Inhoud

The TOPICS covered will include:

• The European Union (EU) and its working: economic, institutional and decision-making set up of the EU, incl. the role and working of core EU institutions and business-related interest (representation) organisations.
• Milestones of the process of European (economic) integration: expansions, institutions, legal background; current and future challenges.
• Role and influence of individual EU member states in the EU.
• The EU internal market & the EU’s “four freedoms” (free movement of goods, people, services and capital).
• Role and impact of EU regulation / deregulation on the European business environment (case studies).
• Key EU policies and their impact on European businesses /enterprises and their relevance for EU citizens / consumers / (potential) entrepreneurs: Competition - Trade – Economic and Monetary affairs Customs / Taxation - Research and Innovation - Enterprise / Small and Medium sized Businesses (SMEs) - Employment and Social Affairs - Structural Funds - Education / Training - Consumers.
• Opportunities provided by the EU for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs.

Depending on the interests of the students current / debated issues regarding the EU can be addressed, e.g. Euro crisis / Grexit, Brexit, TTIP / CETA.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Session 1: Introduction and overview of the course
“It’s the European Union, stupid!” What is the EU about and why & how does the EU matter for you as an entrepreneur / employee / intrapreneur (in the making) and as an EU citizen?

Session 2: EU internal market & the EU’s “four freedoms”
Main features of the EU’s internal market (e.g. free movement of goods, people, services and capital); role and impact of EU regulation / deregulation on the European business environment

Session 3: EU - Where from – where to – what/whom for?
Milestones of European (economic) integration & current and future challenges

Session 4: EU – Who’s who & how does it work? => interactive role-play game exercise
EU institutions and other key actors in the process of (economic) policy-making: Interest representation and lobbying in the EU
Please note: As an exception, this session will take place at a different time, in the afternoon, and at a different place, in the PARLAMENARIUM, the European Parliament’s Visitors’ Centre, Rue Wiertz 69, 1047 Brussels.

Session 5: Your Europe, your business? (1)
Key EU policy areas from a (potential) entrepreneurial and enterprise-related perspective: Competition – Trade - Economic and monetary affairs - Customs / taxation - Consumers.

Session 6: Your Europe, your business? (2)
Key EU policy areas from a (potential) entrepreneurial and enterprise-related perspective: Enterprise / small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) - Employment and social affairs - EU structural funds - Education / training - Research and innovation
Summary, outlook and exchange of ideas: Why does the EU matter & how can the EU support you and the business you like to start up or work for?

Studiemateriaal

Gabriele Suder (2011): Doing Business in Europe, SAGE Publications (second edition);
European Union (2014): How the European Union works. Your guide to the EU institutions, Luxembourg.

EU- and business related news / background information provided by: Wall Street Journal Europe, The Economist, Financial Times; EUBusiness, Politico Europe, EurActiv;
EU websites / services such as: European Parliamentary Research Service;
EU Think tanks such as: BRUEGEL, CEPS, Carnegie Europe etc.

Course material as well as other learning material and further information regarding the assignments will be provided on the learning platform Toledo.

Toelichting onderwijstaal

As this course is also open to Erasmus students from different EU Member States, the lessons will be given in English.

Toelichting werkvorm

The course is characterized by encouraging and supporting students to:

• gain motivation and ideas to participate in and taking advantage of the EU internal market and the business support offered by the EU.
• practice and train researching and academic writing; by examining a specific, EU-related topic and analysing and assessing its relevance from a business-/entrepreneur-/EU citizen’s perspective.
  Students will be given guidance and set tasks on how to write a research paper.
• practise and train a wide range of soft skills.

Students will be set tasks for every session and will be encouraged to provide peer-feedback.

In line with this, students are expected to attend all class sessions and participate actively – inside and outside the classroom - in different exercises, such as group / teamwork, discussion, debate, quiz / survey, question-and-answer, expert interview, role-play game, peer feedback and individual study (reading & research => weekly assignments).

Students will research, prepare and conduct an oral group presentation concerning key EU policies. In teams (5 min. per team member) students will have to cover and illustrate a chosen EU policy field and its impact on European businesses /enterprises and its relevance for EU citizens / consumers / (potential) entrepreneurs.

After each presentation a class discussion based on questions prepared on the presented topic by the group will be launched; each group will receive peer-feedback on their presentation.

In the context of this course students will visit and explore the exhibition at the Parlamentarium, the European Parliament’s Visitors’ Centre (see above) and will have the task of successfully completing responses to an individualized set of questions based on the exhibition.

During the course students will also participate in an interactive role-play game exercise provided by and taking place in the Parlamentarium (see above).

The students will step into the shoes of members of the European Parliament (in different political groups) and experience first-hand how the ,EU machine' works; from different perspectives and faced with EU business-related real life scenarios they have to interact, collect and evaluate information, discuss and negotiate, convince and influence, find compromises, and take decisions. The role-play simulation concludes with an evaluation, incl. a reflection on experiences & reality-check.

Furthermore, as part of the course students will prepare and conduct (in teams) semi-structured interviews with key actors of the EU and business-relevant interest groups and report back on their results in a group compulsory group presentation and a written group report.

The EU meetings will be arranged by the lecturer for week 4/5 - potential interviewees include representatives of:

• an institution of the European Union, in particular of the European Commission (e.g. Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry), the European Parliament (e.g. Committee on internal market and consumer protection) or the Council of the EU;
• leading EU level lobbying economic interest groups, e.g. Businesseurope, Eurochambers, European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAMPE);
• Brussels-based young entrepreneurship or youth organisations, (e.g. European Youth Forum, Jeunes Entrepreneurs de l’Union Européenne - JEUNES, European Confederation of Junior Enterprises - JADE, European Young Innovators Forum – EYIF, European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs – YES).

Finally, students will start preparing an individual research paper that will focus on EU business-/entrepreneur- or EU citizen/consumer-related EU policy matters. Each student will select his/her own topic in consultation with / with approval from the lecturer. This paper has to

• examine a specific, EU-related topic and analyse, discuss and assess its relevance from a EU business-/entrepreneur- or EU citizen / consumer’s perspective;
• observe proper academic conduct, in particular with regard to proper sourcing and referencing (=> use of academic / quality information sources; accurate in-text-citation / list of references);
• present a developed argument which is focused and well structured: a clear research question or thesis statement (hypothesis) has to be stated (=> introduction), examined (=> investigation) and answered / assessed (=> conclusions).

Students will present a first outline during the course and give / receive peer-feedback. A draft paper and the final paper are to be handed in after the end of the course.