This course provides an advanced analysis of the origins, the policy-making process and major policy issues in cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs at the Union level. Its main aim is to equip participants with the concepts and instruments necessary for the professional analysis of this still rather new area of EU politics. The course will focus on the practice of decision-making in the Union institutions and the identification of the key factors determining the development of EU cooperation in the various policy fields covered by both Title IV TEC and Title VI TEU (“the Third Pillar”), including specific priorities and problems of individual Member States. The course will also provide an analysis of the Schengen system, the relevant provisions of the current Treaties, the state of implementation of The Hague Programme, specific problems of the enlargement process, the growing international dimension of EU justice and home affairs and the prospects offered by the new EU Treaty of Lisbon and the successor programme to The Hague programme from 2010 onwards (Programme of Stockholm).

This companion course to the ‘theories of governance’ module offers an empirical review of contemporary issues in European and International governance. Cases will be drawn from the specialisations offered in the programme. These will introduce the topics to the students. Each case will focus on a contemporary issue that also highlights contemporary governance challenges in both a European and international context.

Students will carry out a set of common activities for each ‘issue’, to ensure that they gain a wide appreciation of these governance challenges.

The course is meant to build on the foundation provided earlier in the programme, and show how the theoretical issues raised in that course are put into practice. It is naturally empirically-driven and requires students to develop links between policy fields through different theoretical frameworks.

This course engages with the politics, policies and economics of climate change (and energy). Students will acquire an understanding of the interconnections among complex societal issues around climate governance, will assess how politicians, economists and stakeholders respond to the challenges, and will learn to critically assess these responses. The course analyses governance institutions, including the UN climate change convention, and multi-level policy responses, including on climate mitigation, decarbonisation, emissions trading, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy trade.

This course introduces students to media and telecommunications law and policy in Europe and beyond. Convergence between communication sectors due to technological change and the popularization of the Internet features centrally in the course. The course content covers (a) the origins of governance approaches in different communication sectors, (b) key values and principles underlying communication law and policy, including but not limited to an analysis of the legal framework on universal coverage, media pluralism, protection of sources, freedom of expression, and copyright, and (c) case studies / expert lecture series on current policy challenges. While focusing on the European Union, students will receive a global comparative view on the subject matter. To the extent possible, the course will also touch upon linkages with trade, competition, culture, and education law and policy.

Taxation is traditionally seen as a policy field in which States remain fully sovereign. In practice, however, they are increasingly abiding by international or regional standards and regulations that seek not only to protect their revenue raising capacities but also to encourage international trade, prevent discriminations on grounds of origin and harmful tax practices such as secret rulings and distorting tax incentives for foreign investors. This course provides an overview of the relevant international (OECD) and European regulatory frameworks in the area of both direct and indirect taxation, their objectives and principles. It also discusses the dynamics underlying the most recent changes to these frameworks and the possible future developments and trends, in the context of an increasing demand by civil society for more transparency and for a fairer allocation of the contribution effort.

The course introduces students to the governance of two basic pillars of the global economy – trade and competition. These fields represent the governance of public and private actors, respectively, and their study allows for an interdisciplinary approach that integrates policy, law and economics. The overarching theme of the course is how the governance of classic “hard economic issues” is increasingly intertwining – also at the international level – with the governance of softer non-economic issues such as environmental standards, public health objectives and data protection concerns, as the recent CETA negotiations and major competition cases such as the Facebook/WhatsApp merger illustrate.

The narrative takes as a starting point the European Union, reflecting on the intra- and extra-EU trade and competition policies of this highly sophisticated example of regional economic integration. The discussion then expands to a comparative analysis, studying the governance of inter- and extra-state trade and competition policies in the United States. The discussion finishes with insights to the global governance of these policy fields, zooming in on various institutions including bilateral and multilateral trade regimes such as the World Trade Organization, and the Global Competition Law Network, as well as the role that the EU and US as major economic powers play within these economic governance structures of rather different type and maturity. At each stage, the impact that the economic governance structures have on other social values is central to the analysis.  

‘The internet’ is the name for a specific set of technical protocols, designed to ensure that computers and other devices can talk to each other across the world. It is also used to describe a ‘space’ in which many technologies disruptively work to transform our societies’ social, economic and political interactions. This research-intensive course focuses on this tangled relationship between the internet and the practice of governance and democracy in Europe and beyond. We explain European approaches and perspectives to the global governance of the internet, and also look at how ‘the internet’ is helping to shape new forms of governance and democracy. Students will deal with core theoretical debates from different sub-disciplines in the social sciences and humanities (law, public administration, economics, international relations, etc.), and will also be expected to unpack policy statements written by various actors.

The first half of the course starts by delving into the evolution of the internet, investigating the multiple histories of the internet that have been woven into the current governance frameworks for the technology. It describes and critically assesses the major current frameworks for the governance of the Internet (ICANN, IGF, WSIS, etc.), with a focus on the European Union’s contribution to them. The sessions will cover 1) the evolution of the internet, 2) the technical structure underlying the internet, 3 & 4) the theoretical framing of the ‘regime complex’ that defines the relationships between the various actors engaged in internet governance debates, and 5) an exposé of several different institutional frameworks that are used to govern the functioning of the internet’s infrastructure.

In the second half of the course, we shall focus on the internet as a space for shaping governance and democracy in contemporary societies, and in particular the notion of a global civil society. “Is the internet a useful vehicle for developing alternative forms of international or global governance?” is the question addressed in this part of the course. In session 6, we show the importance of the internet as the keystone for the global information economy, and then, in session 7 start to develop an awareness of new forms of governance that are emerging in the international sphere. We use this to discuss how this technology is also shaping political relations between different actors in session 8. Using the institutions and theories described in the first half of the course as examples, we shall critically assess the internet’s role in shaping global governance. We round up the course in sessions 9 and 10, by attempting to map out the various forms of governance that are used in managing the internet.

This course offers a review of existing theories used when studying international integration and policymaking processes. Starting from the dominant and mainstream theories of European integration, the course seeks to develop an understanding of the theoretical perspectives that are used to describe, understand, explain and sometimes predict European and international governance processes.

The central premise of this course is that European and global governance processes are often driven by conflicting principles, ideas or narratives which actively shape European and international identities. The course will predominantly concentrate on issues of ‘governance’ in the European Union, and will examine different ways of decision and policy making in the EU as well as at the international level.

The course is meant to provide students with a foundation for future studies in the MA programme. It is meant to preceed the course entitled: Contemporary Issues in European and international governance, and as such, provides the basis for a comprehensive understanding of legal and political governance processes in Europe and beyond.

The Treaty on European Union stipulates that one of the key objectives of the European Union (EU) is to provide citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice. Yet, when it comes to the measures taken to combat terrorism following the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks in the United States (US), has the EU lived up to this promise thus far? On paper, the post-9/11 EU counterterrorism policy looks impressive. Already in November 2001, the European Council adopted an Action Plan on Combating Terrorism and an EU Counterterrorism Strategy was agreed in December 2005, following the terrorist attacks in Madrid and London. In December 2003, the European Council also adopted a European Security Strategy, where terrorism heads the list of threats facing the Member States (MSs) and which proclaims that concerted European action against terrorism is “indispensable.” Despite the relatively limited competences for fighting terrorism at the supranational EU level, a March 2007 Commission memorandum listed 51 adopted and 33 proposed pieces of legislation as well as 22 Communications and 21 reports under the heading of the fight against terrorism. Thus, although “counterterrorism” is not yet a clearly defined area in its broadest and fullest sense, it already spans across a number of other policy areas across all of the EU’s former three pillars. Moreover, many senior EU officials have publicly expressed their conviction that the EU counterterrorism measures have made a difference in the fight against terrorism. According to Max-Peter Ratzel, the former Director of Europol: ‘The abortive London attacks of August 2006 … showed that the concerted EU actions and counterterrorist policies proved to be effective when put to the test. This is some most recent success of EU counterterrorism efforts but a number of other terrorist cells have been dismantled throughout the EU and terrorist plans foiled as a direct result of the concerted EU actions and counterterrorism policies.’ The first EU Counterterrorism Coordinator Gijs de Vries even argued that the fight against terrorism is changing “the role and functioning of the European Union” insofar as it adopts an increasingly operational role. Despite the aforementioned unprecedented policy relevance and almost a decade-long history, the European Union’s (EU) counterterrorism policy has only relatively recently received due attention in the academic community. This stands out in stark contrast to a sizeable body of literature devoted to national counterterrorism policies of various the EU Member States. The few available volumes the topic of EU-level counterterrorism policy include a handful of post-9/11 volumes focused on specific aspects of EU’s counterterrorism efforts only (e.g. Cyrile Fijnaut, Jan Wouters and Frederick Naert (eds.) Legal Instruments in the Fight Against International Terrorism: a Transatlantic Dialogue Leiden: Nijhoff, 2004). More recently, two edited volumes were devoted to the analysis of several aspects of the EU counterterrorism policy: Dieter Mahncke and Jörg Monar (eds.) International Terrorism: A European Response to a Global Threat? (Brussels: PIE Peter Lang, 2006) and David Spence (ed.) The European Union and Terrorism (London: John Harper Publishing, 2007). In January 2008, the Journal of Common Market Studies devoted a special issue to selected EU counterterrorism issues, primarily from the perspective of European Studies.

The module represents the first attempt to evaluate the first ten years of the EU counterterrorism policy from an interdisciplinary perspective. This module connects to broader policy developments in the European Union’s (EU) Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) - an umbrella term for intelligence, police and judicial cooperation, border management, asylum and migration, and counter-terrorism. This module will provide students with crucial new insights into several important aspects of the EU’s first ten years of counter-terrorism policy. The rapid development of the AFSJ in recent years has led to an expansion of the scholarly literature on this topic (see Argomaniz, 2011; Balzacq and Carrera, 2005, 2006; Bures, 2006, 2011; Bossong, 2008; Boswell, 2003, 2007; Friedrichs, 2005; Guild, 2002; Geddes, 2000; Guiraudon, 2000; Kaunert, 2007, 2009, 2010; Mitsilegas, Monar and Rees, 2003; Occhipinti, 2003). However, with its focus on policy outputs and the role of the main EU institutions, this literature has tended to largely overlook an analysis of specific policy developments in EU counter-terrorism, with the recent exception of aforementioned literature.

Indicative  syllabus:

• Definitions, Typology, Prehistory
• Radicalisation and causes for terrorism
• Religious based terrorism and Al-Qaeda
• Terrorism & Democracy Counter-terrorism in the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
• European Union multilateral terrorism cooperation with the US and the world
• Terrorism in European Foreign Policy
• The US Experience and EU-US transatlantic cooperation on counter-terrorism
• What role for European military forces and NATO in the War on Terror?
• The Future of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism

Case studies of terrorist groups, such as:

• Northern Ireland
• Red-brigades, Italy
• Baader Meinhoff, Germany
• ETA, Spain
• USA
• Russia and Chechnya
• Al-Qaeda

This module will be taught through a combination of online lectures and seminars. Lectures will provide an introduction to the key aspects of terrorist threats and responses, laying the foundations for tutorial work. In the standard teaching version of seminars, these will foster students’ direct engagement with the topic through critical discussions of the key literature and its application to concrete cases. Regarding distance learning, the foundation for delivery is CANVAS, the Institute’s virtual learning environment (VLE). Using this as a content platform, each module site is organised into weekly packages.  These contain ‘bundles’ of files.  Although the exact content will vary, they normally include explanatory text, audio podcasts, directed readings, additional readings, and a variety of internal and external links. We provide our learners with the opportunity to interact with one another and their tutors through asynchronous discussion boards addressing seminar questions.  Experience has shown that this mode provides a more equal opportunity for engagement than synchronous discussions.  For some modules student blogs within the VLE are also used. 

The course on Research methods aims at teaching the students basic research skills that cover in an inter-disciplinary fashion both the policy and legal analysis of global governance. The knowledge and skills will aid the student in the conception, design, drafting and completion of their thesis in a coordinated and structured manner, providing students assistance from the creation of a conceptual framework (conceiving and drafting of their thesis) to the (combinations of) research approaches, methods and techniques, systematic and analytical thinking as well as customized help during the process of writing. The course will thus offer an essential tool box to acquaint students with the appropriate research techniques and methodologies and a variety of approaches, methods of analysis, writing and research skills to explore and communicate on governance challenges in the EU and beyond.

The course focuses on the geopolitics of the Middle East as Europe’s neighborhood. It brings together different viewpoints on the geopolitical situation of the Middle East. Special attention will be given to the impact of recent developments in the area for Europe and the ways in which the European Union deals with the situation. The course will bring together several cases. The topics discussed include the future of Turkey, the future of Islamism, the situation in Libya, the Arab Revolution, the Silk Road and the Middle East. Furthermore, each different case will be analyzed from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Part I: Background of regional integration in the post-Soviet space (2 hours)

• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – old wine (USSR) in new bottles?
• Russia and its Near Abroad: case study of Eastern Europe and South Caucasus

Part II: Game of ‘Unions’: EU and Russia’s regional integration projects and the domestic responses within the ‘shared neighborhood’ (Eastern Europe and South Caucasus) (2 hours)

• ‘Shared neighborhood’ – the battlefield between the EU and Russia
• Europe’s “bipolar disorder”: European versus Russian influence and regional projects
  • Eurasian Customs Union – case study of a failed Eurasian project (class group work)

Part III: Eurasian Union: the real, the imaginary and the likely

• Real: organization, decision-making and economic integration
• Imaginary: geopolitical Eurasia
• Likely: Eurasia or Russia?
• Ukraine and the unraveling of Eurasia
• Class debate: Eurasian Union – an alternative project to the EU?

The course aims at providing students with an in-depth knowledge of the different facets, contents and implications of EU enlargement. The course also offers insights into the conceptual and historical underpinnings of EU enlargement and introduces students to the main theories of EU enlargement. The course will:

• provide a historical overview of the different rounds of EU enlargement and assess the similarities and differences in EU’s approach towards candidate states;
• present the theoretical approaches explaining the processes of EU deepening and widening;
• conceptualize the EU’s enlargement policy and the accession conditionality by examining thelegal,  institutional and political procedures and policies of the EU accession process;
• assess the impact of enlargement process on EU policy making;
• investigate the role of (European) identities in the process of EU enlargement;
• and examine the limits of EU enlargement and EU policies towards Turkey and the neighbouring countries.

The course aims to bring together students from different academic backgrounds – economics, political science, public policy – to a common basis. To the end, it emphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of the study on regions. Different conceptions of regions are introduced in a historical perspective; causes and consequences of regional cooperation are considered from the economic, political and sociological perspective. Furthermore the focus of the course is twofold. First, it addresses the essential analytical questions, such as what a region is, what different conceptions of regions exist, whether regions have to have identity, why actors cooperate regionally, whether regions evolve ‘naturally’ or they can be constructed purposely, and what types of regions can be differentiated in the world. Second, the course critically investigates different perspectives on the driving forces and logics of regional development and studies the key theories of regional integration. The course complements a variety of theoretical perspectives with empirical case studies.