- Main teaching activities of the Chair
MA Programme of European Studies
1. EU Enlargement and the Neighbourhood Policy
This course zooms in on EU’s policies and influence in the countries in its immediate neighbourhood – the Western Balkans and Turkey subject to the EU’s enlargement policy and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) belonging to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It will introduce the academic debate on the instruments and mechanisms of EU’s impact abroad and will ask students to apply the available conceptual models in order to explain the EU’s impact on democratisation and progress towards EU integration in the three groups of countries in the EU’s immediate vicinity. The course will also examine the role of other external actors in the European neighbourhood.
2. Writing Policy Briefs in EU Foreign Policy
This skills training is aimed at the MA students in European studies specialising in the international relations of the EU. Students will practice writing a policy brief on a current EU foreign policy issue. They will be asked to write on behalf of a think-tank with the objective of persuading policy makers to adopt the recommended solution to an identified policy problem. Students who choose to write on a policy issue related to EU Enlargement policy or European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) will have the chance to publish their policy briefs on the web platform of the Chair.
In April 2023, in the specialization of International Relations of the MA European Studies, a group of students wrote a policy brief on the options to integrate Ukraine in the EU.
Coulon, G., Dias, M., Lasheras, I., Martin, M., Khu, M. (2023). Ukraine: Steps for a Long-Term Commitment. https://eu-east.eu/files/2023/10/Policy_Brief_Ukraine-Integration.pdf
BA Programme of European Studies
1. External Relations of the EU
This course examines European Foreign Policy (EFP) as a multi-actor and multi-level system and aims at a balanced and comprehensive assessment of what the EU does in its external affairs. It presents the variety of EU external roles, ranging from thematic domains such as trade, development cooperation, migration, energy, climate change but also democracy promotion and conflict resolution centred on the EU’s role in the transformation of Eastern Europe. It places the study of EU’s relations with Eastern European countries in the curriculum on EU foreign policy and exposes students to the EU’s role in democracy promotion and conflict resolution across Eastern Europe.
2. EU and Comparative Democratisation of Eastern Europe
This is a research-based elective course offered in the framework of the MaRBLe programme of Maastricht University (https://edlab.nl/excellence/marble/). It first explores the theoretical debates about democratic transition and consolidation focusing on the domestic factors conducive to democratization. It then analyzes the EU’s policies and mechanisms of promoting political change beyond its borders. It finally examines case studies from Eastern Europe to gain an understanding of the democratization trends, the domestic obstacles to democratic change and the EU’s role in influencing democratic governance in different domestic settings. The course builds on the seminal works in democratization studies and offers a comparison of the EU’s varied impact on democratic progress and regress across Eastern Europe.