History and Institutions of European Integration

This is an undergraduate course for students at the School of Political Sciences and it is offered in Greek. It provides an in-depth exploration of the history of the European integration, covering its foundation and evolution till nowadays. It delves into the reasons of the creation of the European enterprise (peace and economic development and the various stages of EU integration. The course extensively studies the important moments of this process (the ECSC, CEE the various treaty changes) and their historical and political context. In addition, the course introduces students to the EU institutions, their functions and their evolution within the European political system. The course is open to students from various Aristotle University schools and faculties.

The lectures are structured as follows:

  1. Regional integration in Europe before the 20th century. The inter-war plans for cooperation between European people. European federation in the resistance movements. The Manifesto of Ventotene. Factors that contributed to the post-war integration. The birth of federal movements after World War II. The Congress of The Hague. The Council of Europe.
  2. The creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. The innovative character of supranational integration. Efforts to set up a Political Union. The European Defence Community.
  3. The birth of the EEC. Its objectives and institutional framework. The consolidation of the Community in the 1960s. The conflict between supranational and intergovernmental approaches. The Luxembourg compromise.
  4. The EEC during the 1970s. The first enlargement.
  5. The institutional and political developments of the 1980s. The Draft Treaty of 1984. The Single European Act. The Single Market.
  6. Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Treaty of Maastricht. The creation of the European Union. Institutional characteristics and policies.
  7. The deepening and the «communitarization» of the EU. The Treaties of Amsterdam and Nice. The enlargement towards Eastern Europe.
  8. The «constitutionalisation» of the EU. The Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty.
  9. The EU in crises – Eurozone crisis, Brexit, covid-19 and new geopolitical developments.
  10. The EU institutions – The Council of Ministers and the European Council
  11. The EU institutions – The European Parliament
  12. The EU institutions – The Commission
  13. The EU institutions – the Court of Justice of the European Union

For further information on the course see https://qa.auth.gr/el/class/1/600267294/M1/edit

 

 

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