite ECON 190 or equivalent Semester Fall 2014 Lecture Times Mondays and Wednesdays 3 30pm 4 45pm Room PRH 7 Course credits 3 PROFESSOR INFORMATION Instructor Ar nzazu Narbona PhD E mail narbonamoreno slu edu Office Hours By appointment before or after classes Office PAH Attic COURSE DESCRIPTION The purpose of this course is to introduce undergraduate students to the political economy of the European Union The course starts with a short review of the main theories dealing with the international political economy and the history of the origins and the development of the European Union The course also deals with economic policy making on the EU level and how this increasingly influences the EU s business environment It then centres upon the institutional framework of the European Union Economic and Monetary Union and the future of the new reserve currency the uro Finally the course focuses on specific industrial agricultural and trade policies that have become a vital part of the European economic integration process as well as implications of EU enlargement and the US EU relationship Requirements Students should complete the readings before the date for which they are listed in the course outline Students will be graded on the basis of a mid term exam an oral presentation which will be accompanied by a short onepage briefing on the presentation and a final exam Participation in class will also be evaluated LEARNING OBJECTIVES Goals of the Course This course is designed to give students a grasp of the economic and political realities of the European Union They will develop an understanding of how common policies are conceived and implemented and how such policies affect the role that Europe plays in the world as well as their social and economic impact within Europe itself Students will have a clear view of the basic history of the European Union its successes and failures and the challenges facing it in the future Objectives Develop a solid understanding of the historical evolution of the concept of European cultural and political identity and acquisition of a fully knowledge of the history of over fifty years of European integration with all of its successes and achievements as well as its failures and unmet challenges Identify the working knowledge of EU institutions common policies decision making processes and role in international affairs that will enable students to understand exactly how the European Union functions and what reforms and changes must be made to enable an enlarged Europe to prosper in the future COURSE METHODOLOGY Class lectures will further develop the issues touched upon in the assigned readings Having read the assigned material students will participate actively in discussions regarding those issues and their impact upon the economic 1 political and social realities of contemporary EU economies Students are responsible for coming to class prepared to discuss the required readings They will be evaluated for their level of preparation and participation through two exams a midterm Oct 15 2014 and a final exam Dec 15 2014 TBC regarding the topics covered Each student will prepare a presentation on the economy the political and social situation of one of the Eastern New Member States as well as the candidate states Iceland Turkey Albania FYR Macedonia or Balkans countries as well as the challenges it has posed for full integration into the European community A Discussion Forum will be held on Oct 1 2014 to analyze the risks and promises of the recent enlargement A template for this assessment will be provided by the instructor Individual EU Newsflashes Each student is required to keep abreast of current events in the media and therefore each student will prepare a two page newsflash of the most outstanding event having taken place in the EU during that week making a summary of an article and a critical analysis as well as identifying 2 key terms This assignment will start the third week of classes EU Group Project In working groups they will analyze one specific EU policy that is not covered in class A guideline for the project will be provided by the instructor The formats of the final products you will turn in are 1 Class Presentation at the end of each month groups will present a quick and brief summary of how the topics explained in class applied to their country with ppt presentation There will be in total 3 group presentations Sep 29 Oct 29 and Nov 26 2014 2 Research paper a written report of 15 20 pages not including graphs and figures one and half space times new roman 11 point Due on Dec 3 2014 GRADE SCALE A AB B BC C CD F 93 100 90 92 87 89 83 86 80 82 73 79 67 72 60 66 50 59 0 49 EVALUATION Mid term exam 25 Final exam 25 New Member State Discussion Forum 10 EU Group project 20 Individual EU Newsflashes 10 Attendance and participation 10 TENTATIVE LECTURES SCHEDULE FALL 2014 Week st 1 2nd 3rd Session Sep 3 Sep 8 Sep 10 Sep 12 Sep 15 Sep 17 Topic No classes No classes Ch 1 History of the EU Ch 1 Continue Make up Class Ch 2 EU Treaties Ch 2 Continue 2 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th Sep 19 Sep 22 Sep 24 Sep 29 Oct 1 Oct 6 Oct 8 Oct 13 Oct 15 Oct 20 Oct 22 Oct 27 Oct 29 Nov 3 Nov 5 Nov 10 Nov 12 Nov 17 Nov 19 Nov 24 Nov 26 Dec 1 Dec 3 Dec 8 Dec 10 Dec 15 Ch 3 EU Institutions Make up Class Ch 3 Continue Ch 4 EU Enlargement Policy Group Presentation 1 New EU Member State Discussion Forum Guest Speaker No classes Midterm review MIDTERM EXAM Ch 5 EU Budget Ch 6 Economic and Monetary Integration EMU Ch 6 Continue Group Presentation 2 Ch 7 EU External Action EU Trade Policy Ch 7 Continue Ch 8 EU Development Policy Ch 8 Continue Ch 9 Common Foreign and Security Policy CFSP Ch 9 Continue Ch 10 EU Common Agricultural Policy CAP Group Presentation 3 Ch 10 Continue Ch 11 EU Regional Policy Deadline Group Paper No classes Final review FINAL EXAM TBC NB The instructor could do any change considered appropriate for the better development of the class COURSE OUTLINE FALL 2014 CHAPTER 1 Theorizing about Economic Integration Theory Historical Development of the European Union EU cultural identity To better understand the conceptual framework of this course students will get some insights about the basis of the economic integration