Prerequisites
No specific prerequisites
Course description
The course examines Sweden and its place in the European Union (EU). It puts special emphasis on EU negotiations and introduces this field from a Swedish perspective. It also studies how the EU membership has affected internal Swedish policies and asks whether Sweden has gone through a process of “Europeanization” after its 1995 membership. There are a number of reasons for focusing on Sweden in this context. Sweden is a EU economic leader and has been a champion of EU enlargement, progressive climate initiatives and liberalized trade policies. Still, Sweden is a small country standing outside the Euro-zone and NATO. The course raises questions of hard and soft bargaining powers and theories of small sates in international relations. It discusses specific Swedish strategies to influence EU policies and analyzes the potential success or failure to affect political outcomes. It also introduces several different policy areas like climate policies, defense and military operations and international trade, to understand Sweden’s policy positions in these and other areas.
Grading policy
1 multiple-choice test (10%), 1 paper and presentation (30%), 1 mid-term (30%) and 1 final “open book” exam (30%).
Texts
Miles, Lee. 2005. Fusing with Europe? Sweden in the European Union, Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Wallace, Helen, Mark A. Pollack and Alastair R. Young. 2010. Policy Making in the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
