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LAW42340

Academic Year 2026/2027

Engaging EU Law & Governance (LAW42340)

Subject:
Law
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Law
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Professor Dagmar Schiek
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
Blended
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

EU Law and Governance often appear distant and opaque from everyday experiences of people living in the EU, although EU law and governance have existential practical impact on lives on the ground. This module offers the opportunity for students in European studies broadly conceived to engage with EU law & governance through devising an individual project engaging in interactions with the institutions and political and legal processes that shape EU law & governance.
Students will learn to relate a specific aspect of a current issue in EU law & governance to the inputs, throughputs and outputs that shape EU law and governance and put this knowledge to use by engaging with either EU institutions like the Commission, European Parliament, or European Court of Justice, or national level institutions like Parliament, the civil service, and the ecosystem of NGOs and lobbyists engaged with EU affairs in a Member State’s capital.
To achieve this, each student, or groups of up to three students, develops one project relating to a current aspect of European integration, from the perspective of EU law, EU politics or EU Law & Governance. Projects can be applied, or target academic exploration of processes impacted by EU law & governance from an outside perspective. Upon completion of the module, students will have developed an in-depth understanding of EU law & governance processes related to current issues.
Student projects entail an engagement aspect either by organising and participating in an excursion to the EU political or legal institutions or by an excursion to EU or national / European institutions and organisation engaged with shaping or implementing EU law and policy in Dublin.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the module students should be able to:
- Understand how current issues in EU law & governance are shaped by interactions of EU and national institutions
- Organise and participate in at least one meeting with policy makers, law makers, adjudicators, legal practitioners, business, social partners or other civil society organisations engaged in or affected by a specific current issue in EU law & Governance
- Prepare briefs, meeting agendas, and meeting content for discussion
- Engage with policy makers, legislators, adjudicators and other stakeholders in a professional manner, both verbally and in writing
- Discuss different areas of EU law and governance, and reflect on the way in which EU institutions, national institutions and/or stake holders at national and/or EU level generate, implement or use EU law and policy in these areas;
- Complete a project reflecting on the development and / or national impact of a specific aspect of a current issue of EU law & governance;
- Reflect upon what has been learned from an EU-level or national excursion, also with a view to their future professional development

Indicative Module Content:

An initial phase of the module introduces four to eight current issues in EU law & governance through a hybrid format of sessions, ensuring that there are 5 times as many students as current issues. Current issues will change, as the term “current” suggests. Examples comprise the following fields
• new economic governance of the EU and/or its impact in national policy • EU law and governance relating to digitalisation of the economy and society •National employment law and governance and EU internal market law • Environmental protection between EU and national law and governance • governing Artificial Intelligence? EU and national level responses • equality, discrimination and anti-gender movements – EU law & governance as a chimera? • moving abroad and back – hindered or enabled by EU law & governance? • social security and social justice – enabled or hindered by EU law & governance? •Rule of law at home and abroad – EU law & governance as an efficient promoter?
The group / individual project development phase specifies a briefing paper on one aspect for each issue.
The engagement phase is taking place during three weeks in the field work period of the term, with one week each dedicated to Brussels, Luxembourg and/or Dublin

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Proficient

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Proficient

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Proficient

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Competent

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Proficient

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Proficient

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Proficient

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


Goal Name Description Coverage

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 4
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Autonomous Student Learning

90
Small Group

50
Seminar (or Webinar)

10
Conversation Class

10
Practical

40
Project Supervision

15
Total

215

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This is a module alternating between students’ own input and lecturer led phases, with an excursion phase. It starts with short online-introduction of current issues in EU Law & Governance by academic experts, followed by a phase of on-site teaching with the purpose of student reflection and project formation. This phase combines compressed lecturer introduction of topics with exercises such as blogs, preparation and critique of posters, group work and presentation. The excursion phase is mainly student-directed, and the costs of the excursion cannot be covered by the university. Any excursion in Dublin will have minimal costs.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade Component repeat (in-module) Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): Brief of one aspect of a current issue in EU law and governance. As a brief this should contain full referencing (academic and primary sources) Can be completed as group work 2000 words Week 6 Alternative non-linear conversion grade scale 50% No
30
 No
Group Work Assignment: Guide for engagement with institutional actors, legal professionals or other stake holders. Ideally this is completed as group assignment, but can be delivered individually as well. 500 words minimum Week 8, Week 12 Pass/Fail Grade Scale Yes
10
 Yes
Group Work Assignment: Reflection report & presentation, 2500 words, evaluating the engagement with institutional actors, legal practitioners and/or other stake holders during the excursion. Individual assignment possible Week 12 Alternative non-linear conversion grade scale 50% No
60
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback for the individual components combines discussion among students within groups (if group assignments are chosen) , individual or group feedback on the brief on a specific current issue in EU Law and Governance, which is due in week 6, before the guide for the engagement component is submitted in week 8. Indidivudal feedback on the reflection report after submission, with adjustment of grades for the other components.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 21, 26, 29, 31, 32, 33 Tues 16:00 - 17:50
Spring Online Learning Offering 1 Week(s) - 22, 23, 24, 25, 30 Tues 16:00 - 17:50
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