In this complex and rapidly evolving context, there is a pressing need to make a few steps back and ask: what is the legal creature we are talking about? Which are its basic features and aims? How does it work? Who sits in the EU institutions? What is the role of individuals in the EU? Does it still make sense to talk about democratic deficit in the EU? How does EU law and national law interact? What does that mean in practice? Does it have merely rhetorical value or does it, in fact, give substantive rights? In a nutshell, it is essential to be equipped with the basic legal notions to understand the ongoing dynamics of European integration and the discourses on it. Accordingly, the course offers a fresh look at the main aspects of EU institutional law, taking into account the issues that have dramatically emerged as turning points for the future of the integration process.

 The following topics will be covered:


 1.     The Legal Nature of the European Union 

2.     Origins and Development of the European Integration Process

3.     Conferral and Competences of the European Union

4.     The EU’s Political Institutions

5.     Sources of EU Law, Hierarchy of Norms, and Lawmaking procedures

6.     The Financing of the EU

7.     Differentiated Application of EU Law

8.     The effects of EU law in the national legal systems

9.     Centralized and Decentralized Procedures of Judicial Control and Judicial Protection

10.  Fundamental Rights and Values in the EU