Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC2125: Politics of the European Union

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Introduction to European integration – what is ‘Europe’ and the European Union?
Major theories of European integration – federalism, neofunctionalism, intergovernmentalism, the ‘governance’ turn and Europeanization
The historical development of the EU – early integration and the post-War federalist movement, the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community, the Single Market, Maastricht and the European Union, Single Currency, the Lisbon Treaty process, Brexit, the Covid crisis
Future developments – geo-political expansion (enlargement) and de-Europeanization, policy functions and potential challenges after the Covid crisis

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activities	22	11 lectures of 2 hour duration
Guided Independent Study	128	Private study students are expected to read suggested texts and make notes prior to seminar sessions. They are also expected to read widely to complete their coursework assignments. More specifically, students are expected to devote at least: 60 hours to directed reading; 6 hours to completing the formative research outline; 14 hours for completing the policy note; Around 50 hours on completing the research project.

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).