European Values & Institutions

The course content is oriented towards the educational objectives. The subject matter includes the historical development of the European Union as well as definitions of European law and the European institutions. In connection with the transfer of information about the history of the European Union, basic values and motivators are shown and processes of change are comprehended. Furthermore, basic knowledge about the most important organs and institutions of the European Union, their respective position in the institutional structure of the EU, their role in the legislative process and their functioning will be explained.

The aim of the module is for students to develop a basic understanding of the values and institutions as well as the motivations for action of the European Union and to be able to apply the knowledge acquired both in their personal and future professional environment. The basis for achieving this is that students are able to explain and comprehend the process of formation and development of the EU as a supranational structure and are able to critically reflect on the functioning and legislative process of the European Union. In addition, this module will enable students to subsume and differentiate (understand, apply, analyze) the current challenges for the EU in the context of changing values and interests of the member states. These include, for example, the topics of a perceived democratic deficit, enlargement processes and Brexit. By means of a distinct, comprehensive understanding of the values represented as well as the functioning of the EU institutions, students will be able to make interdisciplinary observations and to recognize and examine multidimensional tasks and problems and to generate approaches to solutions (Apply, Analyze, Evaluate and Create). In addition to professional competencies, students will develop their methodological and social competencies (including presentation and feedback skill.

The teaching content is taught by the lecturers according to the inverted classroom model and consists of a classroom teaching and an e-learning offer, e.g. an online teaching element and a digital seminar room. The e-learning offer forms the basis for the classroom teaching and is used for basic knowledge transfer. It includes self-tests for reflection on the gained competencies. The face-to-face session is used for joint, in-depth, multimedia and interactive discussion of what has been learned.

For ‚regular‘ students Studium Generale, Lernbereich 2: Wissen und Gesellschaft.

For exchange and international students: 2 x 2.5 CP. 

Legal texts: TEU, TFEU

Mushoff, T., Fisahn, A., Alexy, L., Trepte, U., Hähnchen, S., Das Rechtslexikon: Begriffe, Grundlagen, Zusammenhänge. Deutschland: Dietz 2019. Lizenzausgabe: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.

Niedobitek, M. (Hrsg.): Europarecht: Grundlagen und Politiken der Union, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2019. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110498349/html?lang=de