Course objectives
This course aims to explain the history of the European Union, from the early inception of the European Coal and Steel Community to the present, within a permanent comparative perspective and taking into account the evolution of the international economy and world relations. Instructors aim to help the students understand the specific aims and evolution in the practice of the different mechanisms of integration and/or co-operation among the European nations from 1945 to the present. The main argument throughout the course will be that integration constitutes a specific response by a set of nations to events unanimously felt as crucial challenges to their fundamental economic, social and political goals, either as individual nations or as a community of nations.
This course does not require any specific academic background. Students from Political Science, History, and Humanities in general, Language translation, etc., apart from Economics and Business, are welcomed. The instructor will stimulate constant student participation, which is a crucial component of the final grade.

Introduction to the course: the very concept of challenge and response

Tema 1. The Reconstruction of Western Europe
1.1. The international consensus: The Bretton Woods System.
Reference readings
GARDNER, Richard N. Sterling-dollar diplomacy in current perspective: the origins and the prospects of our international economic order. Nova York: Columbia University Press, 1980.
JACKSON, John H. The World Trading System. Law and Policy of International Economic Relations. Cambridge, Mass: MIT, 1989. Cap. 2, pàg. 27-57.
JAMES, Harold. International Monetary Cooperation since Bretton Woods. Washington, DC: IMF, 1996. Pàg. 1-84.
1.2. The European national designs: The politics of productivity.
Compulsory reading
EICHENGREEN, Barry. “Institutions and economic growth: Europe after World War II”. A: CRAFTS, Nicholas; TONIOLO, Gianni (ed.). Economic growth in Europe since 1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pàg. 38-72.
Reference reading
MILWARD, Alan S. The Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1945-51. Londres i Nova York: Routledge, 1984, reprinted 2003. Cap. ‘Conclusion’, pàg. 462-502.
1.3. The European regional design.
1.3.1. Trade and payments co-operation.
Compulsory reading
EICHENGREEN, Barry. “Institutions and economic growth: Europe after World War II”. A: CRAFTS, Nicholas; TONIOLO, Gianni (ed.). Economic growth in Europe since 1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pàg. 38-72.
1.3.2. Western European coal and steel integration.
Reference reading
MIOCHE, Philippe. Fifty years of European Coal and Steel 1952–2002. Luxemburg: European Union Publications Office, 2005 (currently available in French for free, at http://bookshop.eu.int/eGetRecords?Template=Test_EUB/en_publication_details&CATNBR=KA6104395FRC).
URWIN, Dereck W. The Community of Europe. A History of European Integration since 1945. Londres i Nova York: Longman, 1991. Cap. 4: ‘The European Coal and Steel Community’, pàg. 43-57.

Tema 2. The Golden Age of Western Capitalism
2.1. The role of Germany in intra-European trade dynamism.
Compulsory reading
MILWARD, Alan S. The European Rescue of the Nation-State. 2a. ed. Londres: Routledge, 2000. Cap. 4: “Foreign trade, economic and social advance, and the origins of the European Economic Community”. Pàg. 119-223.
Reference reading
MILWARD, Alan S. “The Marshall Plan and German Foreign Trade”. A: MAIER, Charles S. The Marshall Plan and Germany. Nova York i Oxford: Berg, 1991. Pàg. 452-487.
2.2. From a customs union to a European Economic Community.
Compulsory reading
MILWARD, Alan S. The European Rescue of the Nation-State. 2a. ed. Londres: Routledge, 2000. Cap. 4: “Foreign trade, economic and social advance, and the origins of the European Economic Community”. Pàg. 119-223.

Tema 3. The first EEC policies
3.1. The customs union and new trade divisions in Western Europe.
Reference reading
URWIN, Derek W. The Community of Europe. A History of European Integration since 1945. Londres i Nova York: Longman, 1991. Cap. 7 i 9: ‘The Europe of the Seven’ i ‘The Question on Enlargement’.
3.2. The Common Agricultural Policy.
Compulsory reading
KNUDSEN, Ann-Christina Lauring. “European Integration in the Image and the Shadow of Agriculture”. A: DINAN, Desmon. Origins and Evolution of the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Pàg. 191-217.
Reference readings
BALDWIN, Richard; WYPLOSZ, Charles. The Economics of European Integration. Londres: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Cap. 8.
MILWARD, Alan S. The European Rescue of the Nation-State. 2a. ed. Londres: Routledge, 2000. Cap. 5: ‘The Europeanization of agricultural protectionism’. Pàg. 224-317.
NEAL, Larry; BARBEZAT, Daniel. The Economics of the European Union and the Economies of Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Cap. 6.

Tema 4. The collapse of the Bretton Woods and the oil crisis
4.1. The end of the Golden Age.
Recommended readings
BALDWIN, Richard; WYPLOSZ, Charles. The Economics of European Integration. Londres: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Cap. 10. Pàg. 275-284.
NEAL, Larry; BARBEZAT, Daniel. The Economics of the European Union and the Economies of Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Cap. 7. Pàg. 141-148.
4.2. The European response (I): monetary co-operation and integration.
Compulsory reading
BALDWIN, Richard; WYPLOSZ, Charles. The Economics of European Integration. Londres: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Cap. 10. Pàg. 285-288 i Cap. 12. Pàg. 313-326.
Recommended reading
NEAL, Larry; BARBEZAT, Daniel. The Economics of the European Union and the Economies of Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Cap. 7. Pàg. 149-156.
4.3. The European response (II): further market integration and territorial expansion.
Reading
URWIN, Derek W. The Community of Europe. A History of European Integration since 1945. Londres i Nova York: Longman, 1991. Cap. 16: ‘Towards 1992’. Pàg. 229-246.
Recommended reading
MILWARD, Alan S. Politics and Economics in the History of the European Union. Londres i Nova York: Routledge, 2005. Cap. 1: “Economics and politics in the decision to join the European Union”. Pàg. 1-38.

Tema 5. The European Community in a changing scenario in Eastern Europe
5.1. The collapse of the Soviet bloc.
Recommended reading
ALDCROFT, Derek. The European economy, 1914-2000. 4a. ed. Londres/Nova York: Routledge, 2001.
5.2. The reunification of Germany at the origins of the Treaty of Maastricht.
Compulsory reading
BAUN, Michael J. "The Maastricht Treaty as high politics: Germany, France and European Integration". Political Science Quarterly, 110, 4. 1995-96. Pàg. 605-624.
5.3. The Community’s Eastwards expansion and the failing institutional reforms.
Reference reading
“ECSA Review Forum: Analyzing the Treaty of Nice”. European Community Studies Association (ECSA) Review, 14, 2. 2001. Pàg. 1-11.

Tema 6. Productivity divergence with respect to the most developed world economies
6.1. Leaving better, at what cost?
Reference readings
EUROPEAN COMMISSION. European Competitiveness Report. 2004. (Available at http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/enterprise_policy/competitiveness/index_en.htm).
OECD. Economic Policy Reform. Going for Growth. París: OECD, 2006.
6.2. Is the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe up to the task?

Conclusions, comments and questions

Teaching language: English.

Evaluation criteria
Class preparation and participation: 50%.
Final take-home exam: 50%.