As we prepare to enter a new phase in our country development and we stand at the doorstep of the EU, we are in a real need of highly skilled and qualified young people, capable to lead us into our future. Whether it’s the administration offices and the parliament, the civil sector and the think-tanks researching the European policies, or the business segment representatives, a new type of professionals is needed, educated and skilled to become active participants in the EU integration processes.

The Faculty of Law at UACS has developed a new master and specialist studies on EU Law and EU Integration. The program is aimed at exploring all aspects of the EU integration in terms of the socioeconomic and business legislative of the EU. The courses analyze and explore the beginning and the development of the union, its current status, as well as the need for future regulations. The students acquire in depth knowledge on EU criteria and standards and become highly skilled at analyzing the need to comply local regulative with EU laws.

International Title:

Master of Laws in EU and Integration LLM

Introduction to European Union law

The law of the European Union is the basis for the functioning of the European Union, as well as for the realization and development of the joint activities of the European Union. The law of the European Union has its own identity and it differs from the law of the EU member states, as well as from the international law. The program will study the basics of European Union law, as well as the adoption and implementation of this law.

The elements, structure and development of this right will be studied within the program. Students will be introduced to the elements and structure of EU law, and in particular the treaties, directives, regulations, decisions, as well as the tertiary sources of law and the foundations of the individual legal branches of European Union law and the harmonization of the law of the states that are members and aspirants for membership in the European Union.

Civil proceedings

The course serves to introduce the system for protection of citizens’ rights by the courts. Rule of law is a postulate of European Union law and a condition for its membership. The course covers the basic principles of protection of subjective civil rights within the civil procedure, the exercise of legal protection by the court, notaries and enforcement agents. During the course, the EU standards in the field of protection of subjective civil rights within the framework of fair and legal civil procedure, set in the EU documents, are analyzed.

EU principles and institutions

The European Union is the largest community of countries in the modern world. It is evident that the cohesion of the Union is constantly strengthening and that from a community in which the economic interests and needs were mostly met, it has turned into a community that, in addition to the economic field, carries out joint activities in many other areas. The course will study modern trends in the European Union, as well as the structure and functioning of the institutions of the European Union and the functioning of the European Union as a whole. The study of the European Union is especially important given the fact that the strategic commitment of the Republic of Macedonia, which has the status of a candidate country, for full membership in the European Union.

EU internal market

This course will enable students to gain a thorough and critical understanding of the basic concepts and principles of the EU internal market, the European Customs Union and the free movement of goods. This lecture will examine in particular the meaning and application of the provisions of the EU Treaties, EU secondary law and the ECJ case law on the types of restrictions on the free movement of goods, their justifications. At the end of this lecture, students will gain a critical understanding of the free movement of goods, the importance and impact on economic integration within the EU internal market, its current functioning and possible future evolution.

EU labor and social law

This course covers the social aspects of the European Union: free movement of workers, social security, prohibition of discrimination based on sex, race and sexual orientation, health and safety at work, fundamental rights of employees in relation to the individual and the collective, rights of employees in the event of a transfer of companies or insolvency of employers, the role of the social partners and the European collective agreements and the chapters on social policy in the Treaties of Rome, Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice. This course also analyzes EU social legislation.

EU contract law

This case has a comparative approach in the analysis of contract law. Contract law is part of the national law of every EU member state. The main focus of the case is the fundamental concepts of contract law, which derive from European legislative systems. The course also covers harmonization initiatives, primarily focusing on the principles, definitions and models of European private law rules.

EU intellectual property rights

The field of intellectual property is complex and covers several segments that have different roles (patent, trademark, industrial design, trade secrets, copyright and related rights, etc.). Intellectual property is defined as a form of knowledge that is protected by specific property rights. Such property rights in some respects resemble the property rights of material things. Intellectual property rights are rights granted by the state to individuals or organizations for their intellectual works: inventions, literary and artistic works, as well as symbols, names, images, and designs.

Drafting of legal documents in English

The course program aims at students of the Faculty of Law to gain knowledge and experience in:

• conducting research, legal analysis and interpretation of regulations; the program primarily focuses on research,
• Analysis and interpretation of domestic regulations, but also provides a basic knowledge of how students can research regulations in the United States and in the European Union.
• writing any kind of legal documents, starting from documents used in communication at work, such as meeting notes, submission of internal acts, electronic communication, through simple court submissions, up to complex lawsuits, appeals, audits, and other submissions to higher courts
• writing and checking internal acts that regulate the operation of legal entities
• writing and checking enforcement requests and other submissions, in proceedings before Enforcement Agents and appropriate submissions in proceedings before Notaries
• Writing and checking documents in communication with state bodies
• research, analysis and interpretation of documents and regulations required in negotiations for concluding contracts or other type of negotiations
• the process of writing laws and bylaws – basic knowledge

Scientific research and critical thinking

In the first part, the course addresses the basic information of academic writing, referencing, research and writing skills, different approaches to research and preparation of literature review. Special emphasis is placed on developing a coherent argument and opposing the arguments when writing a critical review of the literature. The second part concludes with the structure and writing of a research proposal (master thesis proposal). The second part places special emphasis on the development of critical thinking and analysis skills, especially in terms of analyzing existing literature on a given topic.

Qualitative research

The module covers the analysis of qualitative data collected through qualitative methods. First, the module includes a detailed analysis of the qualitative methods available to the researcher, such as a survey, questionnaire, interview, focus group. In the second part, the module addresses several aspects of the analysis of such qualitative data, including, coding, tabulation, presentation of diagrams and the like.

Economics of European Integration

The course Economics of European Integration covers the application of micro- and macroeconomic tools in order to be able to understand the process of European integration. It is based on basic economic concepts and focuses in detail on the role and evolution of macro- and microeconomic structures and theories they have in securing the EU with its past and current market architecture. Covers a wider range on topics including European history, the effects of trade liberalization on consumers and producers, competition policy, agriculture, monetary and fiscal policy in Europe, optimal currency areas and more monetary arrangements, competitiveness and the like. Finally, the course offers a thorough analysis of the Eurozone crisis, looking at them the effects of the global recession on the basis of the European economy.

European Tax Law

The course is an introduction to the public finances of the European Union, fiscal and monetary policy of the European Union and its member states. The following are elaborated: tax harmonization within the European Union, European regulation of value added tax, international tax law (general overview), the relationship between domestic and international tax laws. Double taxation, tax convention, taxation of income, capital, international tax cooperation. The case analyzes current EU documents governing this matter.

European Legislation on Asylum and Migration

This course will address a variety of issues in the areas of nationality, migration and asylum law. Part of the course will be devoted to comparative analysis of relevant legislation. The concept of European citizenship and relevant case law will be developed. The legal conditions for acquiring and losing citizenship will be considered from a comparative point of view. Another part of the course will focus on the development of European migration and asylum policy.

Common Foreign and Security Policy

The course will focus on the idea behind the European Union’s common foreign and security policy stating that only together can the Member States of the European Union make their weight felt internationally. It will cover aspects on: securing, promoting, and safeguarding the Union’s values, fundamental interests, security, independence and integrity; the European external service and some aspects on the common defense policy. Special attention will be devoted to legislation adopted under CFSP as it is not subject to review by the European Court of justice.

Company Law and Corporate Governance in the EU

The course aims to introduce students to the organizational structures of companies in different European countries and provides legal and economic analysis of various topics in company management. Students will be introduced to the strengths and weaknesses of corporate governance in the EU. The course also covers the free movement of legal entities within the EU, the lecture will cover a thorough analysis of the freedom of establishment, the types of restrictions on the exercise of this freedom of movement and its justifications. Current EU company law documents will be covered.

Protection of human rights in the EU

Human rights and their protection are of great interest to the legal, political, sociological and many other sciences. Today, deeply into the twenty-first century, the implementation of the system of protection of human rights is a challenge of modern civilization. The human rights protection system is constantly evolving and it is constantly being improved and the program will include the analysis of the human rights system in Europe, as well as the comparison of the same with other countries in the world. Europe as the cradle of civilization is constantly developing and strengthening human rights. The program will study human rights protection systems in the European Union. International conventions, as well as other legislation related to the protection of human rights, will also be studied, with special emphasis on the European Union.

EU energy law

The course offers students the opportunity to gain knowledge in the field of international and European energy law. Students will be introduced to the technical and economic fundamentals of the energy markets, as well as the legal areas relevant to value chains in the electricity and gas sector. The case covers competition law, regulatory law and economic fundamentals. Relevant EU regulations and European Court cases will be processed.

Regional autonomy and local self-government

Modern society is decentralized and it is characterized by the transfer of much of the competencies from the central government to the local self-government, whereby the local self-government can perform these competencies much more efficiently and effectively than the central or state government. The modern European Union is decentralized, and it pays increasing attention to the development of regions and local self-government. The program will study the structure and functioning of local self-government and regional autonomy. Students will be introduced to the complex and interactive interrelationships of local and regional self-government with the central government, as well as the increasingly intensive regional cooperation within the European Union, as well as the modern intensive trends of decentralization. Also, the local self-government institutions will be visited in order for the students to get practically acquainted with their work.