C9653 - SEM. FINANZA PUBBLICA EUROPEA E TUTELA DEI DIRITTI

Learning outcomes

This seminar forms part of the teaching programme of the Jean Monnet Chair in “Public Finance Law and European Integration (PUBFINE)”. The Chair aims to raise awareness of the importance of public finance for effective European cohesion, as well as to foster an understanding of supranational economic governance policies and the process of integration between national financial systems and EU law.

The topics covered in the seminar supplement and complement the content of the course on Public Finance Law. The seminar examines in depth how and to what extent European frameworks for the coordination of national public finances (in particular the Stability and Growth Pact) and EU funding to Member States may influence, promote or limit the capacity of national legal systems to effectively protect civil and social rights.

By the end of the seminar, students will have gained an understanding of the key issues concerning the models and techniques of balancing (as also practised in the case law of constitutional courts and the Court of Justice) between fundamental rights, the principles of financial stability and public debt sustainability, and those of equity and the social and environmental sustainability of economic growth.

Course contents

During the seminars, some of the macro-themes listed below will be addressed; these will be selected and explored in detail primarily in the light of current political, economic and institutional events and issues.The seminar sessions will take place, indicatively, in the period between March 2027 and May 2027.

• The impact of the Stability and Growth Pact and public finance constraints on the level of protection afforded to financially conditional civil and social rights
• The principle of sustainability of public finances and public debt from an intergenerational perspective
• Financial conditionality in EU law and the protection of the rule of law
• The balancing of Euro-national financial interests in the case law of the Constitutional Courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union

The detailed and complete schedule of sessions, including venue and time details, will be published in the section of virtuale.unibo.it dedicated to the seminar and on the dedicated website for the Jean Monnet Chair in ‘Public Finance Law and European Integration’ [https://site.unibo.it/pubfine/it].

Readings/Bibliography

The texts and bibliographies will be divided into ‘general teaching materials’ (covering broad topics) and ‘in-depth teaching materials’ (for each seminar session, based on the specific topic and title of the session). All materials will be published in the virtuale.unibo.it section for the course in the current academic year.

The study materials will be differentiated between students attending and those not attending the seminar (see the following section on “teaching methods”).

The study materials will include, amongst other things, certain chapters from the volume edited by A. Mondini, “Lezioni di Diritto della finanza pubblica europea”, Wolters-Kluwer CEDAM, 2025. The book can be accessed via the “La Mia Biblioteca WKI” database, available on the University Library service website sba.unibo.it. The chapters of the book to be studied and other texts specified for each individual seminar (slides, lecture notes, articles) will differ for attending and non-attending students and will be listed or made available in the seminar section on virtuale.unibo.it.

On virtuale.unibo.it, the compulsory texts for both attending and non-attending students will be listed for each seminar. A number of optional further reading materials will also be listed.

Teaching methods

The seminar is provisionally structured around 4 sessions, each lasting 2 hours, for a total of 8 hours, between March and May 2027.

Lessons will take place in person with attendance recorded, and attendance at all seminar sessions is recommended. Attendance will be recorded by collecting signatures on the attendance register. The status of ‘attending’ is awarded upon 100% attendance of lesson hours (8 hours). Only physical presence in the classroom will be taken into account. Some seminars will be delivered in a blended format via Unibo’s Microsoft Teams platform (a maximum of 2 hours out of the total 8 may be attended remotely). Audio-video recordings will be made of all sessions and will be made available on request to attending students who wish to review them. The recordings will be accessible for a limited period following the completion of the entire seminar.

The lectures will have an interdisciplinary and strictly seminar-based approach: they will all be delivered or, in any case, attended by the course lecturer, and will feature speakers (professors, academics and experts) from other academic disciplines, including both legal fields (EU law, constitutional law, commercial and banking law, tax law, etc.) and from the fields of economics and political science, from the University of Bologna or other universities/research centres. Some sessions will take the form of lectures or conferences open to the general public. Discussion and dialogue with students will be encouraged.

Assessment methods

Oral examination

To pass the seminar module, students must sit an oral examination. Following the examination, candidates are awarded a pass or fail mark based on their performance.

During the examination, candidates will be asked questions (usually three) based on the concepts and knowledge acquired through attending lectures and the critical reading of study texts and teaching materials. The questions in the oral examination will focus on the topics listed in the ‘Syllabus and Contents’ section. To prepare for the examination, candidates are required to study the materials, texts and readings listed in the ‘Texts/Bibliography’ section and to consult the key legislation referred to in the texts and during lectures.

The questions aim to assess, amongst other things, whether the student has learnt the concepts relating to the legal institutions studied, whether they are able to set out, through sound legal reasoning, the main issues concerning the topics of study, whether they have acquired the argumentative skills necessary for the interpretation of legal provisions and for the analysis and resolution of legal problems, and whether they are able to apply the knowledge acquired in a critical manner, whilst also referring to the content of legislation, case law and legal doctrine.

Special and adapted examination arrangements.

Special and adapted forms of assessment (at the student’s discretion) are available as part of the overall activities of the Jean Monnet Chair Public Finance Law and European Integration.

1. A single oral examination for both the seminar and the Public Finance Law exam with a question on a topic of the student’s choice (for students who have attended 100% of the seminar). Students who, in the 2026/2027 academic year, have attended both the Public Finance Law module and the C9653 seminar on EUROPEAN PUBLIC FINANCE AND THE PROTECTION OF RIGHTS may sit the seminar’s eligibility assessment together with the final examination for the Public Finance Law module in a single oral examination. During the part of the oral examination relating to the seminar, one of the questions put to students who have attended 100 per cent of the seminar will concern a topic chosen by the student themselves (a question of their choice). The examination format involving a question of the student’s choice also applies to students who have already sat the Financial Law examination in previous academic years.
2. Joint oral examination for seminars C9653 on EUROPEAN PUBLIC FINANCE AND THE PROTECTION OF RIGHTS and C9654 on EURO AND PUBLIC FINANCE, and questions on topics of the student’s choice. Students who include in their study plan and attend, as part of the activities of the Jean Monnet Chair PUBFINE, both seminar C9654 and the indicated seminar C9653 (for a total of 2 CFU), may sit the examination for both seminars in a single oral examination, during which they will be asked a total of 3 questions on the topics covered in the two seminars, and 2 questions on topics of the student’s choice.To be eligible for this simplified examination arrangement, the minimum attendance requirement must be 75 per cent of the total lecture hours for the two seminars combined, i.e. 12 hours out of 16 [8+8]. The difference between the study materials required for students with ‘attending’ status (100 per cent of teaching hours) and for other students (non-attending students with attendance records of less than 100 per cent) remains unchanged. These same students will also have access to the concessions outlined in point 1 above, provided the relevant requirements and conditions are met.
3. Joint examination with questions on topics of the student’s choice, provided the student is also enrolled in and attends the seminar run by the Jean Monnet Chair PUBFINE – B7609 SEM. FISCAL SOVEREIGNTY AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION (2 ECTS credits). Students who, in the 2026/2027 academic year, include in their study plan and attend not only seminar C9653 but also the aforementioned seminar B7609 (for a total of 3 CFU), may sit the relevant examination papers in a single oral examination, with one question on a topic of their choice for each of the two seminars (2 questions of their choice out of a total of 4). The minimum attendance requirement for this arrangement is 70 per cent of the total teaching hours for the two seminars (17 hours out of a total of 24 [8+16]). These same students will also be eligible for the concessions outlined in point 1 above, provided the relevant requirements and conditions are met. Should a student sit, in addition to the examinations for seminars B7609 and C9653, the Public Finance Law examination as a full-time student, they will be eligible for the mixed examination format (a written paper covering the topics of one seminar and an oral examination for the other seminar). In this case, attendance at a total of at least 18 hours across both seminars is required (for further details, see the ‘assessment methods’ section of the seminar B7609 SEM. FISCAL SOVEREIGNTY AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION).

Teaching tools

Any slides used during the seminar by the lecturers will be published on virtuale.unibo.it, along with brief handouts, texts and materials, and links to databases on European public finance.

Students with learning disabilities or temporary or permanent disabilities are invited to contact the relevant university office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it) in advance. The office will propose any adjustments, which must be submitted 15 days in advance for approval by the lecturer, who will assess their suitability in relation to the course objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Mondini