B8944 - EU as a Global Normative Actor

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide students with the critical and analytical tools to understand the regulatory development of the European Union's external projection on the global stage. At the end of the course, students will be able to interpret and reconstruct the approach adopted by EU institutions - and Member States - in asserting their values and interests on a global scale (i.e., the EU strategic autonomy).

Course contents

The course is divided into four parts.
The first part will reconstruct the regulatory framework relating to the European Union's position on the international stage. Particular emphasis will be placed on the doctrine of the Union's external action, as it appears in the primary law in force. We will then look at the affirmation of the Union's autonomy with respect to international law in light of its obligation to pursue respect for and promotion of international law on the international stage. Finally, the concept of the Union's strategic autonomy and its implications for the current development of the supranational legal order will be reconstructed.
The second part will look at how the concept of strategic autonomy has become established in the context of the common foreign and security policy. In particular, the sanctions regime developed by the Union and the current evolution of the European security system will be considered.
The third part looks at the concept of strategic autonomy as applied by the Union to protect its economic security. In this context, common trade policy measures and those aimed at the functioning of the internal market, which seek to protect the primary economic interests of the organisation and its Member States, are relevant.
Finally, the fourth part outlines the Union's strategic autonomy in the digital sphere. It therefore looks at the regulatory initiatives taken to establish digital sovereignty capable of enforcing the protection of supranational interests in the international arena.

Readings/Bibliography

Students can choose one of the following options:

Option # 1

E. Fahey, I. Mancini (eds.), Understanding the EU as a Good Global Actor. Ambitions, Values and Metrics (Northampton, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2022).

Option # 2

R.A. Wessel, J. Larik (eds.), EU External Relations Law. Text, Cases, Materials (Oxford: Hart, 2025).

Students shall consult and have at disposal the official text of the EU Treaties and of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (available here).

Teaching methods

The course will be highly interactive. Theoretical issues will be confronted with practical cases (in particular, EU Court of Justice's rulings) in order to allow the students to understand and verify how the strategic autonomy of the Union is actually promoted and understood by major EU actors.

Assessment methods

The (attending) students' learning will be constantly verified through discussions and debates. 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”.

The students’ knowledge is assessed through a discussion, to evaluate the actual achievement of the learning outcomes. The exam consists in an interview with the appointed commission on the topics included in the programme.

The assessment will take into account the knowledge of the relevant institutional framework, the ability to analyse doctrinal and jurisprudential opinions and, to single out connections between the relevant topics, to critical reasoning, as well as the clarity of presentation and critical thinking.

By way of example, the following criteria will be used to assess the final mark (that will be out of 30/30):

• sufficient or barely sufficient knowledge on the programme, limited reasoning ability, some difficulties in using technical and legal language → 18-21/30;
• fairly good knowledge of the programme, adequate critical reasoning ability, sound use of technical and legal language → 22-25/30;
• comprehensive knowledge of the programme, notable reasoning ability, good command of technical and legal language → 26-29/30;

• extensive knowledge of the programme, very good reasoning ability, and ability to fully master technical-legal language → 30-30L/30.

Teaching tools

Supplementary teaching tools (slides, documents, bibliographical references) for attending students will be made available through the online platform Virtuale.

Students which need compensatory tools for reasons of disability or Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) should communicate to the teacher their needs so as to be directed to the dedicated person and arrange on the adoption of the most appropriate measures.

Links to further information

https://european-union.europa.eu/index_en

Office hours

See the website of Federico Casolari