Economics of European Integration - Challenges, policies & practices in the European business environment

Full course description

The European Union started in 1951 as an attempt to prevent a new World-war in Europe. No other region has displayed similar willingness to give up important parts of national sovereignty in pursuit of a stronger global competitive positioning. The European Union keeps pressuring the integration-process at a pace which is too fast for some and too slow for others. This integration has a direct impact on the daily lives of all citizens in Europe.

The course discusses the key economic policy areas of the European Union and offers an analysis of the different approaches to regional economic integration throughout the history of the European Union. The course analyses the economic bases for the rise of the European Union from its origins in the post-World war II recovery to its historic enlargements in 2004 and 2007. The accession of the new Central and Eastern European Member-States (most recently Croatia in 2013) and Brexit, pose new challenges for the EU. Since Europe accounts for one-quarter of the global economy, half of the global trade and a substantial part of worlds capital markets, this course also looks at the impact of the European Union on other trading blocks like NAFTA. Competitiveness is the key word for globalisation and the course will focus on different forms of market–integration used inside the EU and will discuss consequences for both competition policy and industrial policy.

The theory of the economic integration process will be applied to a business setting, with a series of business cases illustrating how a variety of firms are responding strategically to the establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union, Brexit and the accession of new Member-States. Students are given advice and guidance on using case studies and how to evaluate the strategies choices made by firms. Special attention will be given to the present problems of the Euro crisis and corresponding consequences for national tax policies within the EU.

The course will include a field trip.

Disclaimer: trips and visits related to the course are conditional. E.g. Dutch travel advice should be positive regarding the region that will be visited and institutions should be able to accept visitors. In case a proposed trip or visit cannot continue due to circumstances, alternatives may be organized.

This course consists of 32 class hours divided over 7-8 weeks. Students earn 6 ECTS credits when they obtain a passing grade. Students who need more credits can sign up for the extended course format, which includes an Independent Study Project (ISP) worth an additional 3 ECTS. The maximum number of credits that can be obtained is 9 ECTS.