Master of Science in European Union Policy – (M.Sc.)

Contents

First Semester

Theories of EU Integration

One of four keystone courses, ‘Theories of EU Integration’ provides students with the foundation and evolution of the European project, by introducing them to the theoretic avenues by which to understand and interpret EU integration, institutions and decision-making process. It would include:

• A comprehensive overview of the history of European integration;
• A comprehensive introduction into each of the key theoretical perspectives affiliated with integration (federalism, functionalism, neo-variants, intergovernmentalism, multilevel governance, constructivism, etc);
• A clear overview of how each theoretic avenue has brought about practical consequences for the EU in the past 50 years in terms of its institutional structure, decision-making modes, current evolutions (e.g. co-decision, OMC);
• A clear understanding of how theory continues to inform current EU debates (e.g. the consequences of the Lisbon treaty, economic governance in the EU, enlargement capacity, post-Lisbon developments).
• The course is structured for students already acquainted with the basics of the EU, building on this knowledge to offer a more in-depth understanding of the issues involved.

EU Redux: The Politics of European Integration

The second of the four keystone courses, this course is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the major facets of the European Union: its foundations, its institutions, its decision-making methods, its core public policies and its developing foreign policies. The changing nature of the EU is examined, challenging students to see it simultaneously as a series of inter-locking institutions, a regional actor, an emerging power, a gatekeeper and a vanguard actor.

• Part I is taught in 5 sections, and sets up the historic origins and organizational structures of the EU, looking at the relation between the 3 chief institutions and their respective modes of decision-making. Legal foundations and their generational changes via treaties are examined, up to and including the impact of the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon;
• Part II is also taught in 4 sections and focuses on key ‘public’ policies in which the EU has made a variety of developments, and created new market structures and political and economic relationships with its Member States, its citizens and its regions;
• Part III is taught in 5 sessions and looks beyond the borders of the EU to evaluate its role as an emerging power, the growth of its common foreign policy, tensions between security and defence, and the deployment of ESDP task forces, as well as principal bilateral relations with the US, Russia and Neighbourhood partners.

The course links with the ‘Theories of EU Integration’ course conceptually, and in an inter-disciplinary fashion to deepen students’ knowledge of these policies, their evolution and context, their structures and future development. The course prompts students to grasp and critically evaluate these policies, while also to embed the study of these policies in the main theoretical frameworks of European integration.

The Legal Foundations of European Integration

This is the third ‘keystone’ course, and offered to provide students with a necessary grounding in the legal facets of EU integration, the role of law in competence distribution, decision-making, institutional authority, as well as the nature of EU law as a body of law, and the role of the ECJ itself. Students become familiar with the various attempts at unifying Europe as a "manu legis", the role of EU treaties (EU primary law), the creation of EU regulations, directives, decisions (EU's secondary law) and the method of implementation by the European Commission (as the "guardian") and the ECJ (as something of an enforcer). The course covers:
The primary law of the EU: basic elements (including the process of primary-law making in the EU and the historical development of the EU treaties) ;

• The legal competences of the EU (including the granting of EU competences; the principle of conferral; the categories of competences and their implementation along the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality);
• The making of EU secondary law (including legal aspects of the EU's institutional framework and decision-making, co-decision procedure, the EU’s legal instruments);
• The enforcement of EU law (including the role of the Commission, the ECJ, the nature of EU judicial protection in the EU and the roles of primacy and direct effect);
• Selected topics of substantive EU law (includes a brief review of key ECJ cases in three chosen fields: internal market, competition, external relations).

While the course does not assume an a priori knowledge of law, it does build on a previous understanding of the EU to demonstrate to students how law operates as a crucial instrument of the integration process.

The Economics of European integration

The fourth of the four keystone courses, this course examines European integration from an economic perspective, with emphasis on both micro- and macroeconomics. The course builds upon a pre-requisite “Introduction to Economics”, and focuses in detail upon the role and evolution that macro- and micro-economic structures and theories have played in providing the EU with its past and current market architecture. It does this by examining a variety of key EU policies: competition, trade, transport, energy, environment, labour, and monetary policy. The course also investigates the development of key structural policies: agriculture, fisheries, regional policy and social policy. For each policy area, the course will make use of major Eurostat-indicators such as inflation, GDP-growth, unemployment, current account balance, labour participation rate, energy targets, etc. This provides students with the requisite empirical and quantitative data by which to grasp and analyze these policies. The EU framework for fiscal policies and its possible impact upon European economic performance will also be studies. The main elements of the course are therefore:

• A theoretical introduction on models of economic integration (free trade area, customs union, internal market, etc.);
• A detailed analysis and discussion of the internal market and EU competition policy;
• A detailed discussion of European monetary policies and the role of the ECB;
• An analysis on economic governance (or its weakness and absence) within the EU;

Tools and Methods for European Policy Analysis

A unique two-semester offering, this course links conceptually and organisationally with the concepts outlaid in the four keystone courses, and gives students a variety of tools, approaches, methods of analysis, writing, and research styles, by which to more completely understand EU Studies and EU Policy. It further endows students with the practical and conceptual tools to usefully and intelligently use policies as the raw material of their modular papers, and – critically – within their Master thesis.
The course is thus designed to be an essential tool by which to acquaint Master students with the appropriate research techniques and methodologies in the canon of European Studies, and the tools by which to grasp and analyze the aspects of EU policy. Integrated closely with the learning objectives of the Master Thesis course, the ‘Tools and Methods’ course will consist of five key modes of assessment, spread across two semesters:

• A brief essay on Research Methods for European policy analysis (1500 words, semester 1);
• A draft thesis outline (outlining the Research Question and proposed Chapter of Contents, end of semester 1);
• An Oral Presentation on the proposed thesis Research Question (10 minutes, end of semester 1);
• Draft of ‘Chapter 1’ of the Master Thesis (1500 words, week 5 of semester 2), expanding on the Research Question R(Q), laying out the rationale of tackling subRQs and outlining the proposed methodology and conceptual foundation;
• Draft of a second chapter of the Master Thesis (1500, final week of semester 2), connecting to some aspect of the RQ or subRQ in conceptual and/or empirical fashion.

The topics to be covered include:

• A general introduction to the tools of Research and Methods of Analysis used in the Social Sciences, including an overview of what research is, how to formulate questions and topics for research;
• A practical introduction to the various hard and soft copy holding at Vesalius, VUB Libraries, IES Holdings, as well as other Brussels-based locations. This will be complemented by a comprehensive overview of EU INFORMATION SOURCES, in the form of a well-established and popular presentation formulated by the E-Learning and Training Unit of the IES;
• A focused look at the process of supervision, the writing of papers and reports, and the role of research ethics; this extends to include the role and expectation of supervisor – supervisee at the graduate level, the construction of research designs and the various methods by which to construct an argument;
• A detailed preparation for thesis construction, including the best way to piece together the structure of a graduate dissertation, the requirements of a good literature review, the stepping stones for high quality writing and referencing and the cautions about plagiarism;
• A final helpful guide to giving oral presentations, covering essential skills for speaking in public and getting one’s point across in the classroom and professional settings, designed to assist students in giving oral presentations of the thesis outline.

Current Issues in European Studies: IES Lecture Series

The IES Lecture Series examines the EU’s ability to operate as an actor in the world, providing a high-level platform for an advanced understanding of the actual mechanisms, processes and effectiveness of the EU’s various approaches in the international arena. The 2011 Spring series for example consists of thirteen consecutive weekly talks on ‘the EU as a Diplomatic Actor: Policies, Processes and Performance’, providing all who attend with an invaluable insight into both political debates and academic contribution, thanks to the twofold representation of both leading academics and prominent policy makers. From this perspective, students are introduced to a broad variety of approaches and opinions on a key issue of EU ‘actorness’, which will work well with the contemporary insights being taught in each of their semester 1 courses.
To ensure that the IES Lecture Series retains a scholastic form in terms of assessment, the series takes the shape of a regular Master course offering (complete with a Course Convenor and Course Outline). Attendance is taken at each lecture for Master students, and a prior reading related to the weekly lecture will be provided to the students. Further, after the series, a written exam on the basis of the readings and the talks themselves will be held (to be evaluated by the Course Convenor and the IES Lecture Series organiser). (There may be an opportunity to include the Master students as discussants for certain weeks of the IES Lecture Series; this opportunity will be rigorously pursued in order to provide students with genuine opportunities to interact with high profile academics and policy makers).

Second Semester

Tools and Methods for European Policy Analysis, second section

In the second semester, this course essentially supports the writing of the Master thesis. It is geared in particular towards a close supervision of the writing of the first chapter of the thesis, to be submitted by the fifth week of the second semester. In these first weeks, a series of regular meetings with the designated supervisor will accompany this writing.

Brussels Graduate Internship

The internship consists of a 200-hour position at an institution of the EU or an organisation closely working with EU institutions (e.g. lobby groups, interest representations, NGOs, think tanks). Organised by Vesalius College with its wide experience of offering and administering such internships, the internships are purposefully sought for their ability to provide students with suitable professional places in which to experience, understand and learn the practical, personal, and organizational skills of operating in the policy-making community of Brussels. This not only reinforces the conceptual and practical touchstones of the MA, but also provides students with an
invaluable range of opportunities to explore and extend their own professional profile. Established contacts available through the IES in this respect will also be made use of.
The purpose of the internship is to acquaint students with a setting that broadly corresponds with the conceptual themes and professional outlets of the programme. Internships in such organisations afford student the opportunity to ‘plug into Brussels’ in a practical way, by participating in activities like working groups, drafting papers, attending events and debates in the EU policy community. Students become familiar over the course of the internship with the structures and expectations of the policy-making community; students are thus encouraged to develop and extend a personal network of contacts for a future professional career there. Equally, the internship allows students to apply the knowledge and research skills acquired in the first semester of the Master in a challenging, fast-paced environment.
At the conclusion of the internship, students produce a 4,000 word report on their internship experience, allowing them to comment on the connections between their placement and the community of EU policy making, their own specific role, the various challenges and successes the encountered, and skills learned. The post-internship report reinforces the policy-focused emphasis of the overall degree by affording students the opportunity to clarify and conceptualise their practical experience, as well as presenting them with the chance to evaluate themselves in terms of their knowledge, skills and future career orientation.

Master Thesis

In essence, the thesis is a strategically designed postgraduate research project that confirms to the expectations within the Social Sciences of an advanced and extended examination of particular Research Questions, comprising 10.000-12.000 words. (See the next point for a description of the goals of the thesis, and point 2.7 for an extended overview of the set-up of the thesis.)
Taking the form of a supervised independent research project, the thesis is designed to be original piece of policy-oriented scientific research reflecting the knowledge and the skills acquired during the previous two semesters. It should thus display the student’s capacity to:

• Formulate a research question concerning an issue related to European Union policies;
• Apply theories and research methodologies of at least one of the core disciplines of the programme (integration theory, politics/policies, international and public policy, law and/or economics) to a research project;
• Select the scientific approach and methods most appropriate for the research;
• Analyse a policy issue from various relevant perspectives (e.g. economic, political, legal perspectives);
• Correctly report on sources and methodology;
• Synthesise the research in a coherent, clear and well-written document;
• Formulated well-substantiated conclusions and clear conclusions that address the initially formulated research question.

In addition to the research and analytical skills learned in the Tools and Methods for European Policy Analysis course (and quite possibly drafting and writing skills obtained during the Internship), regular thesis supervision providing guidance and assistance between the student and a designated supervisor will be carefully managed, with the latter
drawn on the basis of expertise from both the teaching / research cohorts of the IES and VeCo.

Accreditation

Dutch Flemish Accreditation Organisation (NVAO)

Funding details

Scholarships

Unfortunately, Vesalius College does not offer scholarships. However, US citizens can apply for a scholarship through the Fulbright Schuman Program.

The Fulbright-Schuman Program

The Fulbright-Schuman Program, administered by the Commission for Educational Exchange between the United States, Belgium and Luxembourg, is jointly financed by the U.S. State Department and the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission.
The Fulbright-Schuman program focuses on research and/or post-graduate study on EU affairs or U.S.-EU relations at an accredited American university or independent research center. This program is open to citizens of all 27 EU member states and US citizens with two years of relevant experience.

Approximately two to four one-semester awards for post-doctoral lecturing on EU affairs, US-EU relations, integration and/or political economy at a selected U.S. university will be granted. Successful candidates will be placed in an appropriate institution. A Fulbright-Schuman grant includes a monthly stipend of the euro equivalent of $3,000, a travel and relocation allowance of the euro equivalent of $ 3,000, health and accident insurance, and visa sponsorship. Final application forms duly completed must reach the Fulbright Commission by March 1. 2012