Doing Business in EUrope

Department

International Program

Course unit code

IFLV6625

Number of ECTS credits allocated

Name of lecturer(s)

Dr. Plaza i Font Joan Pere

Mode of delivery

face-to-face

Recommended optional program components

none

Level of course unit

Bachelor

Year of study

Fall 2025

Semester when the course unit is delivered

Language of instruction

English

Learning outcomes of the course unit

Over 70 years after the signing of the first founding treaty in Paris in 1952, the European Union is now a significant player in many international arenas and has meant a recipe for success in maintaining peace and fostering economic and social progress in EUrope.
In this historical trajectory, however, the last fifteen years have meant a concatenation of different crises (of various natures) that all have challenged the viability of the integration itself. The 2008 Financial Crises, the 2015 Migratory crises, the Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic and the War in Ukraine changed the EU forever, even if it is too early to know precisely how.

This course has a two-folded objective. Firstly, it aims at providing over-the-average knowledge about the European Union to future practitioners in the international business field. In line with that, the course seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the EU’s role in promoting, fostering or even limiting and constraining business dynamics in EUrope.
To make it short, this course is designed to present and discuss elements related to the P and the L of any PESTEL model, seeking to consider the possibilities and alternatives of a business plan to be developed in EUrope.

As a result, the course is structured into five distinctive units. Firstly, it focuses on the historical path and the current challenges of the European Integration process. Secondly, it observes the architecture of EU institutions. Thirdly, it deals with the EU Single Market (with particular attention to its digitalisation). Fourthly, the course considers the EU Commercial Policy. Finally, the course examines the EU Competition policy and the EU Consumers’ protection.

Course contents

1. Politics and Business in the EU

Topics to be covered:
» Historical constraints and critical junctures
» The EU as a political system
» The EU Institutional Triangle
» The EU's ordinary legislative process
» Business interest and public agenda-setting

General questions to be addressed:
» To what extent are institutions risk-killers?
» What is the nature, scope and origin of EU norms?
» What are the access points for business interests in the EU institutional architecture?

Case Study:
Lobbying the EU institutions

2. The EU Single Market

Topics to be covered:
» The Four freedoms
» EU economic geography
» Cross-European infrastructures
» The EUropean Digital Market
» Environment and Sustainability within the EU Single Market

General questions to be addressed:
» What are the limits of freedom of movement?
» Is the EU Single Market single, or rather a patchwork of smaller ones?
» How far has the digitalisation of the EU Single market gone?

Case Study:
What can the bake-off bread explain us about the Free Movement of Good ins the EUropean Single Market?

3. The EU Trade Policy

Topics to be covered:
» The EU Trade regimes
» The other Europes
» Trade and Non-Trade Interests in global trade governance
» EU Strategic Autonomy and Global Markets
» Trade Instruments and fair competition

General questions to be addressed:
» What are the leading EU trade Partners?
» Why the EU Trade Policy covers non-trade-related issues?
» The Brussels Effect and the Race for global regulations

Case Study:
Geographical Indications. Why shall the Tiroler Speck or the Voralberger Alpkäse get more robust protection in the Global markets?

4. Fair Competition and Consumers’ Interests in EUrope:
Topics to be covered:
» Competition Policy in the EU. Anti-trust and beyond
» The EUropean way of doing things. Competition and Consumers’ protection compared.
» Industrial property and business information (trade secrets)
» Personal Data Protection

General questions to be addressed:
» Why is a Competition Policy Needed in the EU Market?
» What must legal conditions be fulfilled to operate in the EU Single Market?
» What shall businesses bear in mind regarding the GDPR?

Case Study:
Global Regulative Race. May the protection of European consumers in the EUropean have an impact outside the EU?

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The course comprises an interactive mix of lectures, discussions and individual and group work.

Work placement(s)

none

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