Regional Integration: The Case of the EU (LAWS70433)

The subject tackles one of the most interesting responses to globalisation, namely regional integration. Following an outline of its most prominent structures (e.g. NAFTA, MERCOSUR, ASEAN), this subject focuses on the deepest and most topical one, that is, the European Union (EU).

We will provide an overview of its main constitutional and institutional structure, its main policies and its economic and political role in the world. It examines whether there is a distinct EU approach to regional integration and queries whether this may be transposed in other contexts. We introduce the core concepts of EU law and policy, and thoroughly review key sectors in European law, with a particular focus on their impact in other parts of the world including the Asia Pacific. 

The subject is topical and its approach contextual, as it

• Examines law in its wider political and economic context
• Explores the implications of the current economic and political challenges in Europe
• Places EU law within the increasingly interdependent globalised political and economic order.

Principal topics will include:

• Introduction to EU legal mechanisms: Primary v secondary law. Heads of power in the EU.
• Enforcement of EU law: The role of the European Commission (EC). The European Court of Justice (CJEU)
• The four freedoms and ‘flanking policies’
• The functioning of the EC as an antitrust and trade ‘authority’.
• EU environmental and energy policies, and its approach to new technologies
• Exposure of non-EU corporations and individuals to EU law: both EU public law, and EU private law
• Sources of EU law.
• Co-ordination of EU economic policy with global efforts e.g at the OECD
• The EU and international trade law: relations of the EU viz the World Trade Organisation and Free Trade Agreements, including with Australia.