KURPAS Sebastian - The Consensus Machine: Formal and Informal Interinstitutional Cooperation in the EU (6h)
Professor: Sebastian KURPAS
Academic Assistant: Tanguy BALCON
The course provides an overview of the interinstitutional cooperation processes among the three main institutions (Commission, Council, European Parliament) in different contexts. It aims to serve both as a scene setter for other more extensive courses that will go into greater depth and as a first orientation point for students when choosing their research focus throughout the academic year. The course will explain why and how the concept of building consensus is central to the EU’s institutional set up. Following a brief presentation of the three institutions’ key features that make them apt for building consensus, students will look at different types of interinstitutional cooperation (agenda setting, legislative decision-making, international agreements, policy implementation, multiannual budget negotiations, public communication). The course will present the formal procedures but also the informal practices and structures that are key to building consensus.