PART  I  (8 weeks)

Italy and the EU from the beginnings of European integration to the present

Week 1 – Course description – What is the European Union?

Explains the course’s aims, content and methodology. Gives an overview of the European Community/European Union’s phases of enlargement. Introduces the main concepts of supranational integration vs intergovernmental cooperation.

Week 2 - The roots of European integration and the making of the European Communities (1945-1957)
Discusses the debate about the future of the nation state in Europe during and after the Second World War, the interrelationship between the Cold War and European integration, and the different historical interpretations of the phenomenon.
Explains the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the failure to set up the European Defense Community and the subsequent creation of the EEC and Euratom.
Assignments (Week 2):
D. Dinan, Ever Closer Union. An Introduction to European Integration, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005, Chapter 1.

H. Stuart Hughes, The United States and Italy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965), Chapter 6, “The Second World War” and Chapter 7, “De Gasperi and the Triumph of Christian Democracy”, pp. 112-170.

Week 3 – A short history of Italian foreign policy: from Italy’s early Europeanism to the EEC

An introductory survey to Italy’s foreign policy during the Second World War and in its aftermath. Explains the beginnings of Italy’s Europeanism and De Gasperi’s foreign policy. Discusses Italy’s early involvement in the ECSC, the EEC and Euratom and the position of Italian political parties.

Assignments (Week 3):

E. Di Nolfo, “The Shaping of Italian Foreign Policy during the Formation of the East-West Blocs. Italy between the Superpowers”, in E. Di Nolfo (ed.), Power in Europe? (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1989), pp. 485-502.

A. Varsori, “Italy’s Policy towards European Integration (1947-58)”, in C. Duggan and C. Wagstaff (eds.), Italy in the Cold War. Politics, Culture and Society 1948-58 (Oxford: Berg, 1995), pp. 47-66.

Week 4 – The EEC under the Gaullist challenge of the 1960s and in the 1970s

Analyzes the controversial figure of French President Charles de Gaulle, his conception of Europe and the “empty-chair crisis”. Explains the position of the Italian Center-Left government towards the Fouchet Plan and the British demand for EEC membership.
Discusses the small, incremental steps through which the European Community grew for most of the 1970s and the early 1980s.
Assignments (Week 4)
D. Dinan, Ever Closer Union. An Introduction to European Integration, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005, Chapters 2 and 3.
L. Nuti, “Italy, the British Application to the EEC and the January Debacle”, in R.T. Griffiths and S. Ward (eds.), Courting the Common Market: the First Attempt to Enlarge the European Community  (London: Lothian Foundation Press, 1996), pp. 101-119.

Week 5 - The EEC in the 1980s and the Single European Act –
Earthquake in Europe: the end of the Cold War

Analyzes the revival of European Integration in the early 1980s and the negotiations leading to the Single Market Program and the Single European Act. Discusses Italy’s contribution to those reforms. Explains the events and political processes leading to the end of the Cold War in Europe.

Assignments (Week 5):

D. Dinan, Ever Closer Union. An Introduction to European Integration, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005, Chapter 4.

Week 6 – Mid-term week

Review Class and Mid-term exam

Week 7 - From the Maastricht Treaty (1992) to the failure of the European Constitutional Treaty

Explains the making of the European Union in the Maastricht Treaty (1992), the “pillar structure” of the EU and Common Foreign and Security Policy. Analyses the challenge of enlargement and war in the Western Balkans for the EU in the 1990s. Describes the process leading to the signature of the European Constitutional Treaty in 2004 and the reasons why it never came into force. Explains the Italian position during its EU presidency in 2003.

Assignments (Week 7)

D. Dinan, Ever Closer Union. An Introduction to European Integration, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005, Chapters 5, 6.

Sergio Fabbrini, “Italy and Constitutional Policy”, in S. Fabbrini, S. Piattoni (eds.) Italy in the European Union. Redifining National Interest in a Compound Polity, Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, Ch. 11, pp. 233-249.

Week 8 – Italy’ European policy in the 2000s

Analyses Italy’s European policy in the so-called “second Republic” and more recent trends of Italian foreign policy in a changed domestic context. Explains Italy’s EU policy under Berlusconi’s and Prodi’s governments. Discusses the lines of continuity and change in Italian foreign policy.

Assignments (Week 8)

S. Z. Koff and S.P. Koff, Italy: from the First to the Second Republic (New York: Routledge, 2000), Chapter 11, “Italy and the European Union”, pp. 198-210.

M. Comelli, Italy’s Love Affair with the EU: Between Continuity and Change, IAI (Istituto Affari Internazionali) Working Papers 1108, April 2011

PART II – The EU today and the Model EU (4 weeks)

Week 9 – The EU institutions and the Treaty of Lisbon

Introduces the structure, powers and political role of the EU institutions today with a focus on: the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Council.

During this week the Agenda for the Model EU (see Weeks 10-12) is also set and Model EU roles are assigned to each student. The issues on the Model EU Agenda will refer to one or more EU policy areas and will be chosen depending on the real Agenda of the EU.

Assignments (Week 9):
M. Cini, N. Pérez Solórzano-Borrogán, European Union Politics, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 123-188.

Weeks 10-11 -  Model EU: training

A simulation of a European Council summit/or a EU policy advisory board will be held in the last part of the course in order to give students a chance to practice EU politics and to gain a more dynamic understanding of EU institutions and political environment. This experience will also provide the students with a more extensive knowledge of current European issues and of national positions of the EU member states - including Italy - towards them.

On weeks 10-11 students will focus on their individual research and policy papers and will report in class about the state of play of their research. Additional information referring on the Agenda topics will also be provided by the instructor.

For this activity, students are graded on the basis of their individual research work, written policy statement, class reports, and performance at the simulation.

Assignments (Weeks 10-11)
The Model EU is primarily based on the students’ individual research (coordinated by the instructor). Recommended sources for research are:
- The following websites where various documents related to European Union contemporary politics can be found:
www.europa.eu [2]
www.euractiv.com [3]
http://www.euronews.net [4]
http://shop.ceps.eu [5]
http://www.cer.org.uk [6]
http://www.epc.eu [7]
www.iai.it [8]
www.bbc.co.uk [9]

- The international press:

“The Economist”, “The International Herald Tribune”, “The Guardian”, “Le Monde” and other leading Italian and European magazines and newspapers.

- Parts 4 and 5 of the book by M. Cini and N. Pérez Solórzano-Borrogán (European Union Politics, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010). Depending on the Agenda for the Model EU, which reflects priorities and contingency of EU politics, students might refer to one or more chapters of this book. The Agenda for the Model EU is set on week 9 and can be subject to slight revisions during the training. Model EU roles are also assigned on week 9.

Students are required to always quote their research sources in written papers.

Week 12 -  Review and Model EU week
Review before the Final exam.
Simulation of a European Council summit. Handing in of students’ policy papers.