Droit européen I

Système constitutionnel de l’Union européenne

Prof. Dr. Jörg GERKRATH

To avoid surprises and to guarantee that everyone has the same chances to succeed her or his EU
law course, please read the basic rules that apply to your tutorials.

Practical information on the tutorials

“Just as food eaten without appetite is a tedious nourishment,

so does study without zeal damage the memory by not
assimilating what it absorbs”.
Leonardo da Vinci

A tutorial is not a lecture

The tutorials focus on specific questions arising from the topics covered during the lectures
(“cours magistraux”) and aim to help you better understand EU law. For that reason, you are
expected to master the topics covered by Prof. Gerkrath either by reading your notes or by
reading the handbook of your preference (reading the relevant Treaty provisions goes
without saying). The tutorials will NOT repeat what was said by Prof. Gerkrath. You are
also invited to ask any questions relating to the preparation of your EU law course since the
tutorials are specifically designed to clarify and structure your knowledge as well as to help
you succeed with your exams.

Preparation and participation during the tutorials

The tutorials are divided into 10 sessions. You have to prepare yourself for each session by
downloading and answering all the questions in the handout. To be able to answer those
questions, you have to download and read the documents listed in the handout (via Moodle
or via the provided link). Do not forget that your active participation during the tutorials will
count for 50% of your tutorial grade. It is therefore essential that you arrive well prepared
for all sessions. The handout and corresponding documents will be available at least one
week ahead of time.

A class with bored students is a boring class. To avoid mutual boredom, the objective of
your tutorials is to be interactive. This requires your active participation. During each
session, we will answer the questions listed in the handout together. You are expected to
give concise and clear answers (that you have of course prepared at home). If you fear that

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 you have language issues, let your tutor know how you feel. You will certainly find a
convenient solution. Also, when you do not understand what the tutor is explaining, don’t
hesitate to ask questions! Your participation during each session is carefully noted and duly
graded…

One essay per student

Each student is expected to draft and submit an essay in English of 2000 to 3000 words (+/-
10%). Each handout (except the last one) will suggest one essay question on a topic that has
been discussed during the corresponding session. You have to draft and submit your essay
by email to your tutor (in normal text format) within two weeks after the tutorial. For
example, if you have chosen the topic provided in the handout of session 1, you will have to
provide your essay at the latest two weeks after session 1. You can have a look at the
programme to have an idea of the different topics that will be discussed during the tutorials.

Make sure to properly articulate your reasoning and to provide concise and non-repetitive
analyses! You need to have at least two main parts: (1) an introduction that includes your
essay question (problématique); and (2) your main analysis. A conclusion is not mandatory
but you may add one. Your main analysis can be split in two, three or more parts, as it seems
coherent to you. You are expected to provide a clean layout (see example in the Annex
below).

You essay should not be composed of copy-pasted information. You should analyse and
answer your essay question in your own words. You need to justify everything you write
through relevant legal or doctrinal references (e.g. the Treaties, case law, textbooks, articles
etc.). You should add references to the relevant legislative texts, case-law and doctrine as
footnotes, and provide a bibliography. Please note that Wikipedia is not considered as a
serious doctrinal reference.

Mock examination

The tutors will organise a mock examination (“galop d’essai”) 2 to 3 weeks before the end
of the tutorials in order to prepare the students to their final examination. The date of the
mock examination will be confirmed to you in due time. The questions will be limited to the
topics that have already been discussed during your lectures and/or tutorials. Therefore, no
question will be asked on topics that have not yet been discussed. Your tutor will correct
your exam copy and give it back to you before the end of the tutorials. The last session will
be dedicated to the correction of the mock examination, so that all students can learn from
their mistakes. Please note that this mock examination will count for 25% of your tutorial
grade (i.e. 10% of your final grade).

Evaluation rules for the tutorials (40% of the final grade of your EU law course)

To make sure that you are aware of how important tutorials are, be informed that your
tutorial grade will count for 40% of your final grade. Your tutorial grade will be calculated
on the following basis:

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  Mock examination (“galop d’essai”) 25%
 Essay (“dissertation”) 25%
 Participation (including an oral presentation, if applicable) 50%

Maximum three unjustified absences

As a rule, tutorials are mandatory. Students are however allowed to miss 3 sessions without
any valid justification. If you miss the mock examination (or your oral presentation, if any)
without any valid justification, you will be given a grade of 0% for that examination (or
presentation).

If you have more than three unjustified absences, you will be excluded from the
tutorials and from the final examination (your final grade for Droit Européen I will
then automatically be 0%).

If you provide your tutor with a valid justification (e.g. medical certificate), your absence
will not be counted as an unjustified absence.

Even if the University rules tolerate three unjustified absences, we strongly invite you to
justify all your absences since it already occurred that a student was excluded from the final
exam (and thus failed the course) because of miscalculating his/her number of unjustified
absences.

Working materials and teamwork

You are strongly invited to visit regularly the Library and the electronic resources of the
University to familiarise yourself with the different academic materials. To that extent, the
suggested readings are only an entry point for you to deepen your knowledge and skills.

To effectively prepare your tutorials without spending excessive amount of time, you are
invited to create working groups where you can share the workload (for instance the reading
and summarising of the specialised suggested readings). You are also invited to share your
summaries with the other working groups, in order to crosscheck your work and thus have
the best working material possible for your final revisions and exams.

Your tutorial is designed to help you succeed your first year and grant you the necessary reflexes
for your entire curriculum. In that spirit, your tutor is always at your disposal to answer to
questions and to discuss any problem that may arise concerning your EU law course.

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 Droit européen I
Système constitutionnel de l’Union européenne
Travaux dirigés – [name of your tutor]

THE LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE IN THE EU: PROS AND CONS

What (and if) would you change?

Christina Bostani

[6/5/2023]

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 I. INTRODUCTION

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II. [NAME OF THE MAIN ANALYSIS]

[Brief explanations of the structure and the different points that will be discussed.]

a. [First point of the analysis]

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nominati tractatos, vidit sapientem has in.2

b. [Second point of the analysis (if any)]

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III. CONCLUSION (IF ANY)

1
Reference to the relevant Treaty/legislative text/case-law/doctrine.
2
Reference to the relevant Treaty/legislative text/case-law/doctrine.
3
Reference to the relevant Treaty/legislative text/case-law/doctrine.
4
Reference to the relevant Treaty/legislative text/case-law/doctrine.

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evertitur.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union

 Case 294/83, Parti écologiste "Les Verts" v European Parliament, Judgment of 23 April
1986, ECLI:EU:C:1986:166.
 Case C-106/89, arleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentacion SA,
Judgment of 13 November 1990, ECLI:EU:C:1990:395.

2. EU law

Primary law:
 Treaty on European Union (consolidated version): Art. 12-18 ; Art. 22; Art. 41.
 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (consolidated version): Art. 5-6.

Secondary law:
 European Council Decision (EU) 2019/1135 of 2 July 2019 electing the President of the
European Council, ST/14/2019/INIT, OJ L 179I, 3.7.2019, p. 1–1.

3. Legal doctrine
 Allan Rosas and Lorna Armati, EU Constitutional Law. An introduction, third edition,
Hart, 2018.
 P. Craig, « Development of the EU », in C. Barnard et S. Peers (dir.), European Union
Law, OUP, 2014.

4. Others
 Meeting calendar of the Council of the European Union, available at
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/fr/meetings/calendar/ [last visited on DD.MM.YYY];
 European Parliament, Press release of the Plenary Session of 27-11-2019, “Parliament
elects the von der Leyen Commission”, available at
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20191121IPR67111/parliament-
elects-the-von-der-leyen-commission [last visited on DD.MM.YYYY].