Before starting with the minor European Union Policies, I was part of a group called the euro-sceptics. Just like many Dutch citizens, European Union was just a nosy union to me with a lack of democracy. I was being judgemental while I practically didn’t know anything about the EU. Politics, law and policies, which were one of the main elements of the minor, didn’t really make my heart pump faster either. You might wonder why I chose this minor after all. I blame my curiosity for choosing the ‘ unknown’, because that was the European Union to me back then. I can say now that I’ve learned more than I ever expected to learn. But let’s get back to the beginning.
The minor was divided into 16 weeks in which every week a certain topic was handled. The minor was well-structured and clear: every Monday we had a tutor group meeting whereby we discussed a task by answering the learning goals (which were formulated in the previous tutor group meeting) and formulated learning goals for the upcoming task. The content of the tasks were relevant to the subject that was dealt with in that week. After each tutor group we had a background lecture, where the lecturer gave us background information about the subject handled in that week, and an evaluation lecture where the subject was discussed more extensively. Next to lectures, training sessions were held to make sure that we understood the discussed subject. Finally, we had to make five projects giving us the opportunity to show our understanding of the subjects.
The minor also consisted of a skills line involving ethics, negotiating and debating. We didn’t really put the things we learned during the skills sessions in practice, with exemption of debating, but I do believe that we learned the essentials of negotiating, ethics and debating. In the negotiating sessions for example, we didn’t spend much time on practising our negotiating skills but we did receive some very important tips and do’s and don’ts.
In week 8 the lecturers organized a study trip to visit the European Institutions, which was subsidized for a great part by the European Union. This gave us a unique opportunity to see in real-life how lobbyists operate, what the Comite of the Regions actually does, how a case is dealt with by the European Court of Human Rights, how European parliamentarians debate on a certain issue, and finally what the role and activities are of the European Investment Bank. The four-days study trip was educative and inspiring and I am glad to say that I am one of the lucky students who had a chance to visit the European Institutions.
As I said earlier the minor was quite well-structured, especially in the beginning. However, I believe that certain things such as the debating, should have been done in the beginning of the minor rather than in the last weeks. This could have saved us some time and stress, since we still have to hand in a project, write an individual paper, work on our Individual English Programme and prepare for our oral exam. Nevertheless, following this minor made me realize the importance of the European Union in our daily lives. I’ve learned how complex but at the same time transparent the EU is. This minor definitely changed my point of view regarding the European Union and I must confess that it made me go over to the group of proponents of Europe.
I would recommend this minor to any student, whether you are interested in the European Union or not, because you learn what happens ‘ behind the scenes’. The minor deals with various subjects, from policies to mergers and acquisitions, making it practically impossible for you to fall asleep during classes. I would recommend you, though, to keep pace with the classes and the theory due to the fact that time really flies and before you know it you have to prepare for your exams.
