DESCRIPTION OF COURSE UNIT

1. Course unit title Code

EASTWARD ENLARGEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

2. Name of lecturer(s) Coordinator: Assoc. Prof. Vladislav Sotirovi Department(s) Political Science Department Faculty of Politics and Management Mykolas Romeris University

3. Cycle of course unit First 4. Mode of delivery Class room 5. Prerequisites: Study requirements Co-requisites: No co-requisites Year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered Autumn/Spring Language of instruction English Level of course unit Bachelor Type of course unit Free optional

Basic knowledge on history of the European Union 6.

Recommended optional programme components No recommended optional programme components 7. Number of ECTS credits allocated 6 ECTS 8. Purpose of the course unit: programme competences to be developed The aims and purpose of this course are: 1. to provide the students with theoretical and empirical understanding of the process of recent eastward enlargement of the European Union, its present as well as possible future consequences based on the key studies of the East European countries and nations, and 2. to provide the students with basic competence to deal with different political, social, legal and economic problems concerning the question of eastward enlargement of the European Union Students workload 162 hrs Contact work hours 128 hrs Independent work hours 34 hrs

Learning outcomes of the programme Students will be able to receive knowledge within a common education framework of humanitarian and social sciences Students will be able to analyze and try to solve problems in contemporary EU policy of its eastward

Learning outcomes of the course unit To be able to understand the process and characteristics of the eastward enlargement of the European Union To be able to present and discuss scientific research results upon studies on eastward enlargement of the European Union

Teaching and learning methods

Assessment methods

Problem learning

Control work

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enlargement from 1993 up today and in the future Students will be able to disseminate their received knowledge and trained skills

By analyzing the policy and process of the EU eastward enlargement to be able to explain how this process was historically going on and what are the results with the future perspectives To be able to analyze a case study by individual or group work To be able to choose an adequate research strategy and methods

Case studies

Written exam

Learning and organization of the work by electronic means (moodle)

Group or individual presentation

To be able to do case study and political problem analyze To be able to criticize an opponents view within a framework of tolerance and competence Co-operative learning method Group or individual presentation

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9. Course contents Contact work hours and planned learning activities Training exercises Laboratory work Independent work hours and tasks

Consultations

Topics Lectures

All contact work hours Independent work hours

1. Unification of Europe and eastward enlargement of the European Union Critical overview of the main phases and characteristics of the EU enlargement towards east. Security in the EU enlargement eastwards. Enlargement and the problem of unbalanced developments between western and eastern EU member states.

10

Internship

Seminars

Tasks

18

Reading scientific literature

2. European Unions relations with Belarus Relations between European Union and Republic of Belarus. Belarus identity, historical, political and economic developments. Belarus possibility to join the EU.

10

18

Reading scientific literature

3. Identity and nation building in Ukraine The main features of historical development of Ukraine identity and national state building. Ukraine between the EU and Russia. The EU relations with Ukraine within a framework of the EU eastern neighborhood policy. Possibility of Ukraine to join the EU. 4. Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria Historical development, political systems and national identity of Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria. Civil society development and democratic values in Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria. The problem of Transnistria. Romanian and Bulgarian paths towards the EU membership. Moldovan possibility to join the EU. 5. Cyprus, Greece and Turkey Historical, economic, political and identity features of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. Greeces and Cyprus roads to the EU membership. Greece, Turkey and the Cyprus

12

18

Reading scientific literature

10

18

Reading scientific literature Watching material video

10

18

Reading scientific literature

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conflict. Possibilities of Turkey to join the EU. Kurdish and other minority protection problems in Turkey.

6. The successor states of ex-Yugoslavia Different paths towards EU membership and cooperation with the EU by different successor states of the former Yugoslavia. Dissolution of ex-Yugoslavia, Yugoslav civil war (1991-1995) and the EU. EULEX mission in Kosovo and different policies by the EU member states on the question of Kosovo crisis and Kosovo state independence.

10

18

Reading scientific literature Watching video material

7. Eastward enlargement of the EU: results and consequences Common conclusions on the results and political and economic consequences of the EU eastward enlargement policy from 1993 up today. Debates on the future EU eastward enlargement and its benefits for the EU member states.

10

10

20

Reading scientific literature

Overall 10. Assessment strategy

74

54

128

34

Weighting percentage 40%

Written exam (integral test to check theoretical and practical knowledge) Class room work during the seminars Individual self-work during the semester period 11. Required reading 1. 2. 3. 4.

Period or date of assessment Session period

Assessment criteria

Written exam

40%

Semester period Semester period

Realization of the seminar work tasks

20%

Seminar participation and activity

OBrennan, John, The Eastern Enlargement of the European Union. Routledge, 2006. Nugent, Neill (ed.), European Union Enlargement. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. European Union and its New Neighbourhood: Addressing Challenges and Opportunities (Volume of Papers), Mykolas Romeris University, 2006. Renda, A., Impact Assessment in the EU: The State of the Art, and the Art of the State. Brussels: Centre for European Policy Studies. 2006.

Recommended reading

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Markovich G. S. Weaver B. E., Pavlovic V. (eds.). Challenges to New Democracies in the Balkans. Belgrade: Cigoja Press, 2004. Yildiz K., Muller M. The European Union and Turkish Acccession: Human Rights and the Kurds. London, Ann Arbor (Mich.): Pluto Press, 2008. Gallagher T. The Balkans in the New Millennium. In the Shadow of War and Peace. London, New York: Routledge, 2007. Georg Vobruba, The enlargement crisis of the European Union: Limits of the dialectics of integration and expansion, Journal of European Social Policy, Vol. 13 (1), 2003, pp. 35-62. Merje Kuus, Europes eastern expansion and the reinscription of otherness in East-Central Europe, Progress in Human Geography, 28, 4, 2004, pp. 472-489. Atsuko Higashino, For the sake of peace and security? The role of security in the European Union enlargement eastwards, Cooperation and Conflict: Journal of the Nordic International Studies Association, Vol. 39 (4), pp. 347-368. John Agnew, How many Europes? The European Union, eastward enlargement and uneven development, European Urban and Regional Studies, 8 (1), 2001, pp. 29-38. Mustafa Trkes, Gksu Gkgz, The European Unions strategy towards the western Balkans: Exclusion or integration?, East European Politics and Societies, Vol. 20, No. 4, 2006, pp. 659-690.

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