ASTK18281U Cancelled Jean Monnet Course: the EU as an International Actor

The European Union as an International Actor(F2024)

The Jean Monnet Programme is aimed at both foreign and Danish students with a particular interest in European Politics. The programme consists of two parts: Jean Monnet Lectures and Jean Monnet Workshops. The weekly lectures present a wide range of perspectives on the European Union as an external actor and are given by prominent practitioners and academics within the field. The weekly lectures are open to all interested. For students wishing to sit exams at the graduate level, weekly workshops are also offered. In the workshops, the topics and themes of the lectures are elaborated upon in discussions and student presentations based on textbooks and articles. Examinations take place at the end of June.

Course Description:

The aim of the course is to provide students with theoretical tools and empirical knowledge for studying the EU as an international actor in today´s world. The programme will present the main dimensions in the study of the EU as an external actor drawing on relevant theories, concepts and approaches. The first main theme of the course is the main features of EU decision-making in the field of foreign policy and its central actors. The principal stages in the institutional development of the EU as an external actor will be analysed, and conceptual tools for understanding EU decisions in the field of foreign policy will be provided. The central role of member states will be dealt with and the implications of the Lisbon Treaty will be discussed. The second main theme of the course is the question of how to understand and analyse the international role of the EU. Here we study the main theories to understand the EU as an international actor.  The third focus of the course is a study of the different policy areas, which illustrate the varied role of the EU. We will look at many aspects of general foreign policy and areas such as security, trade and development and human rights. The course will also present the debate about the EU as a market/normative Power. In summary, the aim of the course is to provide students with the theoretical tools and the necessary empirical knowledge for studying the EU as an international actor in today´s world, that is:

• The main theoretical approaches for analysing the EU as an external actor and their implications for concrete analyses (neorealism, neoliberal institutionalism, constructivism, intergovernmentalism, neofunctionalism)

• The central approaches to decision-making in EU foreign policy-making including the role of the member states

• The main  functional and geographical areas in which the EU is an international actor 

• The discussion about evaluation of EU external action.

      -     Debates about the EU as a Market and Normative power

NB! It is not possible to take this course and the Danish course ”Europæisk udenrigspolitisk samarbejde og EU som international aktør” , as the overlap in terms of content and syllabus is too big. A significant difference between the two courses is that the present course places more emphasis on the EU as an international actor and less emphasis on the link between the member states and the EU). Also, the present course includes an introduction to IR and integration theories as it is assumed that the participants don’t necessarily all have the same knowledge of these theories.