Course co-directors: Marta Mochulska (Ivan Franko National University of Lviv) and Nazar Stetsyk Ivan Franko National University of Lviv / Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights)
This course is designed to explore the dynamic and evolving process of the constitutionalization of the European integration project. It examines the formation and development of the constitutional foundations of the European Union, highlighting the complex – and at times dramatic – legal and political stories that have shaped the Union’s constitutional identity. The course also presents national perspectives on European integration through carefully selected case studies from founding Member States (Germany, Italy) as well as countries from subsequent waves of enlargement (Austria, Poland, Hungary, the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia). A central focus of the course is the extraction of comparative lessons for Ukraine, with particular attention to shared constitutional themes, institutional challenges, and pathways of legal transformation. Special attention is devoted to the constitutional difficulties that some Member States have faced after joining the EU, including challenges related to judicial independence, rule of law backsliding, constitutional identity conflicts, and tensions between national authorities and EU institutions. The course is structured around three interconnected modules: (1) the constitutional foundations of the European Union; (2) national constitutional perspectives of EU Member States and their relevance for Ukraine; and (3) Ukraine’s own constitutional journey within the broader story of European integration in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.