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European Economic Integration

Code: 102481
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Economics OP 3
Economics OP 4

Contact lecturer

Name :
Jan Luca Hennig
Email :
janluca.hennig@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Jan Luca Hennig

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

The resulting knowledge of having completed the course "Introduction to Economics", "International Economics" and "economic integration", ie, understanding the basics of the economy and the knowledge of the general evolution of the world economy and international relations.

Objectives

This course analyses the economics and politics of European integration, from the post-war origins of the European Communities to the contemporary challenges facing the European Union. It pairs the applied economic reasoning needed to interpret each stage of integration with hands-on empirical work, so that students move from theoretical models to the data used to assess them.

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

  • Understand the fundamentals of the European integration process and the dynamics of its institutional system.
  • Apply microeconomic and macroeconomic tools to integration episodes — trade and the customs union, the single market, competition, monetary union, and regional cohesion — and reason about their efficiency and distributional consequences.
  • Analyse the European economy's characteristics, capabilities, limitations and challenges, including convergence among Member States and with the United States.
  • Examine how the EU has responded to successive crises (the global financial crisis, the euro-area debt crisis, Brexit, and Covid-19) and what these episodes reveal about the design of European institutions.
  • Obtain, prepare, analyse and visualise economic data relevant to European integration, drawing on official sources (Eurostat, AMECO, the ECB, the OECD and others).
  • Interact critically and transparently with AI tools as part of the empirical workflow — sourcing, processing and interrogating data — while retaining responsibility for the analysis and its interpretation.
  • Communicate economic findings, in writing and orally, to specialised and non-specialised audiences, and engage constructively with the arguments of others.


Learning outcomes

  1. Examine the influence and the role of Spanish public institutions in the economy.
  2. Analyse the role of international institutions in the economy.
  3. Interpret the economic globalisation process and its consequences for the Spanish economy.
  4. Perform an economic analysis of integration processes, in general, and of the European integration process, in particular.
  5. Assess the functioning and current situation of the Spanish economy.
  6. A capacity of oral and written communication in Catalan, Spanish and English, which allows them to summarise and present the work conducted both orally and in writing.
  7. Select and generate the information needed for each problem, analyse it and make decisions based on this information.
  8. Organise work, in terms of good time management and organisation and planning.
  9. Demonstrate initiative and work independently when required.
  10. Work as part of a team and be able to argue own proposals and validate or refuse the arguments of others in a reasonable manner.
  11. Capacity to adapt to changing environments.
  12. Capacity to continue future learning independently, acquiring further knowledge and exploring new areas of knowledge.
  13. Assess ethical commitment in professional activity.
  14. Demonstrate motivation regarding the quality of the work performed and sensitivity regarding the consequences on the environment and society.
  15. Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  16. Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  17. Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  18. Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  19. Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.

Contents

  1. Foundations of European integration
  2. Trade integration and the customs union
  3. The single market, competition and firms
  4. Agriculture and the distributional politics of EU policy
  5. Regional disparities and cohesion policy
  6. Growth, convergence and the European economy
  7. Climate policy and the EU's global role
  8. Monetary integration and the euro
  9. Fiscal policy and the European fiscal framework
  10. Europe’s Crises

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Tutorials 2.5 0.1 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Teamwork 18 0.72 6, 7, 8, 10
Read and study the material 74.5 2.98 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14
Practices 17 0.68 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14
Lectures 32.5 1.3 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Teaching is offered on campus and combines lectures with applied, in-class empirical work. Each topic opens with a concise review of the relevant economic theory, which ensures a common foundation for students, before moving to its empirical analysis. The emphasis throughout is on the transition from theoretical models to data: for most topics, students obtain, process, and interpret economic evidence rather than studying the theory in isolation.

A substantial part of the course is hands-on. In dedicated sessions, students work directly on empirical tasks using AI tools, discuss their approaches, and receive feedback. The smaller class size allows for regular, substantive in-class discussion, in which students engage critically with the topics, the academic papers presented by their peers, and the use of AI in economic analysis.

Group work supports the presentation of an academic paper and the broader topic it addresses. Students are expected to prepare for sessions in advance, including assigned readings, so that class time can be used for analysis, discussion, and feedback rather than passive transmission.


Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Essay (Empirical Analysis) 20% 0.5 0.02 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
Discussion questions and engagement 10% 1 0.04 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
Exam II 25% 2 0.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
Presentation (Academic Paper) 20% 0.5 0.02 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
Exam I 25% 1.5 0.06 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

The course is assessed through continuous assessment, comprising an Essay (Empirical Analysis, 20%), a presentation of an academic paper with discussion of the broader topic (20%), discussion questions and engagement (10%), a midterm exam (25%), and a final exam (25%). The exams and the essay are recoverable; the presentation and the discussion activity are not. Single assessment is also available, consisting of an Essay (Empirical Analysis, 30%) and a written exam (70%) on a single date.

Recovery: In those cases in which the subject is suspended with a grade higher than 3.5 and taken tests equivalent to two-thirds of their grade, you can opt for a make-up test on a date determined by the Faculty. Under no circumstances may students participate in make-up activities to improve their grade. The highest grade that can be obtained in this test is a 5.

The student will receive the grade of "Not assessable" as long as he has not delivered more than 1/3 of the assessment activities.

Plagiarism: In the event that the student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an assessment act, this assessment act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be instituted. In the event that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.

The completion of assessment activities is subject to the provisions set out in this course guide and in the "Policy of the School of Economics and Business on the Detection of Irregularities during Assessment Activities", which regulates the conditions under which assessment tasks are conducted and the procedures applicable in cases where indications of irregularities are detected. Students are encouraged to consult the policy.

Bibliography

-Baldwin, R. & Wyplosz, C. (2022). The Economics of European Integration, 7th Edition. McGraw Hill.

-Pomfret, R. (2021). The Economic Integration of Europe. Harvard University Press.


Software

The empirical work in this course relies on collecting, processing, and presenting economic data with the assistance of AI tools, consistent with the faculty's integrated-use model for artificial intelligence. Students may use any programming language or environment they are comfortable with (for example, Python, R, or Stata); no specific software is required. What matters is not the choice of tool but the ability to interact effectively with a large language model (LLM) to obtain, clean, analyse, and visualise data correctly.

Rather than relying on standalone software tutorials, the course develops these skills in class: students work directly on empirical tasks during sessions, discuss their approaches, and receive feedback on their interaction with AI tools for data collection, manipulation and presentation.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 8 English first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 8 English first semester morning-mixed