Regional and Social Policy of European Union Member States

Study Course Description

Course Description Statuss:Approved

Course Description Version:1.00

Study Course Accepted:19.03.2024 14:02:11

Study Course Information
Course Code:		SZF_050			LQF level:		Level 7
Credit Points:		4.00			ECTS:		6.00
Branch of Science:		Politics; Governance and Administration			Target Audience:		Political Science
Study Course Supervisor
Course Supervisor:		Tatjana Muravska
Study Course Implementer
Structural Unit:		Faculty of Social Sciences
The Head of Structural Unit:
Contacts:		Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szfrsu[pnkts]lv
Study Course Planning
Full-Time - Semester No.1
Lectures (count)		10	Lecture Length (academic hours)			2	Total Contact Hours of Lectures		20
Classes (count)		13	Class Length (academic hours)			2	Total Contact Hours of Classes		26
Total Contact Hours									46
Study course description
Preliminary Knowledge:
European economic integration.
Objective:
This course aims at deepening students’ knowledge of the EU competences in regional policy and EU approach to the social dimension and competences of Member States in social policy. The task of the course is to offer insight into the concept of regional and cohesion development and social models in the EU. The regulatory environment and implementation of the Cohesion policy will be studied. Attention will be given to labour market policies and models as well as and public health models. Special attention will be given to students’ discussions and debates.
Topic Layout (Full-Time)
No.	Topic				Type of Implementation		Number	Venue
1	Raising regionalism in Europe				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		1.00	auditorium
2	EU Regional and Cohesion Policy: development progress				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		2.00	auditorium
3	Role of cohesion policy in promoting the development of the EU				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		1.00	auditorium
4	EU budget: focus on cohesion				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		1.00	auditorium
5	Investing in regions in the European Union				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		2.00	auditorium
6	Digital Single Market in the regional context				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		1.00	auditorium
7	EU social dimension and indicators of social progress				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		1.00	auditorium
8	EU migration policy and immigration to the EU				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		2.00	auditorium
9	EU policies and activities in public health				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		1.00	auditorium
10	EU social dialogue and social partners				Lectures		1.00	auditorium
					Classes		1.00	auditorium
Assessment
Unaided Work:
• Work with literature. • Search, summarising and analysis of data. • Case study. In order to evaluate the quality of the study course as a whole, the student must fill out the study course evaluation questionnaire on the Student Portal.
Assessment Criteria:
• Activity during the interactive lectures – 60%. • Solving situational tasks in classes – 40%.
Final Examination (Full-Time):		Exam (Written)
Final Examination (Part-Time):
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge:		Students will gain awareness about EU regional and social policies, their social, economic, legal and regulatory aspects; knowledge about facts, concepts and theories that support understanding of the course subject, as well as dynamics that shape EU regionalism and social trends in the EU and its Member States.
Skills:		Students will acquire skills to: • assess and explain socio-economic events and their development in EU regional and social policy areas; • analyse EU regional policy using a variety of analysis methods; • make suggestions for the necessary improvements to EU social including public health policy.
Competencies:		Students are able to perform independent, critical analysis, apply economic methods in the planning and implementation of the EU Regional Policy and Social Policy, perform the assessment of economic parameters of regional and social systems.
Bibliography
No.	Reference
Required Reading
1	Visa literatūra ir angļu valodā un piemērota gan latviešu, gan angļu plūsmas studentiem
2	Jānis Aprans. EU Region Policy (2014). Teaching Material. Edited by Tatjana Muravska. Riga, University of Latvia Press, - 64p.
3	EU Social Dimension – An Innovative and Reflective Society (2014). Teaching Material. Edited by Tatjana Muravska and Biruta Sloka . Riga, University of Latvia Press, - 84 p.
4	An Agenda for a Reformed Cohesion Policy. A Place-based Approach to Meeting EU Challenges and Expectations (2009), Report by Fabrizio Barka, - 218p.
Additional Reading
1	European Structural and Investment FUNDS and European Fund for Strategic Investments Complementarities. Ensuring Coordination, Synergies and Complementarity (2016), European Union. – 24p.
2	Permanent Revolution in Cohesion Policy: Restarting the Reform Debate (2018). European Policies Research Centre, United Kingdom, European Policies Research Paper No. 93.- 43p.
3	Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (2016). Joseph E. Stiglitz, Amartya Sen, Jean-Paul Fitoussi. OFCE-Centre de recherche en économie de Sciences Po.- 291p.
4	David Elkins. (1995). Beyond Sovereignty: Territory and Political Economy in the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge, 2009, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, - 308p.
5	Andreas Faludi. (2018). The Poverty of Territorialism. A Neo-Medieval View of Europe and European Planning, Delft, University of Technology, the Netherlands.- 200p.
Other Information Sources
1	Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion. European Union.
2	Andreas Faludi. ESPON Seminar Video
3	Regional policy. European Union.