85407 - Eu Constitutional Law

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course unit, students: - have developed the ability to analyse the main implications of the EU institutional structure and to determine the overall effects of the law into the municipal legal orders of the Member States; - are capable to illustrate the main trends of the interplay between the Union and its Member States (both internally and on the international scene).

Course contents

The course is structured in the following five parts:

I. Sovereignty:

• Essential characteristics of the EU legal order (primacy, direct effect, autonomy)
• Accession to and withdrawal from the EU
• EU 'structural' principles and the corresponding rights and duties arising from Union membership

II. Powers:

• EU competences and their exercise
• EU institutional framework and EU institutional balance
• EU powers, acts and procedures

III. Rights:

• Fundamental rights in EU law, with a focus on EU citizens's rights
• Judicial protection of rights conferred by EU law
• EU law in national legal orders: effectiveness, conflicts with national law and remedies

IV. Values:

• Relationships between EU values, principles and rights and legal instruments for the protection of values under EU law
• Rule of Law crises and the EU's response

V. Identity:

• Relationship between primacy and national identity and the role of constitutional conflicts in the making of the EU identity
• Content and contours of EU identity

Readings/Bibliography

R. Schütze, European Constitutional Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021) 608 pp.

or

A. Rosas, L. Armati, EU Constitutional Law - An Introduction (Oxford and Portland, Oregon: Hart, 2018) 368 pp.

or

M. Dawson, F. de Witte, EU law and governance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022) 300 pp.

Teaching methods

The course will be highly interactive. On the one hand, theoretical issues will be confronted with practical cases in order to allow the students to understand and verify how EU law is actually applied. On the other hand, students will be asked to actively participate in class discussions on the topics covered during the course as well as on the proposed case studies. At the end of the course, students will be given the opportunity to present a CJEU case in class.

Assessment methods

The final examination will be oral for both attending and non-attending students. It will consist of an interview on the topics indicated in the "Course contents" section. To prepare for the exam, students must refer to both the textbooks indicated in the "Readings/blbiography" section and to the teaching materials uploaded on Virtuale (e.g., judgments, acts and papers).

The assessment will take into account the knowledge of the relevant legal framework, the ability to analyse doctrinal and jurisprudential orientations, to make connections between the various parts of the programme and to develop critical arguments, as well as the clarity of exposition. Besides that, the (attending) students' learning will be constantly verified through class discussions.

By way of example only, the awarding of the final grade will be based on the following criteria:

• sufficient or barely sufficient knowledge on the programme, limited reasoning ability, some difficulties in using technical and legal language → 18-21/30;
• fairly good knowledge of the programme, adequate critical reasoning ability, sound use of technical and legal language → 22-25/30;
• comprehensive knowledge of the programme, notable reasoning ability, good command of technical and legal language → 26-29/30;
• extensive knowledge of the programme, very good reasoning ability, and ability to fully master technical-legal language → 30-30L/30.

Teaching tools

Supplementary teaching tools (slides, documents, bibliographical references) for attending students will be made available through the online platform  Virtuale.

Students which need compensatory tools for reasons of disability or Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) should communicate to the teacher their needs so as to be directed to the dedicated person and arrange on the adoption of the most appropriate measures.

Links to further information

https://european-union.europa.eu/index_en

Office hours

See the website of Carlo Tovo