LFU:online

Students will learn about the functioning of the European Union and its main policies, starting from those EU-institutions and bodies that claim general and specific leadership-, agenda-setting, -steering as well as concrete legislative competences. They understand historic and legal patterns that led to the institutional framework of the political system of the contemporary EU, the practical unfolding of the EU legislative process and the complex formal and informal interest representation system surrounding it. Participants of the course are enabled to comprehend various multi-level-processes of political coordination in the framework of international and European Law and policy-making, and to explain those processes based on academic theories and on praxis.

The course promotes a theory-based, interdisciplinary and practice-oriented analysis of the European Union, its historical development, its constitutional and political structure and its current policy priorities. The learning programme is divided into three modules (Institutions, Policies and “Brussels Ecosystem”): the first online preparatory meetings will tackle the theoretical background, while in-person-lectures with practitioners in Brussels will tackle the practical aspects of the EU decision making process, having a strong focus on the current EU policies and politics (mainly drawing on the new European Commission's priorities). The core element of the course is a multi-day field trip to the heart of the European Quarter in Brussels. From there, the "Representation of the European Region Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino in Brussels" organizes a tailor-made learning program: different dialogue formats with high-ranking politicians, their administrations and various actors involved in the legislative and political processes (e.g. regional representations, think tanks, NGOs, lobbies) aim to provide a multifaceted yet comprehensive view of the essential aspects concerning the European decision-making process.

The first few sessions of the course serve to introduce the topics, bring all students together and provide them with a common theoretical framework, considering their different (inter)disciplinary knowledge, linguistic prerequisites and (transnational) educational traditions. Within the framework of the multi-day field trip to Brussels, participants are given the opportunity to personally exchange with representatives of various EU institutions and other stakeholders to familiarize themselves with European topics of contemporary interest by participating in various different workshop formats.

Active participation in all sessions, as well as speaking and written contributions before and during the excursion to Brussels.

Cini/Pérez-Solórzano Borragán (2025): European Union Politics, Oxford University Press. Dialer/Richter (2019): Lobbying in the European Union, Springer. Hodson/Puetter/Saurugger/Peterson (2021): The Institutions of the European Union, Oxford University Press. Maurer, Andreas/Wolf, Michael (2020): The European Parliament’s right of initiative.

Good (English) language skills (minimum B2-level according to the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages"), based at least on thorough self-assessment (official certificates even better).

The course is an integral part of the Jean Monnet Modul "ECONGOVEU" and, above all, a project of the Representation of the European Region Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino in Brussels in close cooperation with the Universities of Innsbruck, Bolzano-Bolzano and Trento on the basis of the framework agreement signed on 18.08.2013 in Alpbach between the three Universities and building on the “Alpeuregio Brussels School 2020” agreement (signed on 07.10.2020). Based on the experience of recent years, a tailor-made enrolment process has been established at the University of Innsbruck for participating students from the Universities of Bozen-Bolzano and Trento. This not only enables students from all three Universities to access the learning platform, but further an easy recognition of the ECTS points earned after successful completion of the course.