Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminars / Tutorials | 3 Hours. 3 x 1 hour seminars. |
| Lecture | 16 Hours total |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Exam | 1.5 Hours Exam (Seen). Candidates are not permitted to bring any books, notes or any other materials into the examination. | 100% |
| Supplementary Exam | 1.5 Hours Exam (Seen). Candidates are not permitted to bring any books, notes or any other materials into the examination. | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module students should have acquired a knowledge of a number of key areas of substantive law. They will be expected to show further development in their skills in dealing with European Union materials (building on what they have already achieved in the prerequisite module), and to demonstrate further ability in applying legal principles to factual situations and in analysing and discussing European Union issues.
The assessment through the examination will demonstrate the acquisition of knowledge and skills of argument and analysis appropriate to this subject area.
Brief description
When traders and protesters clash over the export from Britain of live animals, are the traders correct in saying that they have rights under European Union law? How do we address the demands of thousands of asylum seekers to stay in the European Union? Is it true that officials from the European Commission can search a company's premises in the UK if they suspect breaches of the EU competition rules? How does European Law protect our interests as consumers? Over the last thirty years or so the European Union has become an increasingly important feature of legal life in both Western Europe generally and in the United Kingdom since it became a member in 1973. Although originally concerned primarily with economic and commercial questions, the scope of this activity has broadened to embrace social and environmental issues. European law therefore impinges on a number of areas of domestic law and it is difficult now to have an overall understanding of the law of England and Wales without some knowledge of the impact of the European Union legal system.
Aims
The aim of this module is to introduce students to selected topics of substantive European Union law. It builds upon a knowledge of the European Union legal order through a number of policy areas and the law giving effect to these policies. In any one year two substantive topics will be studied and drawn from a list comprising: the free movement of goods and the single market; the free movement of persons, immigration and asylum; regulation of competition between undertakings and the evolution and impact of European consumer policy. These topics have been selected as areas of both central and contemporary importance and as being illustrative of the problems of giving effect through legal regulation to policies which are worked out at the supranational level.
Content
1. The removal of obstacles to free trade and free movement of workers
Free movement of goods, workers, freedom of establishment and the right to provide services. For example, what measures of Member States will inhibit the free movement of goods and therefore the operation of the single market? To what extent may a worker from one Member State move to another Member State to take up employment there? When may self-employed people set themselves up in business in another Member State? Permitted exceptions to the basic principles.
2. Immigration Policy
The development of the regime governing immigration of non-EU nationals as well as regulation of asylum seekers.
3. The rules of competition in the EU
Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty; the application of the rules of competition to agreements between undertakings; the control of dominant positions; the administration of the competition rules. This section will examine questions such as why the European Union is concerned with matters of competition and the methods it uses to develop and enforce its competition law and policy. To what extent might agreements between private companies jeopardise the single market?
4. The evolution and impact of European consumer policy
This section of the course will provide students with a broad overview of the evolution of European consumer policy. The regulatory framework governing certain aspects of food distribution and safety will provide the case studies through which the practical impact of European consumer protection measures upon consumers in the UK will be illustrated.
Reading List
Recommended Text(2008) Blackstone's Statutes on EU Treaties and Legislation 2008-09 This book is indispensable for lectures and seminars and can be taken into the examination. 19th ed. Oxford University Press Primo search Craig, P. P. (2007) EU Law: text, cases, and materials 4th ed. Oxford University Press Primo search Rudden and Wyatt (2004) Rudden and Wyatt's EU Treaties and Legislation http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0418/2004012955.html This book is indispensable for lectures and seminars and can be taken into the examination. 9th ed. Oxford University Press
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6