EVSb2097 EU in practice: Czech farmers and consumers in the EU

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Petra Kuchyňková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Anna Michalčáková (lecturer), Mgr. Petra Kuchyňková, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Petra Kuchyňková, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! EVS197 Czech farmers and consumers && !NOW( EVS197 Czech farmers and consumers )
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 30 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The main goal of the course is to introduce detail aspects of one of the crucial EU communitarian policies (which is Common Agricultural Policy, CAP), to the students. But the broader aim is to show (using the example of this particular EU policy) the real dimension of the EU´s working, including the engagement of particular relevant actors to the policy-making. The area of the CAP is not connected any more just with the narrow problematic of agricultural production and its financial support. Nowadays it covers also important areas of consumer protection and environmental problems. That is why the importance of this agenda steadily grows in the everyday life. Besides of this, the problem of the CAP is closely connected also with current events concerning e.g. the preparation of the new multiannual financial framework for the years 2021-2027. Substantial part of the course will be thus devoted also to these topics, their current development and their future. As one of the most controversial EU policies the CAP is connected also with a lot of myths and misinformation (also in the context of the Czech Republic). The course thus focuses especially on the working of the CAP in the Czech context. The students will have the opportunity to discuss both the positive and also the negative experience with the forking of the CAP in relation to the CR. First part of the course will be composed of lectures and in the second part, students will learn to discuss relevant issues connected to the CAP (also with external experts) and solve particular tasks and problems connected with the CAP.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to: understand not only the emergence of the CAP in the context of common market formation, but also the connected problems of consumer protection, selected environmental problems (connected with the agriculture) and problems connected with the preparation of multiannual financial framework; understand and analyse practical working of this EU policy and the role of particular key actors (farmers and their lobby, consumers, representatives of the government, EU institutions etc.); discuss relevant issues connected to the CAP (also with external experts); solve particular tasks and problems connected with the CAP; work in groups; collect data (e.g. via interviews) and work with data in order to write the group project; present the group project.
Syllabus
  • 1) Introduction and course requirements 2) The key moments of the development of the Common Agricultural Policy, reforms, basic terms, key problems 3) Common Agricultural Policy in the Context of the EU Enlargement, CAP and the Czech Republic 4) Current Issues of the CAP – consumer protection and the relation of the problematic to the CR 5) Current Issues of the CAP - preparation of the new reform and the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 6) The advisory practice in the areas of EU legislation and subsidies 7) The Issues and Problems of the Czech Agriculture and Country-Side and its Existence under the CAP 8) The Issues and Problems of the Czech Agriculture and Country-Side and its Existence under the CAP (expert from Association of Private Farming of the Czech Republic) 9) Current Issues of the CAP (repr.of EU institutions) 10) Excursion 11) a 12) Presentation of group projects 13) Final test
Literature
  • Copus, A.K. and de Lima, P. (eds; 2018): Territorial Cohesion in Rural Europe: The Relational Turn in Rural Development. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781138363854.
  • HILL, Berkeley. Understanding the common agricultural policy. London: Earthscan, 2012, xi, 335. ISBN 9781844077786. info
  • KÖNIG, Petr. Rozpočet a politiky Evropské unie : příležitost pro změnu. 2. aktualiz. vyd. Praha: C.H. Beck, 2009, xxxiv, 630. ISBN 9788074000119. info
Teaching methods
The basic teaching methods include lectures, class discussion and group projects. The group projects consist in presentations by small groups of students of practical assignment in the form of concrete analysis of particular problems concerning the Czech experience with the CAP and/or the support of EU Common Agriculture Policy. The group projects serve to broaden students skills in team work and oral presentation and also the analytical skills. Seminar discussions will be conducted not only with the teacher, but also with the experts (students may prepare the questions for discussion in advance). Excursion in a particular farm (nearby Brno) is a voluntary part of the course.
Assessment methods
For the course completion students have to pass the final written examination and elaborate a practical assignment during the course. Written test will be composed of 10 questions with set of possible answers (2 points for each question) and five open questions (10 points each). It will be possible to receive 50 points in total for the test. Practical assignment completion and its presentation (30 points max) is a necessary condition for passing the course. Successful course completion requires receiving at least 60 points together. Bonus points may be awarded for preparation of the questions for the experts and for the participation at the excursion.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/EVSb2097