The course examines some key features of the legal order of the European Union (EU)
with the aim to deepen students’ understanding of the interaction between law and
policy in the EU. Classes will focus on several dimensions of the EU constitutional
system, exploring the institutional architecture of the EU (the executive, the legislature
and the courts), the interaction between the EU and the national legal orders – as well
as a number of substantive policy areas, including economic governance and the rule of
law. The course will also offer students the possibility to debate in depth several recent
legal and political developments, which are taking place in the EU and currently are
attracting heightened public attention – notably the challenges of maintaining the unity
of the Union in the face of growing centrifugal pressures.