European Constitutional Law

Objective

After completing this course, the student
• Understands the basic concepts of constitutional law from the perspective of European Union law and comparative constitutional law
• Comprehends the basis and nature of the constitutional relation between the European Union and the Member States
• Is knowledgeable on current discussions in European constitutional law
• Is able to analyse the meaning of national and European court judgments on the topic
• Is able to analyse the democratic credentials of the European Union

Content

This course adopts a composite understanding on European constitutional law: the constitutional norms of the European Union need to be studied together with the constitutions of the Member States. This is because the EU's constitutional norms and the national constitutions interact in several ways. Some of these are explicit (like the preliminary reference procedure or the national ratification of EU Treaty amendments) while others are more implicit (how national constitutions and constitutional courts set limits to the development of the EU). Such a composite understanding builds on both an EU law approach as well as a comparative constitutional law approach. This course aims to provide the student with a basic understanding on the how these two constitutional sites interact.

Participation to the course requires that the student has taken a course in both EU law and constitutional law. The course does not provide the student with basic knowledge on these areas of law. Rather, the course explores some topical discussions within European constitutional law.

Qualifications

For the students of the University of Lapland ONPOOL3 Valta, valtio ja Eurooppa.

For exchange students a basic level course in European Union law and national constitutional law.

If you need to refresh your memory on EU law before the course, please read Allan Rosas & Lorna Armati: EU Constitutional Law. An Introduction (2010, 2012 or 2018).

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Grading will be done on a scale of 0 to 5. The essay forms the basis of the grading, but active participation to the discussions within the seminars are also taken into consideration.

Materials

The course material will be provided during the course.

Further information

Period:
The course is usually organized during the fall semester.

Target audience:
Students interested in European Union law and constitutional law, both local and exchange students.

Responsible teacher:
Tomi Tuominen

Language:
English. The seminars are conducted in English and the essay is to be written in English.

This course is part of the EU law program:
• ONEVAL0031 European Constitutional Law
• ONEVAL0034 European Union Economic Law
• ONVAL0067 EU:n sisämarkkinaoikeus ja kilpailuoikeus
• OTM0002 EU Private International Law
• OTM0018 Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to EU and International Law

Execution methods

The course is delivered in the form of weekly seminars. The first seminar is a lecture by the teacher that introduces the students to the topic of the course. In the following seminars the students will give short presentations in groups on the topic of each seminar.

The specific content of the course will be decided in the first seminar based on what is current that year and from which countries the participating students come from. The course will utilise a comparative approach by building on the participation of students from different countries.

Each of the weekly seminars will focus on an individual topic. Tentative topics include: the primacy of EU law, national judicial review of EU law, judicial dialogues in Europe, fundamental rights pluralism in Europe, accession and withdrawal from the European Union, and the democratic credentials of the European Union. These issues will be explored through classic and contemporary cases from both the European Court of Justice and national courts.

After the seminars, the students will be assigned a topic on which to write an essay.