Department of European Studies & Modern Languages, Unit Catalogue 2006/07

EU30015 French national option F1: La France et l'Europe

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 2

Assessment: ES67CW33

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take EU20011

Aims: To examine the relations between France and the wider European area (including the former USSR) in the post-war world, with specific emphasis on developments since the late 1980s. The general focus will be the broad field of international relations which will be narrowed down to three specific and inter-related areas: economic and commercial interests; foreign policy and diplomacy; military policy and security.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this unit, students will be able to demonstrate understanding of:
* relations between France and other European states since the late 1950s;
* political debate in France over European policy;
* current dilemmas in European policy facing French political leaders.
They will also have improved their ability to engage with and conduct academic discourse in French.
Skills:
Skills in critical analysis, conceptual thinking, precision in the use of written and spoken language, exercise of independent judgement, reasoned argument, effective communication in the target language, teamwork and the planning/conduct/reporting of non-quantitative research are developed and assessed in this unit.
Content:
The unit will examine the tensions which have always existed in French policy towards Europe between a nationalist and an internationalist impulsion. In the three areas noted above, protectionism, individualism and national independence have constantly vied with liberalism, international cooperation and alliance solidarity. These dichotomies go beyond the traditional right/left divide in French politics and have always run as a deep fissure within both the broad left and the broad right. At the same time, since the end of the 1980s, France has been faced with a new dichotomy; whether to prioritise the deepening of the Community of 12 (the Maastricht process) or, on the contrary, to pursue the old Gaullist vision of a broader Europe "from the Atlantic to the Urals". Particular emphasis will be placed throughout the course on the complex but crucial role played by Franco-German relations. Four hours will be devoted to each of the following:
1. The historical background to France's relations with Europe.
2. France and the EEC (1958-85).
3. French foreign and defence policy (1958-89).
4. France, the Single Market and Maastricht.
5. French European security policy since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The unit is taught in French.

University | Catalogues for 2006/07