European Union Law (SC)

From the regulation of technology platforms, to anti-trust enforcement, from the fight against climate change to the funding of Ukraine in its war of resistance, decisions taken in Brussels – the European capital – profoundly influence law and policy across the Atlantic and the world. This course offers students an introduction to the law of the European Union (EU), overviewing both the EU’s constitutional framework and its core substantive contents, through the comparative prism of the federal experience of the United States (US). Specifically, the course analyzes the EU institutional architecture, the core structural features of the EU constitutional order and some key constitutional developments in the process of European integration. To this end, the course overviews the historical development of the EU from the aftermath of World War II to today; outlines the horizontal allocation of legislative, executive and judicial powers in the EU; and considers the vertical relationship between the EU and its member states. Moreover, the course examines some recent developments in the EU, including the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU (Brexit), the Covid-19 pandemic, and now the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – reflecting also on the consequences that these crises have for the future of Europe. The course will be of significant interest for students of constitutional law, international law, comparative law, human rights law, foreign relations law, defense, antitrust, and IT and data privacy law. Participants will gain a good understanding of the key developments in the process of European integration and learn to critically assess and analyse the complex and nuanced nature of the EU institutional structure and legal order, including its regulatory and normative power.