European Union

GENERAL OBJECTIVES 

This subject is part of the formative block dedicated to European and international legal and polítical aspects of the study programme.

PURPOSE OF THE SUBJECT WITHIN THE CURRICULAR AREA AND STUDY PLAN.
This subject completes the student’s formation relating to understanding international legal and political reality. It is more specialised than other subjects of a
similar nature (International Relations and Public International Law) and is also complementary to other subjects (International Organisations).

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The aim of this subject is to familiarize the student with the institutional framework and legal order of the European Union, understood as a subsystem of international law but characterized also by its autonomy. The student will acquire a profound knowledge of the historical context of the EU, its institutions, its legal system, and the main procedural mechanisms that exist in the Court of Justice. The students will also gain a series of basic skills which will serve them in understanding correctly both the institutional set-up of the EU and the peculiar characteristics and scope of its legal order.

More specifically, the results of the learning process which are contemplated in this subject are the following:
To understand and assess the theoretical foundation and main principles on which European integration is based, as well as the legal and political consequences of EU membership. To learn and understand the structure, composition and functioning of the institutional system of the EU, as well as interpret correctly its internal dynamics (institutional relations). To identify and analyze the different categories of norms that form part of the EU’s legal order. To be able to identify and analyze the challenges the European integration project is facing in the 21st Century.