Postgraduate Course: The Values of the European Union: A Legal Perspective (LAWS11518)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines the values on which the European Union is founded, as expressed in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. It addresses how the Union, and especially the case law of the Court of Justice, has brought these values to legal life in recent years, and also considers opportunities for further legal developments. |
| Course description |
Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union asserts that the European Union 'is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities' and that these values 'are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail'. Defying assumptions and expectations that the Article 2 statements were intended to have rhetorical value only, hard legal effects have been drawn from this provision in recent years, especially in the case law of the European Court of Justice. Using Article 2 as the frame for the course, the seminars will consider:
(1) The history of Union values: both generally and of Article 2 more specifically.
(2) The legal content of recent developments: especially for the rule of law, solidarity, and democracy.
(3) The legal implications of these developments: exploring questions about institutional balance; EU membership, withdrawal, and enlargement; the challenges of sustaining good governance during times of crisis and emergency; the relationship between legal and political evolution; and values that are not reflected in Article 2 TEU.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Previous study of EU Law would be desirable. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course will be assessed by Advocate General Opinion written assessment (100%)«br /»
«br /»
At the conclusion of the course, a hypothetical preliminary reference (i.e. facts of a case and legal questions from the national court requesting an interpretation from the Court of Justice on questions of EU law) from a Member State national court will be made available on the course Learn webpage.«br /»
Students will be invited to act as 'Advocate General' for the Court of Justice by submitting their written opinion on the hypothetical case (max of 25 numbered paragraphs, limit of 4000 words including footnotes). |
| Feedback |
A formative assessment (5 numbered paragraphs in the style of an Advocate General Opinion) will support the summative assessment, and students will receive individual written feedback. An assessment handout on the nature and style of Opinions will be provided before the formative exercise due to be submitted. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the constitutional structure of the European Union and the place of the Union's values within that system.
- Apply knowledge of EU law to real-world and hypothetical scenarios, advancing problem-solving skills.
- Locate, analyse, and critically evaluate primary and secondary source materials, including very recent legal developments independently of existing academic commentary.
- Through seminar participation, progress their communication, expression, argumentation, and debate skills.
- Through the written assessment, develop their writing and reflective argument-building skills.
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Reading List
Relevant case law of the Court of Justice will comprise the core reading for this course; important recent rulings on Article 2 TEU and EU values include:
- Joined Cases C-715/17, C-718/17 and C-719/17 Commission v Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, EU:C:2020:257 (solidarity).
- Case C-418/18 P Puppinck, EU:C:2019:1113 (democracy).
- Case C-156/21 Hungary v Parliament and Council, EU:C:2022:97 and Case C-157/21 Poland v Parliament and Council, EU:C:2022:98 (rule of law).
A growing academic literature on Article 2 TEU will also be drawn from throughout the course (see e.g. and D Spieker, EU Values Before the Court of Justice: Foundations, Potential, Risks (OUP, 2023) and the essays in A Jakab and D Kochenov (eds), The Enforcement of EU Law and Values: Ensuring Member States' Compliance, OUP 2017). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | European Union,Values,EU Constitution,EU Membership,European Court of Justice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Niamh Nic Shuibhne
Tel: (0131 6)50 2049
Email: niamh.nicshuibhne@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Susanna Wickes
Tel:
Email: Susanna.Wickes@ed.ac.uk |
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