Taught In English

There is no language prerequisite for courses at this language level.

Advised previous requirements: Economic history

Objective

The first bloc of the course introduces the main historical, economic, institutional and social aspects leading to the current developments of the European Union and its policies. The course is designed for students with a good background in economic history in general and some knowledge of international trade theory and policy analysis. It is based on lectures and compulsory readings. Other readings are suggested for further analysis. The student is expected to work compulsory readings previous to lectures. The latter are conceived as the time to discuss the evidence shown in the readings and derive conclusions.

European Intergration

1: The Bretton Woods System: organizing the world economy
2: A multilateral trading system: GATT
3: The European policies of “reconstruction”
4: A regional trading system: The EEC
5: The European Community/Union institutions
6: The Common Agricultural Policy
7: Student oral presentations on U.S. agricultural protectionism and the convenience or inconvenience of agricultural protectionism, to be followed by a class debate.
8: The EC in world trade: between protectionism and liberalism
9: The collapse of the fixed-exchange monetary system
10: The European monetary response: the snake and the EMS
11: The tortuous path towards the Single European Market
12: European monetary integration before the common currency
13: The European Monetary Policy: the ECB and Euro
14: The social policy of the European Union
15: Other EU policies: How much do they matter?
16: How does the European Union expand?
17: The European Union in the American mirror: productivity divergence in the last twenty years

International and Economic Law

1: The Gatt and the WTO systems: Gerneal overview. Agricultural products, textiles and clothing.
2: International Competition Rules. Agreement on Trade in Services: the GATS. The WTO Dispute Settlement System
3: The EC and world trade law. The importance of trade in services. A new global round of trade negotiations

Each bloc is graded separately. The following criteria are used to determine th final grade of the course:
The European Integration bloc represents 80% of the final grade.
The International Economic Law bloc represents the remaining 20%.

In order to pass the course, it is necessary to have a final grade of 5 out of a 10-point total.

If the student gets less than 4 points in at least one bloc, the above criteria do not apply. If this is the case, the student will fail the course and his/her final grade will be the lowest of the two blocs.

The European bloc will be graded according to the following:
Class preparation and participation 30%
Mid-term exam 30%
Final exam 40%

The International Economic Law will be graded 100% on the final. Despite having two blocs, the course will have a unified final.