OVERVIEW

The Course of European Union (EU) Law aims at offering students an adequate knowledge of the legal dynamics presiding the European integration process and its impact on the Member States’ legal systems as well as on the governance of the regional and global phenomena that they are called upon to handle within the EU legal framework. The Course is preparatory to legal professions within law firms or undertakings, as well as within courts, public administrations, international organizations.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at offering students the essential tools to research and analyze EU law by studying, in particular, the institutional framework of the Union, European sources of law, the relationships between the Union and Member States, as well as the European system of judicial protection and the main European policies and fundamental freedoms.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Course analyzes, in its first part, the institutional framework of the European Union, the rules and principles governing the institutions’ functioning and reciprocal relations, the regulatory sources of the EU legal system and their effects on the legal frameworks of the Member States, as well as the characteristics of the European Union as a subject of international relations.

The second part of the Course is devoted to the analysis of the mechanisms of judicial protection provided by the EU Treaties in order to ensure the legality of the European Union legal system and the protection of individuals' legal positions grounded thereupon.

The third and final part of the Course will be devoted to the exam of the material rules governing the internal market and some other policies of the European Union.

At the end of the Course, students shall be able to:

• identify the essential characteristics of the EU legal system as well as the peculiarities that distinguish it from other international oganizations
• understand and report on the main institutional aspects of the EU legal system, its sources of law and its jurisdictional system, including the effects of EU law on the Member States’ legal systems
• identify and report on the content of the essential rules governing the EU internal market, in particular the fundamental freedoms and the other relevant policies taken into exam during the Course
• analyze practical legal questions and identify the rules of EU law applicable to solve them
• apply rules of EU law, carry out distinguishing between different situations and create connections among categories of rules, in order to address specific legal issues
• research sources of EU law, including the case-law of the Court of justice
• critically asses in an autonomous manner the legal implications of policy choices made at all levels of the EU governance
• report on the contents of the Course’s program using adequate technical language, in both the oral and written forms.

PREREQUISITES

Students approaching this Course are strongly recommended to have at least a basic knowledge of public and private law.

TEACHING METHODS

The Course consists of 54 hours of lectures held by the teacher and is also based on the study of the contribution of the Court of Justice to the development of European Union law, through the prepared and active participation of students in the discussion of cases already decided by the Court. Therefore, the lessons will be carried out with the aid of teaching materials, also available on the portal of the University www.aulaweb.unige.it. For a better organization of the teaching activity, students are required to register on the Course website as soon as possible. In order to facilitate in-class discussion, the calendar of all lectures will be made available in advance and the reference documents will be downloadable on the University website. A seminar on the reseach of sources of EU law will be held in itinere in order to provide students with the necessary tools to conduct autonomous researches in this subject matter.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

I. First part: A). The institutional structure. 1. Origin and evolution of the European Union. 2. Relations between the European Union and the Member States. 3. The institutions of the European Union and their mutual relations. 4. The European Union competence system and, in particular, the economic and monetary policy and the Common foreign and security policy. 5. The European Union as a subject of international law and its external relations. B). The regulatory system. 1. Primary sources of law. 2. Secondary sources of law. 3. Atypical sources of law. 4. Effects of EU law on the legal system of the Member States (primacy, direct and indirect effects of EU law).

II. Second Part: The jurisdictional system. a) the European Court of Justice and the Tribunal. b) Judicial remedies: action for annulment (in particular: protection of natural and legal persons), action for failure to act and action for infringement (pre-litigation and litigation phase, effects of the judgment and monetary penalties). c) Reference for a preliminary ruling of interpretation and validity.

III. Third part: EU policies, citizenship and fundamental freedoms. a) Free movement of persons: European citizenship, right of entry and residence, freedom of movement for workers, freedom of establishment. b) Free circulation of "products" (goods and services). c) Competition law applicable to undertakings. d) Competition law applicable to States.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Course's recommended textbook

Margot Horspool, Matthew Humphreys, Michael Wells-Greco, European Union Law, Oxford University Press, 2021.

The arguments for students attending the lectures shall be the following:

1: Introduction; 2: The constitutional base of the Union; 3: The institutions of the Union; 4: The European Courts: composition, functions, jurisdiction; preliminary rulings; 5: The Union legal system; 7: Doctrines of European Union law: direct effect, supremacy, state liability for breach of Union law and other remedies: 8: Public enforcement of Union law (Articles 258-260 TFEU); review of legality and damages (Articles 263, 265, 268, 277 and 340(2) TFEU); 9: Free movement of goods; (I): the abolition of customs duties and internal taxation; 10: Free movement of goods (II): quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect; 11: Free movement of services: the freedom to provide and receive services; 12: Citizenship and free movement of persons: workers and establishment; 13: Citizenship and free movement rights: beyond economic links.

In addition to the above, the arguments for students not attending the lectures shall be the following:

6: General principles of law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights; 14: Competition law and policy; 15: Environmental law and policy; 16: Discrimination law: from sex discrimination in employment law to a general equality principle

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LORENZO SCHIANO DI PEPE (President)

PAOLA IVALDI

CHIARA CELLERINO (President Substitute)

CHIARA ENRICA TUO (President Substitute)

MARIA CHIARA ACCARDO (Substitute)

FRANCESCA BANDINI (Substitute)

MATTEO BEDENDI (Substitute)

LAURA CARPANETO (Substitute)

SIMONE CARREA (Substitute)

STEFANIA CASIGLIA (Substitute)

PIERANGELO CELLE (Substitute)

MATTEO DANIELE (Substitute)

MARIA ELENA DE MAESTRI (Substitute)

GIULIA DEMONTIS (Substitute)

MARCO FERRUGLIO (Substitute)

MIRKO FORTI (Substitute)

CHIARA GAMBINO (Substitute)

ELENA GUALCO (Substitute)

ELENA MARESCA (Substitute)

FRANCESCO MUNARI (Substitute)

FRANCESCO PESCE (Substitute)

ILARIA QUEIROLO (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

First semester: September-December 2023

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam is oral and consists of at least three open questions on the Course's overall program. Its minimum duration is twenty minutes. The exam is always conducted by at least one of the professors in charge of the Course in addition to another tenured professor (or alternatively a post-doc researcher having at least a three-years post-degree research experience).

Students attending the lectures will be offered the opportunity to take the exam in written form at the end of the cycle of lectures. The written exam reserved to attending students shall consist of  multiple-choice as well as open questions on the the Course's overall program.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam consists of at least three open questions on topics dealt with throughout the whole Course program. The written exam consists of multiple-choice as well as open questions on all the topics discussed during lectures. Further information on the written exam will be provided in class. For both the oral and the written exams, the assessment aims at ascertaining the understanding and knowledge of rules of EU law and to verify the capacity of students to conduct critical analysis as well as to apply rules of EU law for the solution of practical legal questions. Performance evaluation will be based on the degree of knowledge of the topics, on the quality of exposition, on the use of appropriate technical language and on the capacity to conduct critical analysis and reasoning.

Exam schedule