European Union Dissertation Topics: Integration, History, Framework & Law

1. Introduction

This guide is designed to give suggestions and insights about possible topics related to the study of the European Union (EU). In general, the study of the EU can be separated in several areas – history, theory, economic integration, enlargement, law, policies, institutional framework and foreign relations. This short guide has attempted to cover subjects of all of these areas, and to provide interesting and challenging titles for undergraduate as well as postgraduate students.

In general, dissertation for EU studies can combine a variety of research methods, and the format may vary according to the research aims of your paper. A combination of primary and secondary sources is possible as well, which depends on the choice of your topic and your methodology.

2. Categories and suggested topics

2. 1 History of European Integration

2.1.1The Maastricht Treaty and the new challenges for the third pillar of the EU

2.1.2EU scepticism in Britain and its impact on EU integration

2.1.3The completion of the Single European Market – Who Won and Who Lost(the student can choose a country, or a group of countries to use as case study throughout the dissertation).

2.1.4 The Treaty of Lisbon and the new dimensions of EU institutional reform

2.2 Theories of European Integration

2.2.2 Intergovernmentalism versus federalism: the future of the EU as a regional policy-maker

2.2.3 Europeanization, European identity and its parameters: a comparative study of Greece and Portugal (or any other two countries, does not have to be a comparative study necessarily)

2.3 EU institutional framework

2.3.1 Battling the EU democratic deficit: Parliamentarization of the EU institutional framework

2.3.2 Voting and decision-making reforms of the Council of Ministers: Implications for the European foreign policy (or any other policy, for example the CAP, CFP)

2.3.3 The European Commission: problems of accountability and legitimacy

2.4 EU Policy-making

2.4.1 EU and contemporary challenges to environmental sustainability (here you can choose nuclear weapons or global warming)

2.4.2 Italian Migration in the European Economic Community and its domestic impact

2.4.3 The Reform of the CAP and the Single Farmers Scheme: Neo-liberalism re-examined

2.4.4 Common Fisheries Policy and the Problem of Conservation

2.4.5 The role of women in EU politics – a closer look at the institutions (explore how the EU institutional framework allows or discourages the participation of women).

2.5 EU Enlargement

2.5.1 The EU enlargement and the prospects of EU economic future – the German perspective (or any other country’s perspective, France and the UK would be interesting)

2.5.2 The impact of Turkey’s membership on the EU institutions

2.5.3 The Eastern Enlargement and EU immigration policy – the case of Romania and Bulgaria

2.5.4 Croatia in the EU: the political implications

2.6 EC law

2.6.1 National legislation versus EEC legislation – the transformation of EU law after the Van Gend End Loos case (or Costa versus ENEL)

2.7.2 The Factorame case and the issue of UK sovereignty

2.7 EU economic integration

2.7.1 European economic integration and its implications for the modern welfare state

2.7.2 The Greek Challenge for European Economic integration

2.7.3 The Eurozone – politically or economically challenged?

2.8 EU in international relations

2.8.1 The European Union in the post Cold War era: a transition to Common Foreign and Security Policy

2.8.2 The EU as a peace-maker: the EU intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo

2.8.3 The Lisbon Treaty and is implications for EU foreign policy

2.8.4 Divergent concepts of power: comparison between EU and NATO’s stance in foreign affairs (the student can choose a particular conflict or issue, where both organizations have been involved).

How to Structure an EU Dissertation

For details on how to structure an EU dissertation, kindly check out the following posts:

How to Structure a dissertation (chapters)
How to structure a dissertation (chapters and subchapters)
How to structure a dissertation research proposal