ASTK12611U SUMMER: External Relations of the European Union
Master level: 7.5 ECTS
Bachelor level: 10 ECTS
The European Union (EU) is an international actor with a complex set of institutional, material and normative features that govern its external relations. This is the case regardless of whether we consider it to be comparable to states, regional or international organizations, or a sui generis entity that is beyond comparison. The aim of this course is to present the conceptual, theoretical and empirical debates surrounding the EU's external relations, which is central to our knowledge of EU's role in world politics and of the nature and extent of its impact in major policy fields.
The course proceeds in three sections. The first section introduces some of the main conceptual and theoretical perspectives for situating the EU as a foreign policy actor and for analyzing the nature and impact of its external relations. Central to this section are the normative power theory, EU's external governance, theories of new institutionalism and the analytical field of Europeanization. The second section comprises of policy fields that are essential to understanding EU's external relations as a whole. Important subject areas that are considered here include EU's common foreign and security policy, enlargement and neighborhood policy and policies regarding sustainable development. The last section of the course exemplifies EU's external relations in a number of contemporary cases ranging from its relations with Russia to candidate and neighborhood policy countries such as Turkey, Ukraine and North African states.
Competencies:
At the completion of the course, students will be able to relate to the debates concerning the EU's role in global politics and the nature and extent of its relations with other regions, actors and organizations. Students will also be able to familiarize themselves with the major theoretical positions in engaging with this empirical field. By using analytical tools from political science, the course is relevant for employment in public policy and administration, international organizations, the EU, NGOs and journalism.
At the completion of the seminar, students should be able to:
- Describe what the EU's external relations entail
- Present the essential conceptual and theoretical positions regarding EU's external relations
- Compare and critically analyze the central policy fields within which EU's external relations operate
- Apply relevant theoretical perspectives to a number of contemporary cases across regions, countries and policy domains
- Reflect on how debates surrounding EU's external relations relate to the wider fields of international relations and comparative politics
Andreatta, Filippo (2011). 'Theory and the European Union's International Relations', in Christopher Hill and Michael Smity (eds.) International Relations and the European Union, 2nd edn. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 21-43 [22 pgs.]
Balfour, R. (2012) ‘Changes and continuities in EU-Mediterranean relations after the Arab Spring’, in S. Biscop, R. Balfour & M. Emerson (Eds.) An Arab Springboard for EU Foreign Policy (pp. 27-35). Egmont Paper 54, January (Academia Press for Egmont – the Royal Institute for International Relations, Brussels).
Bindi, Federica, and Irina Angelescu (eds.) (2012) The Foreign Policy of the European Union, 2nd edn. (Washington: Brookings).
Björkdahl, Annika, Natalia Chaban, John Leslie and Annick Masselot (eds.) (2014) Importing European Union Norms: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Findings (New York: Springer).
Boening, Astrid, Jan-Frederik Kremer and Aukje van Loon (eds.) (2013) Global Power Europe - Vol. 1: Theoretical and Institutional Approaches to the EU's External Relations (Berlin: Springer).
Boening, Astrid, Jan-Frederik Kremer and Aukje van Loon (eds.) (2013) Global Power Europe - Vol. 2: Policies, Actions and Influence of the EU's External Relations (Berlin: Springer).
Bulmer, S. and Lequesne, C. (eds) (2013) The Member States of the European Union (2nd edition) (Hampshire: Oxford University Press)
Cameron, Fraser (2012) An Introduction to European Foreign Policy, 2nd edn. (London: Routledge).
Featherstone and C. Radaelli (eds.) (2003) The Politics of Europeanization, (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Kropatcheva, Elena (2011) Playing Both Ends Against the Middle: Russia’s Geopolitical Games with the EU and Ukraine”, Geopolitics 16 (3): 553-573.
Lavenex, Sandra & Frank Schimmelfennig (2009) ‘EU Rules beyond EU Borders: Theorising External Governance in European Politics’, Journal of European Public Policy 16 (6): 791-812.
Mahoney, J. and K. A. Thelen (2010) (eds.) Explaining Institutional Change: Ambiguity, Agency, Power, (New York: Cambridge University Press): Chapter 1
Piccardo, Lara (2010) ‘The European Union and Russia: Past, Present, and Future of a Difficult Relationship’, in Federiga Bindi (ed.): The Foreign Policy of the European Union, (Washington DC.: Brookings Institution Press): 119-133.
Gwendolyn Sasse (2008) ‘The politics of EU conditionality: the norm of minority protection during and beyond EU accession’, Journal of European Public Policy, 15 (6), 842-860.
Schimmelfennig, Frank and Ulrich Sedelmeier (eds.) (2005) The Europeanization of Central and Eastern Europe, (Cornell University Press), Chapter 1: Introduction; and Chapter 10: Europeanization Research East and West: A Comparative Assessment.
Pierson, P (2000) The Limits of Design: Explaining Institutional Origins and Change. Governance 13(4): 475-501
Schmidt, V. A. (2008), Discu rsive Institutionalism: The Explanatory Power of Ideas and Discourse, Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 11, pp. 303-326
Streeck, W and Thelen, K (2005), Beyond Continuity (Oxford: OUP): ‘Introduction’
Whitman, Richard, and Stefan Wolff (eds.) (2012) The European Neighbourhood Policy in Perspective: Context, Implementation and Impact (Basingstoke: Palgrave).
Whitman, Richard, and Stefan Wolff (eds.) (2012) The European Union as a Global Conflict Manager (London: Routledge).
Whitman, Richard (ed.) (2012) Normative Power Europe: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives (Basingstoke: Palgrave).
Whitman, Richard, and Kalypso Nicolaïdis (eds.) (2013) ‘European Union and normative power: Assessing the decade, setting the future research agenda’, Special Issue of Cooperation and Conflict, 48 (2).
Woolcock, Stephan (2012) European Union Economic Diplomacy: The Role of the EU in External Economic Relations (Aldershot: Ashgate).
- Category
- Hours
- Class Instruction
- 28
- Total
- 28
Masterstudents af IFS:
Sign up through KUnet from 15 April to 1 May
2nd periode for signing up from 15 May to 2 june
Other students:
http://polsci.ku.dk/english/summer_school/application_procedure/
Further information contact
studievejl@ifs.ku.dk
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Written assignmentIndividual seminar assignment
- Exam registration requirements
75% parcipitation
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
Criteria for exam assesment
- Grade 12 is given for an outstanding performance: the student lives up to the course's goal description in an independent and convincing manner with no or few and minor shortcomings
- Grade 7 is given for a good performance: the student is confidently able to live up to the goal description, albeit with several shortcomings
- Grade 02 is given for an adequate performance: the minimum acceptable performance in which the student is only able to live up to the goal description in an insecure and incomplete manner
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- ASTK12611U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree MasterBachelor
- Duration
- Placement
- Summer
- Schedule
- 17-28 August 2015
- Continuing and further education
- Study board
- Department of Political Science, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Political Science
Course responsibles
- Ian James Manners (11-4e667333526673736a7778456e6b7833707a336970)
- Maria Ruxandra Lupu Dinesen (4-7479736b47706d7a35727c356b72)
- Ayca Uygur Wessel (2-667a456e6b7833707a336970)