European integration and Public Policy

INTRODUCTION 

• Starting Your Research in EU Policy Analysis
• Mapping EU Policies

BLOC I: THEORIES OF EU POLICY-MAKING   

• Theories of EU Integration in Historical Perspective
• The EU Policy Cycle
• Europeanization and Policy Transfers

BLOC II: CHANGES IN EU POLICY-MAKING: SECTORAL STUDIES   

• Neofunctionalist Dynamics and Regulatory Governance: the Single Market Policy
• Policy Learning and Paradigm Shift: The Common Agricultural Policy
• Soft Coordination in Higher Education Policy
• Policy Framing and Digital Policy

The objective of this course is to explain the main dynamics of policy making in the European Union. More specifically, it concerns specific knowledge of EU policies with theoretical and conceptual tools in the field of EU studies and public policy. The course looks at the contents as well as the politics of the EU's internal policies: historical developments, institutional procedures, content and effects of policies, contentious issues surrounding them. It also considers some key transversal issues such; 

At the end of the semester, the students must be able to:

• explain the historical development of specific EU policy areas
• connect specific EU policies with the different types of policy and decision making in the EU
• analyse and discuss policy issues, including EU's current affairs
• produce oral and written reports on policy issues

Lectures will be interrupted and complemented by debates about policy issues and simulation games performed by student groups and collective feedback  

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Mandatory readings (available on the UV)

• Laurie Buonanno, Neill Nugent, “The Policy Cycle”, in Policies and policy processes of the European Union, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2013, p. 101-118.
•  Sabine Saurugger, “Europeanization & Public Policy Transfers”, in Theoretical Approaches to European Integration, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2013, 123-144.

Additional recommend handbooks 

• Michelle Cini, Nieves Borragan, European Union Politics, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2025. 
• Esther Versluis, Mendeltje van Keulen, Paul Stephenson, Analyzing the European Union Policy Process, Palgrave, 2014. 

Course notes

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

Joël Ficet: joel.ficet@uclouvain.be
Appointment on demand (via e-mail)

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• written examination
• Oral presentation

written examination

• Open question with developed answer

Oral presentation

Written exam (2 hours), short essay (4 pages max.) focusing on a key concept covered in class. 

Simulation game: small scale simulation of a negotiation in groups (5 students max), including a written report on how the game was prepared.

• The issue, institutional context and relevant decision-making procedure are briefly explained to the other students (2 minutes max)
• The members of the group determine the relevant characters/roles.Each student endorses and performs a particular role.The game is performed in class for no longer than 20 min
• The written report (3-4 pages) is to be sent per e-mail on the day before the game at the latest. It should describe what the specific situation is (policy issue, timeline, institutional framework), who the actors involved in the presentation are, and what their positions on the issue at stake are. It should also include a list of  5-10 references (separating first hand material/documents/sources and academic literature). 
   

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Exam: 50%
Simulation game (including written report): 50%

Language(s) of evaluation

• english