Course description
Run jointly with The Hague University of Professional Education, this course involves the study of European law, EU institutions, policies and policy-making processes and the EU as an international actor.
Full-time students spend the first semester studying in The Hague, where they concentrate on the more legal aspects of the course. There is an introductory course on European law and international public law for those without prior knowledge. Students then take a core unit that looks at the various treaties that have influenced the development of the EU and their legal consequences. Another core unit, judicial protection, examines the way in which individual rights are protected within the European Community. Optional units exist in human rights in Europe, environmental law and policy, EU immigration and refugee law and European competition law.
The second semester is spent in Portsmouth where you study the more policy-oriented units. There are core units on governing Europe and policy-making in the EU. The other core unit, external relations of the EU, looks at the legal, political, trade and security aspects of the EU's relations with the wider world.
All students have to write a dissertation on a theme related to European law and policy and take a research management course. Part-time students spend most of their two years in The Hague with the above units being spread over the two years. Dissertation work is concentrated in the second year and you will spend a period of two weeks studying on an intensive course in Portsmouth.