The course covers all relevant aspects of European economic integration and is composed of ten topics: 1. Integration of goods markets, 2. Integration of capital flows and services, 3. Monetary integration and the euro, 4. Macroprudential policies and the euro, 5. Fiscal integration and the euro, 6. Regional policy, 7. Trade and aid policy, 8. Competition and industrial Policy, 9. Social and employment policies, 10. Common agricultural policy.
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
The course covers all relevant aspects of European economic integration and is composed of ten topics: 1. Integration of goods markets, 2. Integration of capital flows and services, 3. Monetary integration and the euro, 4. Macroprudential policies and the euro, 5. Fiscal integration and the euro, 6. Regional policy, 7. Trade and aid policy, 8. Competition and industrial Policy, 9. Social and employment policies, 10. Common agricultural policy.
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
Aim of the course -
Introductory comprehensive course to European economic integration. Individual topics of economic integration are approached from three angles: i) theoretical background helping to understand and assess the economics of integration, ii) historical perspective of integration processes, and iii) seminar discussion focusing on current problems and challenges.
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
Introductory comprehensive course to European economic integration. Individual topics of economic integration are approached from three angles: i) theoretical background helping to understand and assess the economics of integration, ii) historical perspective of integration processes, and iii) seminar discussion focusing on current problems and challenges.
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
Literature -
Core:
Baldwin R. & Wyplosz C.: The Economics of European Integration (fourth edition). McGraw-Hill Education, 2012
Set of lecturer's presentations
Supplementary:
EL-AGRAA, A. The European Union: economics and policies. 9th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-107-40011-5.
GILBERT, Mark: European integration : a concise history. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publ. 2011, , ISBN: 978-0-7425-6664-4.
NEAL, Larry. The economics of Europe and the European Union. Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN: 978-0-521-68301-2.
SENIOR NELLO, Susan. The European Union: economics, policies and history. 3rd ed. London: McGraw-Hill, 2012, xxv, 472 p. ISBN 978-0-07-712966-8.
http://europa.eu
Emerging Market Economies and European Economic Integration / edited by R. Scott Hacker, Börje Johansson, Charlie Karlsson. - Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004 - xiii, 328 p. ISBN 1-84376-679-5
European Economic Integration: edited by Frank McDonald, Stephen Dearden. - 4th ed. - Harlow: Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2005- xxi, 412 s. ISBN 0-273-67908-2978-0-273-67908-0
Macroeconomics : a European Text [6th ed.] / Michael Burda and Charles Wyplosz. - 6th ed. - Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013 - xxi, 573 s. ISBN 978-0-19-960864-5
Monetary and exchange rate policies, EMU and Central and Eastern Europe / authors David Begg, László Halpern, Charles Wyplosz ; editors Lorand Ambrus-Lakatos, Mark E. Schaffer. - New York (NY): EastWest Institute, 1999 - xiv, 108 p. ISBN 1-898128-41-3
The economics of European integration: theory, practice, policy / Willem Molle. - 5th ed. - Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006 - xiv, 446 p. ISBN 0-7546-4812-5978-0-7546-4812-5
Prof. Komarek's teaching materials can be also found on his personal website http://dedeklegacy.cz/index.htm
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
Core:
Baldwin R. & Wyplosz C.: The Economics of European Integration (fourth edition). McGraw-Hill Education, 2012
Set of lecturer's presentations
Supplementary:
EL-AGRAA, A. The European Union: economics and policies. 9th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-107-40011-5.
GILBERT, Mark: European integration : a concise history. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publ. 2011, , ISBN: 978-0-7425-6664-4.
NEAL, Larry. The economics of Europe and the European Union. Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN: 978-0-521-68301-2.
SENIOR NELLO, Susan. The European Union: economics, policies and history. 3rd ed. London: McGraw-Hill, 2012, xxv, 472 p. ISBN 978-0-07-712966-8.
http://europa.eu
Emerging Market Economies and European Economic Integration / edited by R. Scott Hacker, Börje Johansson, Charlie Karlsson. - Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004 - xiii, 328 p. ISBN 1-84376-679-5
European Economic Integration: edited by Frank McDonald, Stephen Dearden. - 4th ed. - Harlow: Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2005- xxi, 412 s. ISBN 0-273-67908-2978-0-273-67908-0
Macroeconomics : a European Text [6th ed.] / Michael Burda and Charles Wyplosz. - 6th ed. - Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013 - xxi, 573 s. ISBN 978-0-19-960864-5
Monetary and exchange rate policies, EMU and Central and Eastern Europe / authors David Begg, László Halpern, Charles Wyplosz ; editors Lorand Ambrus-Lakatos, Mark E. Schaffer. - New York (NY): EastWest Institute, 1999 - xiv, 108 p. ISBN 1-898128-41-3
The economics of European integration: theory, practice, policy / Willem Molle. - 5th ed. - Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006 - xiv, 446 p. ISBN 0-7546-4812-5978-0-7546-4812-5
Prof. Komarek's teaching materials can be also found on his personal website http://dedeklegacy.cz/index.htm
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
Teaching methods -
Lectures are delivered in-person. Lecture notes are uploaded by the end of each week.
Seminars take the form of structured debates among students. More details will be provided in the first seminar.
Consultations by appointment.
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
Lectures are delivered in-person. Lecture notes are uploaded by the end of each week.
Seminars take the form of structured debates among students. More details will be provided in the first seminar.
Consultations by appointment.
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
Requirements to the exam -
Seminars (40%): Students are evaluated based on their performance in structured debates - more info in the seminar. Final exam (60%): The final exam takes 90 min.
Pre-exam:
16.12.2025 (room 109, 8:00 - 9:20)
Regural exams:
13.01.2026 (room 109, 9:20 - 11:00)
20.01.2026 (room 109, 9:20 - 11:00)
27.01.2026 (room, 109, 9:20 - 11:00)
To pass the exam, you must achieve a minimum grade of E on the written test.Take an ID card with you, please!
Finally, there is a more advanced/practicaly oriented course "European Economic Policies" (JEM012).
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
Seminars (40%): Students are evaluated based on their performance in structured debates - more info in the seminar. Final exam (60%): The final exam takes 90 min.
Pre-exam:
16.12.2025 (room 109, 8:00 - 9:20)
Regural exams:
13.01.2026 (room 109, 9:20 - 11:00)
20.01.2026 (room 109, 9:20 - 11:00)
27.01.2026 (room, 109, 9:20 - 11:00)
To pass the exam, you must achieve a minimum grade of E on the written test.Take an ID card with you, please!
Finally, there is a more advanced/practicaly oriented course "European Economic Policies" (JEM012).
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
Syllabus -
1. Essentials of European Integration: stages and methods of integration, dimensions and forms of integration, economic arguments of subsidiarity, legal foundations of the EU and its constitutional treaties, main European institutions.
2. Integration of Goods Markets: theories of foreign trade liberalisation, theories of protection, tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, free trade area versus customs union, discriminatory liberalisation, trade creation versus trade diversion, objectives of Rome Treaty, formation of customs union, technical barriers to trade, objectives of SEA, Lisbon Strategy.
3. Integration of Capital Flows and Services: benefits of capital liberalisation, typology of capital restrictions, pressures to deregulate, consequences of single currency, features of service sector, benefits of liberalisation of services, integration methods, liberalisation of banking industry.
4. Competition and Industrial Policy: protection of competition, monopolistic and oligopolistic equilibrium, reasons for supranational CP, five components of CP, organisation and coordination of CP, reforms of CP, approaches to IP, evolution of EU IP.
5. Monetary Integration and the Euro: theory of optimum currency areas, exchange rate as a shock absorber, competitive devaluation, equilibrium devaluation, monetarist critique of Phillips curve, Barro-Gordon model, exchange rate and capital mobility, impossible trinity, endogeneity of monetary union, Bretton-Woods system, European Payment Union, Werner Report, snake in the tunnel, European Monetary System, ECU, parity grid, collective realignments, 1992-93 crisis, Delors Report, Maastricht Treaty, convergence criteria, perceived inflation, Eurozone enlargement.
6. Macroprudential Policies and the Euro: instruments of macroprudential policy, role of the ECB, interaction with microprudential policies, assessment of financial stability, crisis management frameworks, international coordination, challenges and limitations, case studies, future trends.
7. Fiscal Integration and the Euro: basic features of European budget, sources of budget, first reforms, multi-year financial perspectives, pros and cons of tax harmonisation, origin versus destination principle of taxation, degree of tax harmonisation, Stability and Growth Pact, motivation and basic features of SGP, excessive deficit procedure, SGP reform.
8. Regional Policy: regional differences in EU, centrifugal and centripetal agglomeration effects, model of spatial equilibrium, evolution of RP, principles of operation, structural and cohesion funds, objectives of RP, organisation of RP, challenges of RP.
9. Trade and Aid Policy: world trade flows, EU trade partners, World Trade Organisation, WTO negotiation rounds, rationale for common trade policy, preferential pyramid of EU trade relations, EFTA, EEA, ACP countries, association treaties, hub-and-spoke integration, GSP.
10. Common Agricultural Policy: rationale for state assistance, cobweb theorem, formation of CAP, main price and non-price intervention instruments, green currencies, key problems of CAP, reforms of CAP, challenges of Eastern enlargement.
11.Social and Employment Policies: benefits of LM liberalisation, changing patterns of European migration, Schengen Agreement, links to JHA and CFSP, LM concepts, European social models, evolution of EU social policies, social dumping, links to monetary integration.
12. Economic Alignment Among Euro Area Countries / (16.12.) Pre-exam
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
1. Essentials of European Integration: stages and methods of integration, dimensions and forms of integration, economic arguments of subsidiarity, legal foundations of the EU and its constitutional treaties, main European institutions.
2. Integration of Goods Markets: theories of foreign trade liberalisation, theories of protection, tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, free trade area versus customs union, discriminatory liberalisation, trade creation versus trade diversion, objectives of Rome Treaty, formation of customs union, technical barriers to trade, objectives of SEA, Lisbon Strategy.
3. Integration of Capital Flows and Services: benefits of capital liberalisation, typology of capital restrictions, pressures to deregulate, consequences of single currency, features of service sector, benefits of liberalisation of services, integration methods, liberalisation of banking industry.
4. Competition and Industrial Policy: protection of competition, monopolistic and oligopolistic equilibrium, reasons for supranational CP, five components of CP, organisation and coordination of CP, reforms of CP, approaches to IP, evolution of EU IP.
5. Monetary Integration and the Euro: theory of optimum currency areas, exchange rate as a shock absorber, competitive devaluation, equilibrium devaluation, monetarist critique of Phillips curve, Barro-Gordon model, exchange rate and capital mobility, impossible trinity, endogeneity of monetary union, Bretton-Woods system, European Payment Union, Werner Report, snake in the tunnel, European Monetary System, ECU, parity grid, collective realignments, 1992-93 crisis, Delors Report, Maastricht Treaty, convergence criteria, perceived inflation, Eurozone enlargement.
6. Macroprudential Policies and the Euro: instruments of macroprudential policy, role of the ECB, interaction with microprudential policies, assessment of financial stability, crisis management frameworks, international coordination, challenges and limitations, case studies, future trends.
7. Fiscal Integration and the Euro: basic features of European budget, sources of budget, first reforms, multi-year financial perspectives, pros and cons of tax harmonisation, origin versus destination principle of taxation, degree of tax harmonisation, Stability and Growth Pact, motivation and basic features of SGP, excessive deficit procedure, SGP reform.
8. Regional Policy: regional differences in EU, centrifugal and centripetal agglomeration effects, model of spatial equilibrium, evolution of RP, principles of operation, structural and cohesion funds, objectives of RP, organisation of RP, challenges of RP.
9. Trade and Aid Policy: world trade flows, EU trade partners, World Trade Organisation, WTO negotiation rounds, rationale for common trade policy, preferential pyramid of EU trade relations, EFTA, EEA, ACP countries, association treaties, hub-and-spoke integration, GSP.
10. Common Agricultural Policy: rationale for state assistance, cobweb theorem, formation of CAP, main price and non-price intervention instruments, green currencies, key problems of CAP, reforms of CAP, challenges of Eastern enlargement.
11.Social and Employment Policies: benefits of LM liberalisation, changing patterns of European migration, Schengen Agreement, links to JHA and CFSP, LM concepts, European social models, evolution of EU social policies, social dumping, links to monetary integration.
12. Economic Alignment Among Euro Area Countries / (16.12.) Pre-exam
Last update: Komárek Luboš, prof. Ing. et Ing., M.Sc., MBA, Ph.D. (16.10.2025)
