Constitutional and European Social Security Law

6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4001549FEW for working students in the 1st semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Possible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

NOTE: registration for this course is only possible for working students. Day students can register for courses whose code ends with an R. At Inschrijven / studentenadministratie@vub.be you must be registered at the VUB as a working student for the current academic year.

Taught in

Dutch

Partnership Agreement

Under interuniversity agreement for degree program

Faculty

Faculty of Law and Criminology

Department

Publiek recht

Educational team

Eleni De Becker (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

18 contact hours Lecture
100 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

The course looks at Belgian social security law from a constitutional and EU law perspective. These two perspectives form the common thread of the course.

Firstly, this course deals with the fundamental rights protection of social security law, i.e. the fundamental rights as enumerated in the Belgian Constitution, in the instruments of the EU and the Council of Europe. When the legislator (further) develops social security law, these fundamental rights must be respected. An example: when the legislator implements certain restrictions to existing social security rights (e.g. limiting the duration of unemployment benefits), the question arises whether this is compatible with fundamental rights, e.g. the right to social security and the right to property.

Secondly, this course looks at EU law and the interaction between EU law and Belgian social security law. Despite that social security law still remains largely in the hands of EU Member States, the EU does play an important role in those national social security systems (e.g. in cross-border situations between EU Member States).

The discussion of fundamental rights and EU law forms the basis with which this course then proceeds in depth, and this by looking at some social risks from those two perspectives. The following structure is always used when discussing the different social risks: 1) a brief discription of the protection provided in Belgian social security law, 2) a discussion of the applicable EU law in cross-border situations in light of the social risks discussed and 3) a discussion of several cases from a fundamental rights and EU law perspective.

The proposed methodology applies the principles learned about fundamental rights and EU social security law to several social risks for which Belgian social security law offers protection. Thay way, the knowledge of the students can be further deepened.

Course material

Practical course material (Required) : Wetboek - basiswetboek sociaal recht voor studenten, F. Louckx et al., Kluwer, 9789403025858
Digital course material (Required) : Slides en andere documenten, beschikbaar via canvas
Course text (Required) : Cursustekst per module, beschikbaar via canvas

Additional info

The course has 18 hours of lectures. Given the limited number of lectures, the emphasis in this course is strongly on self-study (100 hours). The course is structured so that theory is practised during the lectures, which the student then processes independently through the available course material.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

After completing the course unit:

- The student can independently identify the fundamental rights relevant to social security law and explain their functioning in their own words, using the relevant legislative texts.

- The student can independently identify the EU competences in social security law and the EU legislative and policy instruments relevant for social security law and explain their functioning in their own words, using the relevant legislative texts.

- The student can independently apply the fundamental rights and EU social security law to the discussed social risks through case studies, using the relevant legislative texts.

- The student can independently formulate an opinion with a constructive-critical attitude about a legal case in light of the fundamental rights and EU social security law, taking into account the applicable legislative texts. In doing so, the student must demonstrate that he/she understands the connection between the legal provisions of social security law and the fundamental and EU law standards.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Examen Mondeling with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Note: The student is assessed through an oral exam, which determines 100% of the final grade. During the oral exam, the student will be tested on the learning objective listed above. The student is given two knowledge and insight questions and one case. These questions allow examining the student's knowledge and understanding of fundamental rights and European social security law, the way the student solves the given case and the student's motives in explaining their solution.

In addition, the student should also prepare two cases prior to the oral examination: one concerning fundamental rights and one concerning EU law on one of the social risks discussed. The cases will be distributed by the lecturer to the students after the first two modules have been completed. Students are asked to analyse the cases in light of the material discussed. An explanation on this will be given after the lecturer has given the first two modules. During the examination, the student will have to explain one case. The student is allowed to bring the preparation made to the examination. During the oral examination, the lecturer will indicate which of the two cases the student has to answer. If the student already had a case on fundamental rights during the oral exam, he/she will have to explain the prepared case on European social security law and vice versa.

Additional info regarding evaluation

During the oral examination, the student will first be given time to solve the questions in writing. He/she must then explain the answers to the questions orally. The written preparation should support the student in answering the oral questions. The written preparation is not graded by the teacher. During the oral examination, the student may use (non-annotated) legal texts.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context