Teaching

DEPATRADE Teaching and Learning activities 2018-2021

More information: https://www.icer.at/teaching-projects/

Teaching Nr.   1

Lecture: European Integration I: Theories and Politics within Global Dynamics (MA)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Maurer

Weekly lecture on the theoretical conceptualization of EU integration and their application with regard to the institutional, inter-institutional and functional scope of EU integration. The focus of this lecture is the discussion and analysis of traditional and recent EU integration theories. Theoretical models and their explanatory power are analysed with regard to the genesis and transformation of European primary, secondary and tertiary/soft law, criteria of democratic, efficient, effective and transparent policymaking as well as policy-specific questions on the functional scope and density of European integration in the context of increasing socio-economic integration of the EU with other regions of the international community. We focus on examples of European trade policy, the foreign policy dimensions of the single market policies and economic and monetary union, development and economic cooperation policies and the common foreign and security policy. We pay particular attention to the justification, reform, structures and procedures of cross-level decision-making and control institutions.

Impact: Students are enabled to reconstruct, analyze and evaluate theoretical models and conceptual approaches concerning EU integration in order to promote an understanding of integration and cooperation processes. They know and are able to characterize the features of the political system of the EU, including inter-institutional negotiation and decision-making processes, functional specialization, the embedding of the EU in international contexts such as the WTO and the UN, and cooperation between the EU and other states and international organizations.

Teaching Nr.   2

Seminar: European Integration I: Theories and Politics within Global Dynamics (MA)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Maurer

The Seminar reconstructs, analyses and evaluates theoretical models and concepts on European integration. The seminar concentrates on definitions and hypotheses with regard to the characteristics of the EU's political system including the process of interinstitutional negotiation and decision-making, the differentiation of the EU's functional scope, the EU's inclusion within wider contexts such as the WTO, and the cooperation between the EU and third countries and organisations. Overall, the seminar will discuss theoretical approaches to EU integration and their application with regard to the institutional, procedural, and functional dimension:

• Neofunctionalist, Federalist and Neorealist approaches to analyse the EU’s foreign, security and trade policies
• Multi-Level Governance in polyarchic systems – analysing the EU’s international agreements’ policies
• Neo-institutionalisms and their explanatory power to describe, analyse and explain the EU’s trade policy
• Inter- und intrainstitutional dynamics of the EU – role attributions, claims and functions of the EU institutions in the EU’s foreign policies
• Working mechanisms of the EU institutions – Intra-institutional dynamics in the area of trade policy, development policy, neighbourhood policy, international climate policy, CFSP, and ESDP
• Institutional and procedural characteristics of EU politics in the member states
• NGOs and the EU’s trade policy

Methods: Presentation of short papers on the basis of the literature compiled for the seminar / weekly drafting of seminar papers on the basis of the literature compiled for the seminar / Independent elaboration of case studies for the analysis of different theories

Assessment: Oral presentation + Position paper/Abstract + Written paper

Impact: Students are able to reconstruct, analyze and evaluate theoretical models and conceptual proposals concerning EU integration in order to promote an understanding of integration and cooperation processes. They know and are able to characterize the features of the political system of the EU, including inter-institutional negotiation and decision-making processes, functional specialization, the embedding of the EU in international contexts, and cooperation between the EU and other states and international organizations.

Teaching Nr.   3

Lecture: Trading Democracies? Multi-Level Governance and European Democratic Society (MA)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Maurer

Do the dynamics of international trade politics and global governance erode parliamentary democracy? Against the backdrop of the overall evolution of the WTO, some parliaments are intensifying their focus on issues relating to their role in international trade, multilateral trading systems and international trade organisations’ decision-making. This lecture seeks to show how parliamentary bodies (re)-act in and adapt to a dynamic institutional and procedural set up. How do parliamentary actors in different (supra)-, (inter-) and -national and socio-political settings, and forged in different national traditions, adapt to common challenges, constraints and opportunities for which they are mainly responsible themselves, since they have ratified the fundamental set-up of these opportunity structures? Do international treaties matter - and in how far do they matter - for the set-up and the functioning of parliamentary involvement? During the last two decades, many legislatures and interparliamentary groups have expressed support for a greater role for parliamentarians in global governance. In this respect, the September 2000 declaration of the presiding officers of national parliaments meeting at the United Nations underlined that „Parliaments embody the sovereignty of the people and can, in all legitimacy, contribute to expressing the will of the State internationally […] parliaments and their members must assume increased responsibility in international relations”.  They therefore called on all national legislatures to „strengthen their activities and capacities at the domestic level in order to undertake larger international responsibilities. This should include „continuous dialogue” with the public on international affairs, better use of current legislative procedures, involvement of all parties and members, contributions to government negotiations, better information gathering, and „a more proactive role in ratification and compliance with international agreements.”  As regards interparliamentary cooperation for exchanging views on parliamentary scrutiny in transnational governance, the Inter-parliamentary Union and the European Parliament have acted as joint initiators of this kind of dialogue.

We ask whether parliaments are catching up with the profound change of their politico-institutional environments: are parliamentarians the losers of international policy-making in trade matters? Alternatively, are we witnessing a process of institutional adaptation to the EU’s and the WTO’s trade regimes? The Lecture introduces concepts, hypotheses and applications of multi-level system analysis with regard to the EU's system. While focusing on the EU’s trade and international agreements policies, the lecture provides a systematic analysis of functions and profiles of both the European Parliament and national (sub-national) parliaments with regard to trade policy-making (legislative functions), control and accountability, (s)election and creation functions, communication, representation and interaction functions and system-development functions. We will analyse institutional and functional change in the area of the EU’s common commercial policy from the Rome treaties to the Lisbon treaty. In how far, under which circumstances and depending on which (set of) intervening variables do parliaments develop their concepts and strategies for parliamentarisation, democratisation and legitimisation of the EU’s trade policy? What kinds of parliamentary diplomacy can we observe? How do parliaments operate in interparliamentary networks and assemblies? How do parliamentary concepts and strategies for participating in EU trade policy impact on interparliamentary processes and institutions?

Impact: Students are able to reconstruct the embedding of EU bodies, member states, and nongovernmental organizations in the multilevel system of the EU. They can describe and explain the complex interactions, interdependencies and cooperative efforts of institutions and processes. Students are able to analyze issues concerning the democratic legitimacy of European governance with regard to its international dimension and the EU’s common commercial policy.

Teaching Nr.   4

Seminar: Trading Democracies? Multi-Level Governance and European Democratic Society (MA)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Maurer

Do the dynamics of international trade politics and global governance erode parliamentary democracy? Against the backdrop of the overall evolution of the WTO, some parliaments are intensifying their focus on issues relating to their role in international trade, multilateral trading systems and international trade organisations’ decision-making. This seminar seeks to analyse how parliamentary bodies (re)-act in and adapt to a dynamic institutional and procedural set up. How, under which conditions do parliamentary actors in different (supra)-, (inter-) and -national and socio-political settings, and forged in different national traditions, adapt to common challenges, constraints and opportunities for which they are mainly responsible themselves, since they have ratified the fundamental set-up of these opportunity structures? Do international treaties matter - and in how far do they matter - for the set-up and the functioning of parliamentary involvement?

In theory, Parliaments may use their traditional control and ratification powers to shape international regimes and try to maximise the returns on this use of power. Yet in order to assess their capacity to do so, it is important to define the nature of the challenges facing parliaments in a growing international trade regime. We ask whether parliaments are catching up with the profound change of their politico-institutional environments: are parliamentarians the losers of international policy-making in trade matters? Alternatively, are we witnessing a process of institutional adaptation to the EU’s and the WTO’s trade regimes?

Overall, the seminar introduces concepts, hypotheses and applications of multi-level system analysis with regard to the EU's system. While focusing on the EU’s trade and international agreements policies, the lecture provides a systematic analysis of functions and profiles of both the European Parliament and national (sub-national) parliaments with regard to trade policy-making (legislative functions), control and accountability, (s)election and creation functions, communication, representation and interaction functions and system-development functions. We will analyse institutional and functional change in the area of the EU’s common commercial policy from the Rome treaties to the Lisbon treaty. In how far, under which circumstances and depending on which (set of) intervening variables do parliaments develop their concepts and strategies for parliamentarisation, democratisation and legitimisation of the EU’s trade policy? What kinds of parliamentary diplomacy can we observe? How do parliaments operate in interparliamentary networks and assemblies? How do parliamentary concepts and strategies for participating in EU trade policy impact on interparliamentary processes and institutions?

Method: All students draft short papers on selected research contributions. Two students (selection in alphabetical order) present their synthesis and introduce the discussion.

Assessment: Oral Presentation + Abstract/Presentation paper + Written paper

Impact: Students will be able to analyze the integration of parliamentary bodies into the EU multilevel system and its international agreements’ and trade policies. They can analyze policy-area and level-specific questions on the democratic legitimacy of European governance. On the basis of concrete case studies, they acquaint themselves with the practice of parliamentary involvement in EU trade policy and inter-parliamentary cooperation. They learn to validate theory-based hypotheses on questions of democracy, legitimacy and effectiveness of European integration on the basis of empirical findings of their own.

Teaching Nr.   5

Seminar: Coordination and Agenda-Shaping in the European Parliament and beyond (BA/MA, all schools)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Maurer / Michael Wolf

Many scholars, politicians, media actors and not surprisingly the majority of its electorate do not perceive the European Parliament as an “ordinary Parliament” or “true Parliament” in the common understanding. An important part of the negative attitude towards the EP accounts to the belief, that the EP apparently has no influence on the legislative agenda. Due its lack of initiative, the argument continues, European elections on the grounds of fundamental, party-political belief-systems do not matter. This seminar will look at the influence of the EP regarding political agenda-setting and agenda-shaping-processes. With the Lisbon treaty, the EP not only gained access to additional areas of policy-making in the formerly de-parliamentarised area of trade policy. The treaty also symbolically strengthened the EP’s legislative roles by rebranding the procedure of co-decision into “ordinary legislative procedure” (Art. 294 TFEU). In fact, the EP has a strong saying in important areas linked to the functioning of the internal market and the EU’s external economic policies. Despite these powers to reject, (co-)amend, and (co-)adopt legislation with the Council of Ministers, the EP is still perceived weak, especially because of its assumed lack of agenda-setting-powers.

Critics evidently refer to Art. 17(2) of the TEU, which – since 1957 – holds that “Union legislative acts may only be adopted on the basis of a Commission proposal, except where the Treaties provide otherwise.” Indeed, most legislative procedures within the scope of the EU’s internal market and the EU’s area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) depend on a formal proposal of the Commission to get the process started. Despite this uncontroversial fact our paper focuses on the indirect, informal and formal opportunities and practices of the EP to kick into the political agenda of the Commission and thus to shape the EU’s legislative programme. Despite the evident lack of formal agenda-setting powers with regard to the internal market and the RFSJ of the EU, the last treaty amendments provided the EP with substantial means to put pressure on the Commission to initiate legislation and to hold it to account. Amongst a set of measures to get the Commission to deal with parliamentary legislative requests, we concentrate on two distinctive forms of “Own-initiative reports”. Whereas the scientific community widely ignored the relevance of these parliamentary motions in the past, at least parts of the EP’s administration point to their powerful channels of influence. The seminar will address the overarching question: To what degree can we define the European Parliament – beside the Commission’s formal monopoly – as a considerable actor with regard to the agenda setting process within the European Union? To approach our question, we look into preliminary theoretical studies and empirical evidence.

After introducing the basic structural and procedural determinants of the EU’s political system, the seminar examines the preferences, political and legal frameworks, as well as the rationales of action of various collective and individual actors of the EU's political system. The aim is to evaluate the room for action of these actors regarding the process of legislation, but also with a view to the longer-term general prospects of the EU. The respective control and co-ordination capacity will herby be discussed and assessed with reference of legal and political sciences.

Introductory sessions are supposed to make students familiar with the forces and counter-forces of European integration. After that, specific workshops will focus on those collective and individual actors, which are enabled, due to their legally enshrined authority or their politically claimed functions, to shape the structure of the EU - in the sense of long-term systemic development and regarding their functional scope in terms of shaping secondary law. Based on respective literature, the seminar provides a profound overview on the ability of a whole range of preselected actors regarding coordination and agenda-setting in the EU.

Impact: Students will learn about the functioning of the European Union considering supranational and intergovernmental patterns of thought related to actors on EU and member state level. They can comprehend the European integration process, taking into account the legally sanctioned and politically motivated preferences of different collective and individual actors, and classify them along historical developmental paths and scientific theories.

Teaching Nr. 6a

Lecture: Einführung in das politische System der EU (BA)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Maurer

Die Vorlesung vermittelt einen Überblick über das politische System der EU. Die Besonderheiten des EU-Systems werden herausgearbeitet (Dynamik, polyarchischer bzw. polyzentrischer Mehrebenencharakter, Modelle der Gewaltenteilung und Praxis der Gewaltenteilung im EU-System, demokratische Qualität, Effizienz, Effektivität und Transparenz). Darüber hinaus werden grundlegende Kenntnisse über die europäischen Institutionen und Entscheidungsverfahren vermittelt. Die speziell hierfür arbeitenden MentorInnen führen exemplarisch in einzelne Politikfelder der EU ein.

Lernziele:

Die Vorlesung spricht Studierende ohne EU-Vorkenntnisse auf BA-Niveau an. Ziel ist es, ein grundlegendes Verständnis für das System der EU zu vermitteln, so dass die Studierenden in die Lage versetzt werden, das System zu erfassen und anhand grundlegender politikwissenschaftlicher Analysekategorien (Akteur/Struktur, Macht/Herrschaft, Interessen/Präferenzen, Identität/Normen, Produktionsverhältnisse, Gender etc.) einzuschätzen. Da zu dieser Vorlesung Studierende aus allen Fachbereichen sowie Austauschstudierende zugelassen sind, kann eine breite Wirkung erzielt werden. Da den Studierenden die Möglichkeit gegeben wird, in dieser Vorlesung Leistungspunkte im Bereich „Überfachliche Qualifikationen“ zu erwerben, wird der Anreiz zum Besuch erhöht.

Teaching Nr. 6b

Seminar: European integration – Introduction (BA)

Ass. Prof. Dr. Camilla Mariotto

How are policy decisions taken in the EU? How does variation in the rules governing decision-making lead to differences in outcomes and in the influence of actors? The main aim of this course is to provide a detailed understanding of how the European Union and the main political processes within it operate, to convey this knowledge through the theoretical foundations of political science, and to enable students to develop analytical and theoretical skills that can be transferred directly into a non-academic environment or that provide the foundations for further academic research.

The course explores the key institutions of the European Union (the European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Council, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice), and the key legislative processes. It then analyses in depth policy areas where decisions are made at the Community level (Internal Market, social Policy and Common Agricultural Policy), and a policy areas with a limited role for the Commission and the Parliament, governed primarily via an intergovernmental setup (Justice and Home Affairs, with a focus on the migrant crisis). By comparing and contrasting outcomes in these policy fields, the course shows the policy effects of (a lack of) European integration.

Impact: Students acquire the ability to explain and describe the process of European integration and how the European Union works. They are able to analyse and independently answer the questions concerning the institutions, decision-making processes and policy fields in the political system of the EU and its member states.

Teaching Nr. 7a

Vorlesung:  Inter- und intrainstitutionelle Dynamiken der europäische Integration (BA)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Maurer

Die Vorlesung vermittelt einen vertieften Einblick über das politische System der EU. Die Besonderheiten des polyarchischen bzw. polyzentrischen Mehrebenensystems werden durch die Darstellung der intra- und interinstitutionellen Strukturen und Verfahren der parlamentarischen bzw. im EU-Entscheidungsprozess parlamentsanalog wirkenden Akteure herausgearbeitet. Im Zentrum steht die Analyse des Europäischen Parlaments, des Ministerrats und Europäischen Rates (einschließlich der Eurogruppe und der mitgliedstaatlichen, europapolitischen Koordinations- und Entscheidungsstrukturen), der nationalen und subnationalen Parlamente, der Umsetzung vertraglich gesetzter Willensbildungs- und Entscheidungsabläufe innerhalb der Organe (Geschäftsordnungen) und zwischen den Organen (interinstitutionelle Vereinbarungen). Die speziell für die Vorlesung eingesetzten MentorInnen führen exemplarisch in einzelne Politikfelder der EU ein und bieten einen Lektürekurs zum Vergleich der Vertragsbestimmungen mit den Geschäftsordnungen der Organe an.

Lernziele:

Studierende erhalten einen vertieften Einblick, wie Parlamente und Regierungen die Anreizstrukturen des Lissabonner Vertrages meistern und wie sie untereinander und miteinander interagieren. Sie vergleichen unterschiedliche Kooperations- und Verhandlungsmodi in den Phasen des EU-Politikzyklus. Das Stichwort der „Europafähigkeit“ der Parlamente wird auf Ministerrat, Parlamente und Europäisches Parlament in Bezug auf die wissenschaftliche Forschung, aber auch in Bezug auf die praktischen Probleme erfasst und empirisch überprüft.

Teaching Nr. 7b

Seminar: European integration - European Development Policy after 2020. Trade rather than Aid? (BA)

Dr. Doris Dialer

The EU is the world's largest aid provider in terms of trade. Moreover, EU development policy is designed to promote European principles and values in the world. These include democracy, good governance and human rights. However, the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) between the European Union (EU) and the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries comprises a significant dimension in terms of trade because the EU is the second-biggest trade partner of the ACP after the USA. It imports goods valued at € 860 billion annually from developing countries, which helps their economies.

In February 2020, the CPA will expire and a new relationship has to be designed, taking into account the achievements and shortcomings of the agreement. Thus, this BA course considers the question of post-Cotonou relations between the EU and the ACP-States. In order to address this question, the course briefly reflects the historic relationship between the EU and its former colonies: from the association agreements of Yaoundé I and II Conventions between the European Economic Community and former French colonies in Africa (1963-1975), to the successive ACP-EU Lomé Conventions (1975-2000), and the latest Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou (2000).

Under Lomé IV, ACP countries benefited from non-reciprocal preferences granted unilaterally by the EU. This set-up was ruled to be against the World Trade Organisation's "Most Favoured Nation" (MFN) principle, so the EU has therefore negotiated trade deals the so called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) - supported by development aid - with the six regions that comprise the 79 ACP countries. The EPAs are premised on the logic that greater regional integration boosts trading capacities and in turn, triggers growth, employment and economic development. In order to better understand which elements influence ACP’s positioning in global value chains (GVCs), this BA course analyses factors which can be influenced by both, EU and ACP policy-makers. Finally, three possible scenarios for ACP–EU trade relations beyond 2020 are discussed and unfolded. 

Methods: We shall take a closer look at theories and methodological challenges the social sciences offer to describe the institutional settings and operative contexts of interest representation. On top of that, key actors and instruments of EU-ACP cooperation will be analyzed and selected empirical studies discussed.

Impact: Students acquire the ability to explain and describe the process of European integration and how the European Union works in the field of development and economic cooperation policies. They are able to analyse and independently answer the questions concerning the institutions, decision-making processes and policy fields in the political system of the EU and its member states.

Teaching Nr.   8

Seminar & Simulation Game: European integration - EU Environmental Policies and Policy-Making (BA)

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gaby Umbach

Environmental issues and stresses are among the most pressing challenges of our times. As debates and concerns over the degradation of ecosystems, pollution, loss of biodiversity, climate change or extreme weather events increased, environmental policies turned central stage at global and European level. Environmental policies have yet long played a less prominent role within EU policy-making and it was only with the Single European Act of 1987 that the policy area was based on EU primary law foundations. Before that period, environmental policies rooted in single market-related competences and treaty foundations, leading to an uncoordinated policy approach and a strong economic rationale. In present times, environmental policies have become most complex subjects of supranational policy-making, global governance and international negotiations. Analysed through a sustainability lens, ecological, economic, social-political, geopolitical and development concerns are interlinked in this area. Globally, ideological disputes about resource dependency, environmental and social justice as well as global North-South relations frame the debate and influence EU environmental policy paradigms and approaches, especially in the field of EU Climate Action. Against this background, the seminar will analyse the EU’s particular approaches towards environmental policies focusing on their conceptual characteristics, policy coherence and international embedment. It will analyse EU environmental policies as well as their overall conceptual approach. Moreover, the seminar will particularly examine the EU’s role in international climate change negotiations in for a post-Kyoto legal framework. In doing so, the seminar takes into consideration two particular perspectives: In a cross-temporal one, it analyses the policy area’s development over time. This perspective includes the analysis of European environmental policies of different temporal origin. In a cross-sectoral dimension, the seminar analyses the EU’s environmental policies approach in terms of policy coherence between different policies and beyond by paying tribute to so-called ‘mainstreaming aspects’.

Course Objectives and Methods: Key course objectives and methods are to:

• introduce students to key elements of EU environmental policies and policy-making;
• analyse the conceptual characteristics, policy coherence and international embedment of EU environmental policies;
• encourage students to assess the quality of EU environmental and Climate Action policies in view of their overall coherence;
• pay particular tribute to EU Climate Action and the post COP-21 Climate Negotiations within the UNFCCC;
• provide students with an opportunity to explore areas of special interest through their individual research papers;
• further develop students’ research and writing skills via their papers.

Students are expected to analyse, understand, explain and evaluate EU environmental and Climate Action policies. This will also be demonstrated in a simulation game at the end of the seminar and a research paper thoroughly dealing with theoretical and empirical aspects of the chosen topic. Regular participation in the scheduled sessions is compulsory. Within the sessions, key institutional aspects, the history and development of EU environmental policy will be discussed, and key environmental principles and policies of the EU presented. The environmental media perspective will be applied to structure these sessions. The second seminar session will be dedicated to EU environmental policies and climate action to give and in-depth insight into the area to prepare the ‘Innsbruck Climate Talks 2018’. During the final session, participants will simulate an international UNFCCC climate negotiation session. For this negotiation, participants, during the semester, have to research the position of their assigned negotiation delegation and prepare a 5-minute statement on their delegation’s opinion on particular points of the current debate (points will be communicated during the first session). The final outcome of the negotiations will be joint 2-page paper (a so-called ‘non-paper’) to be jointly drafted during the last session. Each participant is moreover expected to submit a short research paper (appr. 3,000 words) on a topic assigned during the first seminar session. All research papers will have to be submitted as MS Word file. The papers are expected to include a clear and concise argument and documented footnotes. They should be written in decent academic English language and include a title page, table of contents, text, footnotes, references and, if required, an annex. Basic knowledge of the political system of the European Union is expected. Participants are expected to have a good command of English.

Impact: Students will acquire knowledge on EU environmental and Climate Action policies; gain a general overview and understanding of environmental policy-making; understand basic policy analysis practices and techniques and apply them in a simulation game on international climate negotiations; acquire academic presentation competences and negotiation experience; practice free presentation and argumentation; improve language skills through active communication in English.

Teaching Nr.  9

Innsbruck-Brussels Workshop seminars (study trips to Brussels): EU trade policies and access to (classified) documents (BA, MA, PhD)

Andreas Maurer / Camilla Mariotto / Doris Dialer

‘Trade’ is a substance matter serving as the basis of EU cooperation. It represents the core business of the internal market characterised by the so-called four fundamental freedoms: free movement of goods, persons, services and capital. While access to the EU internal market is a key point in trade talks (EEA, Brexit, Switzerland), trade agreements have also acquired an increasing impact in the international arena in the form of international trade agreements (such as ACTA, TTIP, CETA, EU-Korea, or EU-Singapore FTAs). Trade is nowadays strictly connected with many other policy areas of the EU, such as development cooperation or the EU external action (including human rights promotion), which makes it one of the most interesting and challenging fields to explore. It also has an impact on citizens’ lives, as testified by the ongoing public discussion regarding the content and consequences of international trade agreements (e.g. with regard to safety standards, environmental impact or investment protection provisions). It is extremely difficult to strengthen parliamentary oversight of the EU’s trade policies without clear and predictable rules and procedures for the EP to access relevant information from the Commission and the Council. The workshops seminar shall provide an overview on the rules guaranteeing access to information in international trade negotiations both in the EU and in selected third countries. We will discuss the existing arrangements on access to information by Parliament in view of the provisions included in the Treaty of Lisbon, international norms and agreements, EU case-law, and similar rules, arrangements and practices in a group of national parliaments. The Lisbon Treaty establishes a legally binding obligation for the Commission to keep Parliament regularly informed on on-going negotiations. It also contains legally binding obligation for both the Council and the Commission to inform Parliament immediately and fully at all stages of the procedure. As the ECJ ruled on Case C 685/11, “all stages of the procedure” implies “preceding the conclusion of the agreement”. While these provisions are incorporated in the 2010 Framework agreement, the IIAs between Council and Parliament are silent on when information should be provided.

The main objective of the seminar is to deepen the knowledge of advanced BA and Master students on EU political processes by providing them first-hand knowledge on the roles and functions of EU institutions in view of the priorities of the EU’s strategic agenda including the EU trade interests, challenges and possible developments.

Impact: By attending this seminar, participants will be able to acquire and deepen their knowledge on EU politics in the field of trade, gaining valuable insights into the practicalities of Brussels policy-making; meet high level professionals from EU institutions, academia, and NGOs; meet and exchange views with students from different disciplinary and national backgrounds from all over the EU and beyond; improve their analytical and argumentative skills; and enhance their employability.

Teaching Nr. 10

The European Union Online (blended learning in English)

Ass. Prof. Dr. Natascha Zeitel-Bank

The course aims to provide a detailed understanding of the structure and function of the European Union with focus on specific policy fields. The online course in English ensures a compact overview of the structure, the central decision maker and the main policy fields of the European Union. Thus, the main fields of consideration are: history, basic theories, decision making / institutions, single market, external relations, environment, the area of freedom, security and justice, the foreign, security and defence policies, economic and monetary union, social and economic cohesion, enlargement, EU governance and public opinion.

The online course is determined for students, which are inscribed at the University of Innsbruck. It is limited to 25 persons per course in summer term and 50 persons in winter term. It is no MOOC lecture, but more a course mixing online and offline tools (webinar). We include Adobe Connect, meaning online interaction and discussion directly with the students. The overall course consists of 10 weekly assignments with respective questions referring to a specific book chapter, a current scientific article, a current EU topic link from the europa.eu website.

Impact: Students from all University of Innsbruck’s schools are invited to get a comprehensive overview of the structure and function of the European Union with focus on specific policy fields.

Teaching Nr. 11

Seminar: Die in Brüssel und wir? Warum leisten wir uns die Europäische Union?  (teachers training)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Maurer / Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thomas Stornig

A one-day (8 hrs) training course for teachers of high schools and professional schools. Different prejudices against the European Union are repeatedly brought forward. In part, the EU also serves as a welcome scapegoat for politicians in the Member States, in order to shift disagreeable decisions to "those in Brussels". Full-bodied accusations of the technocratic detachment and the regulatory rage of the Brussels "water heads", the high costs of the EU bureaucracy can be read and heard daily. Many of these prejudices are so fertile most of the time because of a lack of knowledge about how political processes are taking place in the European Union, and what role the representatives of the governments of the Member States play, in particular. In the seminar we turn to current examples of prejudices and examine how the "euro bureaucracy" is real, how much and how little "we" are “Brussels” and how the EU institutions, Member States and regions are doing exercise. The training course serves to critically address prejudices against the EU, to deepen one's own expertise and to illustrate possibilities for action in the classroom.

Impact: Active teachers will be provided with an interactive seminar to critically reflect their initial perceptions of “Europe”, and the “EU”, to discuss populist anti-european propaganda. The get equipped with didactic tools and material to de-construct anti-european sentiments and propaganda.

Please visit the course catalog of the University of Innsbruck: https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/lfuonline_lv.home