81812 - European Union Intermal Market Law

Learning outcomes

The course requires a sound background in EU Law and aims at offering an in-depth knowledge of the principles of the EU legal order, with particular regard to the functioning of the internal market and of the rights of EU citizens. The highly interactive nature of the course is intended to enhance the analytical skills of the students, as well as their legal reasoning and their oral and written presentation abilities.

Course contents

The programme will focus on the internal market law and most notably will cover the following topics:

• the principles governing the relationship between the EU and national legal systems;
• the concept of  ‘Internal Market’ and the forms of economic integration within which this concept is embedded;
• the regulatory techniques used by the EU with regard to the Internal Market;
• the free movement of goods, workers (employed and self-employed), services, and the freedom of establishment;
• the EU citizenship and its related rights.

Specific attention will be devoted to the CJEU’s case law and to some topical issues, such as the so-called sharing economy, the relationship between fundamental freedoms and fundamental rights in the Internal Market, the EU’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and the protection of animal welfare.

Case law seminars will be organised as part of the course. In this regard, students will be asked to read in advance some rulings of the Court of Justice before the lecture in order to be ready to engage with the Professor as well as with their colleagues.

With the aim of allowing students to plan their study activity in advance and going hand in hand with the course, the Professor will upload on the Virtuale platform the ‘Course Calendar’, which specifies the topics that will be covered during the course.

Readings/Bibliography

C. Barnard, The Substantive Law of the EU. The Four Freedoms, Oxford University Press, 7^th ed., 2022 (except pp. 515-552).

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

In advance of the relevant classes, some materials (scientific papers, case-law, acts) will be uploaded on the Virtuale platform in order to deepen some topics related to the EU internal market.  Such readings are specifically designed to enable the students to actively participate, in accordance with what stated in the “Teaching methods” section.

Teaching methods

The course will be highly interactive and will aim at creating a sort of ‘research community’ along with students on the topics covered during the course. 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, 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.

The attending students’ learning will be constantly verified through discussions and debates.

Assessment methods

The final examination will consist of an oral question on the topics related to those mentioned in the “Contents” section in accordance with the programme as provided in the above-mentioned textbook (see "Readings/blbiography" section). Therefore, students must refer to the textbook and to the teaching materials uploaded on the Virtuale platform (e.g., judgments, acts and scientific papers).

The assessment criteria to assign the final mark (expressed in thirtieths) are:

• knowledge and understanding of the notions and principles of the topics and of the legal concepts on which the questions focus, and ability to apply them to concrete cases (70%);
• appropriate use of technical and legal vocabulary, ability to analyse and evaluate relevant sources and acquisition of the study (30%).

Merely by way of illustration, the award of the final mark will be based on the following criteria:

• poor or barely sufficient preparation on the topics addressed, low critical capacity, difficulty in using technical-legal language → 18-21;
• modest or rather adequate preparation on the topics addressed, fair critical ability, decent use of technical-legal language → 22-25;
• good or more than adequate preparation on the topics addressed, strong critical capacity, command of technical-legal language → 26-29;
• in-depth and comprehensive preparation on the topics covered, strong critical capacity, sound command of the technical-legal language → 30-30 cum laude.

For Italian students, in order to sit for the exam, it is necessary to have passed the European Union law exam.

Students shall book themselves into the desired exam session via the AlmaEsami platform, in accordance with the conditions and deadlines set by the University. Further information on AlmaEsami here.

Teaching tools

Teaching materials (case-law, acts, scientific papers…) will be made available through 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 Federico Ferri