About

With funding from the European Commission-Erasmus + programme and the support and institutional collaboration of the Faculty of Law and Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, Think Tank Europa and the Nordic CJEU database project, we carry out and promote interdisciplinary and empirical research, teaching, and outreach in EU legal-political affairs.

The key aim of the Jean Monnet Action is to increase the excellence of the curriculum at the University of Copenhagen by creating courses on political-legal approaches and methods in EU law. This development relates to the necessity to provide new theoretical and methodological tools to prepare students for dealing with professional and social challenges when working in a European context. This also connects with the growing interest in the scholarship, and among stakeholders and public institutions in policy-legal analysis that is based on a solid teaching curriculum, which illuminates and reflects critically on recent challenges and future progress in EU integration and EU studies. By integrating interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and competences from EU law and politics, students will develop a deep understanding of the dynamics governing the relations between these two disciplinary worlds, empowering them as agents of legal change within the European society.

The Chair and its team members and collaborators aim at establishing and consolidating new research-based courses in political-legal approaches and methods in EU legal studies that complement the traditional legal methods of teaching EU law. Thanks to an innovative pedagogical content and strong academic dynamics, the Chair will develop a new teaching curriculum that will allow students to acquire innovative theoretical and methodological knowledge, skills and competences for exploring the relationship between EU law and politics.

The EU law and Politics (EUPoLex) courses will form an integral part of the teaching programme at the Faculty of Law and the department of Political Science offering innovative, introductory as well as specialized courses that will also attract national and international exchange students from different disciplines (e.g. political science, humanities, sociology, anthropology, etc.).

The Action pursues three objectives:

• To offer new research-based courses designed to acquire innovative, political-legal, interdisciplinary and methodological knowledge, skills and competences for exploring the relationship between EU law and politics.
• To innovate in the teaching methods, strategies and learning outcomes by developing an interdisciplinary research project on political-legal approaches and research methods in EU law. The project will investigate and disseminate new modes of developing interdisciplinary teaching and research for successfully optimizing the transfer of knowledge, skills and competences to students.
• To expand and consolidate a broader community of scholars, stakeholders and policy-makers in the field of EU law & Politics. The Chair will disseminate teaching and research outcomes with the main aim of developing an in-depth understanding of the current challenges imposed on the EU, particularly by drawing attention to the significance and role of political-legal dynamics at several levels.