57802 - European Union Law (F-O)

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Moduli: Giacomo Di Federico (Modulo 1) Mauro Gatti (Modulo 2)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Single cycle degree programme (LMCU) in Law (cod. 9232)

Learning outcomes

The course is aimed at offering a general overview of EU law. More precisely, the objective is to provide the students with the necessary tools for a full understanding of the complex mechanisms that govern its functioning. The students will be able to critically analyse EU acts and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, understand the relevant legal issues, represent them orally and interact with the other classmates.

Course contents

The programme will focus on the legal system of the European Union, with specific attention to institutional law aspects. More precisely, the following topics will be covered: the origin and development of the European integration process; the structure, objectives and fundamental values of the European Union; the competences of the Union and the principles governing the competence system; the EU Budget and the own-resources system; the “EU membership”, i.e. the accession procedure, the withdrawal from the Union and the procedure according to which some membership rights can be suspended; the institutional framework of the EU; the sources of EU law; the relationships between the EU legal order and national legal orders; the system of judicial protection; the EU citizenship; the Economic and Monetary Union; the EU Internal Market Law; the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice; and the external relations of the EU.

Readings/Bibliography

For the institutional law part:

- R. Adam, A. Tizzano, Lineamenti di Diritto dell’Unione Europea, IV ed., Giappichelli, 2019.

The textbook is available from the Sistema Bibliotecario di Ateneo dell’Università.

For the substantive law part, you may choose one between the following three options:

- G. Strozzi (a cura di), Diritto dell’Unione europea – Parte speciale, Giappichelli, V ed., 2017.

The textbook is available from the Sistema Bibliotecario di Ateneo dell’Università, see here or here (eBook version)

Or

- G. Di Federico (a cura di), Alla (ri)scoperta del Parlamento europeo 1979-2019, Giappichelli, 2021.

Or

- P. Manzini, M. Vellano (a cura di), Unione europea 2020, CEDAM, 2021 (excluding chapters 6 and 8).

For students coming to the University of Bologna for a period of study or internship under the Erasmus+ Program or other international program, the study program and the selected textbooks are the same.

CFU Supplements

CFU supplements must be agreed with the Professor in advance. To this end, students shall send an email to the Professor pointing out:

a) the official syllabus of the exam taken abroad or at another Italian university (it is sufficient to mention the weblink to the teaching activity);

b) the textbook(s) used.

Please note that the requests lacking this information will not be taken into consideration.

Moreover, at the exam session, before starting the exam, please remind the examining commission of the supplementary topics agreed with the Professor and the textbook used.

Teaching methods

The course will be highly interactive. Theoretical issues will be confronted with practical cases in order to allow the students to understand and verify how EU law is actually implemented. Moreover, attending students will be asked to actively participate in class discussions on the topics covered during the classes as well as on the proposed case studies, and they will occasionally be asked to prepare in advance judgments or other reading materials uploaded on the Virtuale platform. The course will host national and foreign professors and experts (also via webinars). The dates and topics of the seminars will be timely communicated.

 

Assessment methods

The final exam will be oral (for attending and not attending students). The questions posed by the examining commission will regard the topics indicated in the Section “Course contents” (most notably, at least one question on the institutional part and one on the substantive part). For the preparation of the exam students can refer to the textbooks indicated in the Section “Readings/Bibliography”.

The following assessment criteria will be taken into account to assign the final mark, which will be expressed in thirtieths:

- knowledge and understanding of the notions and principles of the subject and of the legal concepts on which the questions focus, and the level of in-depth study about these aspects (50%);

- ability to make connections between different topics and/or legal concepts of EU law, ability to analyse critically the topics covered by the question, and ability to apply them to concrete cases (20%);

- appropriate use of technical and legal vocabulary, ability to expound on the topic of the questions posed, ability to analyse and evaluate relevant sources and acquisition of the study method (30%).

Students shall book themselves into the desired exam session via the AlmaEsami platform, in accordance with the conditions and deadlines set by the University. In particular, for the purposes of the examination, it is expected the propaedeuticity of Constitutional Law and Private Law. Further information on AlmaEsami.

Teaching tools

Teaching materials for regular attenders (slides, documents, bibiographical references) will be circulated to students via the Virtuale platform.

Students who, due to documented health reasons, experience difficulties in finding the course materials, in participating actively in the course itself, or in taking the examination in accordance with the modalities mentioned above, shall report these difficulties to the Professor by e-mail within the first two weeks of the course.

Office hours

See the website of Giacomo Di Federico

See the website of Mauro Gatti

SDGs

Good health and well-being Industry, innovation and infrastructure Reduced inequalities

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.