The European Union and the Challenge of Disinformation Campaigns

ended

Due to its nature and complexity, the European Union has been the subject of disinformation campaigns for many years. This module proposal aims to take such campaigns not only as threat, but also as a pedagogic opportunity to teach European Union law and governance in a more engaging manner. To this end, our module would select four core areas of EU law and governance, namely rule of law and human rights, Economic and Monetary Union, border management and external relations. In relation to each of these areas, the module would discuss various news articles, tweets, etc., that misrepresent the EU. This in turn would open the floor to a more complex and nuanced discussion about how EU law works. The module would be delivered under different teaching formats. Such formats would include five 'communication sessions' that would enable students to both discuss the specific problem of disinformation campaigns as a threat to the European Union and enhance their communicational skills. One of key components of our proposal are the assessment methods. These would consist, first, of four ‘professional deliverables’ that our students would have to prepare, based on a ‘real life’ scenario (such as legal memorandum requested by the European Parliament, a press release or a radio debate). Second, the students would deliver a workshop at a high school of their choice, during which they would apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the module. This in turn would ensure a wide societal reach. Finally, as part of the module activities, we would organise a joint on-line session with the students of the Master of Arts in European Unions (University of Salamanca), an inter-universities debate tournament, and two conferences dealing with different aspects of the fight by the EU against disinformation campaigns. The module (15 ECTS) would be delivered as a minor accessible to our students both of the LL.B. in International and European Law and the LL.B. in European Studies.