30391 - ECONOMICS OF EUROPEAN UNION

Economics of European Union is mainly grounded on basic microeconomics and macroeconomics. Therefore, what you need, as a prerequisite, is having attended an undergraduate course in economics.

The course aims at analysing the process of economic and political integration of European countries through a theoretical and a policy perspective. The first part of the course explores the economic and political aspects of the process of European integration, analysing the economic consequences of trade liberalization (customs unions, free trade areas), the liberalization of capital flows (single market), and the co- ordination of economic policies (economic union). The political elements behind this evolution are analysed in parallel, including the recent developments leading to the (possible) exit of the UK from the EU (Brexit). The course then moves on in studying the main policies currently undertaken by the European Union (trade, competition, agriculture, cohesion), as developed via the EU budget. Specific attention is devoted to the analysis of the Economic and Monetary Union and the effects of the financial crisis. At the end of the course, students should have a thorough understanding of the main issues behind the process of European integration, as well as the ability to assess the main drivers of the business environment in which firms operate when dealing with the European markets.

The course aims at analyzing the economic issues related to the current and future process of European integration through a policy perspective. The course addresses in particular the following questions and issues:

1. What is economic integration and at what conditions this is beneficial to countries?
2. What are the key economic integration policies?
3. What are the key European Union institutions necessary to run these policies?
4. How does the main tool of economic integration, the euro, work?
5. What are the key priorities for the future development of the European integration?

• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

The class is divided into four teams thus every student will be part of one team. Each team will focus on one topic representing an open issue in current EU policy-making agenda On 17 July, each team will present its documented position on a topic, and other teams will comment on that and will ask questions / raise objections.

40% of the final grade is based on teamwork activities (17 July) and 60% is based on individual assessment (19 July), i.e. a written exam with open and multiple-choice questions.

• Materials uploaded in the Blackboard https://blackboard.unibocconi.it
• Further reading: In order to provide updated materials for a fast evolving subject as the process of European integration, the main textbook is “European Economic Policy” created for this course by McGraw Hill, available at EGEA bookshop (address: Viale Bligny 22).