Course teached as: B031250 - EUROPEAN UNION LAW 5-years Single Cycle Degree in LAW
Teaching Language
English
Course Content
Legal nature of the EU - European integration process and enlargement - EU membership – EU citizenship - EU institutions – System of competences - Legal sources - Law making procedures - Enhanced cooperation and other forms of differentiated integration – Judicial control of Eu acts - Relationship between EU law and national law (with special reference to the Italian legal system)
Students regularly attending the lessons will prepare the exam on the class notes, supplemented by the materials that will be uploaded on Moodle.
Attending students who intend to take the exam for 6 CFU (instead of 9 CFU) will attend lessons until 10 May, excluding the lessons of 3, 4 and 5 April, for a total of 24 lessons (48 hours). The exam program will correspond to the topics covered in these lessons, supplemented by a short written material on the topic of the relationship between EU law and national law.
Non-attending students can prepare the exam according to the following alternative programs:
P. Craig - G. De Búrca, EU Law. Text, Cases and Materials (7th ed.), OUP, 2020 (available at the Library of Social Sciences), limited to chapters 1 to 6 (excluding sections 6.9 and 6.10), 8 to 11 (about chap. 11, only sections 1-3), 12 to 17, and 24.
OR
R. Baratta, Institutions of EU Law, Welters Kluwer, 2002 (all chapters) + P. Craig - G. De Búrca, EU Law. Text, Cases and Materials (7th ed.), OUP, 2020, chapter 24.
The program of non-attending students who take the exam for 6 CFU (instead of 9 CFU) does not include:
- in the Craig/De Burca manual: sections 7 to 10 of chapter 12, sections 9 and 10 of chapter 14, sections 8 and 9 of chapter 15, pages 583 to 608, chapter 17. Also, the study of chapter 9 can be limited to section 6.
- in the Baratta manual: chapters 2 and 4 of Part II; chapter 3 of Part III; chapter 4 of Part V; chapters 3 and 4 of Part VI.
Non-attending students are kindly invited to schedule a meeting in which more details on the programme will be provided. It will also be possible to address problems concerning access to the reference text.
Learning Objectives
The course aims to provide students with a complete knowledge of the European Union's legal order and the ability to recognize and interpret the different legal sources, including their impact on the national legal systems.
Students will be able to independently research the legal sources of the European Union system, recognize their different effectiveness, both in the relationship between the different EU sources and in the relationship with the Italian ones. They will also be able to analyze a judgment by the Court of Justice and to distinguish the role of national and European jurisdictions from that of the political institutions in building the European legal system integrated with national laws.
Moreover, students will acquire a basic knowledge of the functioning of the European Union, also in view of a future career in European institutions, in law firms or notaries specialized in international law issues as well as in private profit and non-profit organizations.
Prerequisites
The attendance of the course requires the basic knowledge acquired by passing the exam of "Diritto Costituzionale I" . No formal requirements have to be complied by Erasmus students, but a basic knowledge of public law (according to the programmes of the respective sending Universities) is strongly recommended in order to attend the course fruitfully.
Teaching Methods
Frontal lectures, possibly with the support of slides; direct examination in class of case-law and legislation, distributed through the e-learning platform Moodle. Seminars on selected topics may be held by invited speakers.
Further information
Registration on Moodle: students willing to attend the course (regardless of the "corso di laurea" in which they are enrolled) are invited to register on the Moodle platform, under the course with the code:B031250 (1170) - EUROPEAN UNION LAW 2022-2023 Link: https://e-l.unifi.it/course/view.php?id=34499
Rules on attendance: attendance sheets will be regularly circulated. The maximum number of unjustified absences compatible with the status of "attending student" is 4.
Students reception: in presence, on Mondays, from 12 to 1.30 pm; on-line (G-meet platform) by appointment via mail (nicole.lazzerini@unifi.it)
Type of Assessment
Exams are held in written form for both attending and non-attending students.
The written test consists of multiple choice questions (about 25 statements, true or false option) and 3 open questions (2 with limited number of lines and one - to be chosen between two proposed tracks - without indication of the maximum number of lines for the reply).
Descriptive knowledge, without critical analysis or references to the relevant case law, may lead to a sufficient evaluation but hardly higher than 24/30. The texts of the TEU and TFEU available on Moodle can be consulted during the exam (provided that there are no notes, whereas highlights are allowed). However, the answer that merely repeats (or rephrases) the content of the relevant provisions will not be considered sufficient.
Course program
The European Union is facing unprecedented challenges to its foundational values and basic purposes, nurtured by multiple factors such as the Euro-zone crisis, the refugee crisis, the Brexit process, security concerns, a new wave of nationalism, and serious attempts to the rule of law in some Member States. In this complex and rapidly evolving context, any law student shall be provided with the essential instruments and knowledge to understand the current and potential dynamics of European integration. Accordingly, the course will offer a fresh look at the main aspects of EU institutional law. At the same time, it will offer a close analysis of topics that have dramatically emerged as turning points for the future of the integration process.
The following issues will be covered:
1. The European Union
2. The Process of European Integration
3. The Process of Withdrawing from the European Union
4. EU Competence: Scope and Nature
5. The Institutional Framework
6. The Financing of the EU
7. EU Law Sources, Lawmaking Procedures and Review of EU Legality
8. Values and Fundamental Rights in the EU
9. Differentiated Application of EU Law
10. Relationship between EU Law and National Law
11. Citizenship of the European Union
12. Brexit
12. Rule of law crisis in the Union
13. The EU action against COVID-19
Sustainable Development Goals 2030
This course concur to the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for SD