Negotiating with the EU
This course is one of a series of 1-credit courses utilizing practitioners to teach students on a variety of topics related to European and EU studies. These classes combine academic discussion with real-world insights from the instructors’ based on their experiences working in, with or for the European Union. The EU in Practice courses are a unique, one-time opportunity for students to engage with practitioners and policymakers.
In fall 2023, the course is offered as a full semester course, however, class meetings will be concentrated during a 1-week intensive in-person seminar from Monday, November 13-17 (6:00 – 9:00 pm). Additional meetings (virtual and/or in person) may be scheduled before and after the intensive seminar week to review readings and discuss assignments. Students will be expected to prepare readings in advance of the one-week intensive seminar and will work on a final project in the latter half of the semester. The course examines the EU as a negotiating partner, including the different actors (EU institutions and member states) and how positions are formed. The course will approach the EU as a living form of continuous negotiation including membership negotiations – those that lead to membership and those that stall – negotiations with partners such as EU-US and EU-EFTA, and, for the first time, negotiations when a member state leaves the EU (Brexit). Finally, the class will discuss negotiations from the standpoint of business dealing with the EU as regulator (Microsoft, Apple).
This course will consist of four core themes including the EU as a negotiator, the reality of negotiations, special relationships, and business negotiations with a focus on EU-US relationship. The seminar will conclude with a trade negotiation simulation.
Meet the instructor
Árni Páll Árnason is an experienced Icelandic diplomat, lawyer and politician. He served as the Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security in 2009-2010, as Minister of Economic Affairs 2010-2011, and was a Member of Parliament 2007-2016. Árnason was commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers to conduct a strategic review of the Nordic Welfare Model. He served as Deputy Director of the Financial Mechanism Office for the EEA and Norway Grants in Brussels from 2018-2021. He currently serves as a member of the College of the EFTA Surveillance Authority, responsible for free movement of goods, energy, transport, competition, public undertakings, and the environment.
