L'Europe en direct

Teacher(s)

Arens Nicolas; d'Ursel Eugénie;

Language

French

Content

This course aims to familiarize students with the institutional work, decision-making process, and thematic debate of the European Union (EU). By bringing students into contact with practitioners, visiting various European institutions, and simulating decision-making processes, this course gives students an overview of the day-to-day legislative and executive work of the EU. As such, the course aims, on the one hand, to give concrete form to interinstitutional relations and the role of associations and interest groups at the European level and, on the other hand, to study more specifically several topics that are currently driving debates and the future of European integration.
Two topics will be covered in this year's course:

1. European defense issues: what role for the EU in defense matters? How can we address growing geopolitical instability and the level of commitment required at the European level? How can we find European political synergies between intergovernmental and supranational preferences when it comes to matters as sovereign as defense, the military, and related industrial sectors?
2. The multiannual financial framework: what priorities should be given to the various items in the future European budget in such a volatile context? How can national sensitivities be balanced in light of the budget currently under negotiation? Should we revisit the issues of own resources, European bonds (Eurobonds), a separate accounting line, and an increase in contributions?
   

Teaching methods

The teaching unit will consist of three face-to-face sessions: one at the beginning of each semester and one at the end of the academic year. Each of these sessions will provide an opportunity to work on the course topics and discover the work of European institutions and stakeholders in the decision-making process.

• The first session (18 September 2025) will be organised around a conference bringing together experts on the various topics covered by the course. The aim will be to provide an overview of the current issues and future prospects for each of the topics.
• The second session (two days during the first week of February 2026) will be an opportunity to visit various institutions in Brussels and meet other experts on the topics covered in the course. A visit to some European lobbies may also be added to this second session.
• The third session (two full days during the week of 11 May 2025) will take the form of a decision-making simulation on one or more topics that have been studied during the year. Based on a position to be defended and in front of experts in the field, students will have to negotiate together to reach a joint decision. 

Before or after each session, a portfolio of texts will be made available to students on the course Moodle platform so that they can explore the topics studied in greater depth.

Evaluation methods

The course assessment consists of:

• active participation by students throughout the various activities (included in other marks);
• commitment, participation and level of preparation for the visits during the second session: students will be asked to prepare a series of questions in small groups to guide interactions during visits to institutions (25%);
• writing a position paper and preparing for the negotiation simulation (+/- 5 pages) during the last session (75%).

Online resources

All practical information and various texts will be posted on the course Moodle site.

Faculty or entity

> IEEB