EU Knowledge and Drafting: The Written Case Study
What is expected
The written case study asks for a short, structured note on an EU policy or administrative issue. Expect to identify the problem, set out the legal and policy context, present two or three options, assess them (effectiveness, efficiency, subsidiarity and proportionality, budget, stakeholders, timing) and recommend one with clear next steps. Useful knowledge: the policy cycle and Better Regulation tools (impact assessment, stakeholder consultation, evaluation), choice of legal instrument (regulation, directive, decision), the ordinary legislative procedure and trilogues, delegated and implementing acts, and transparency rules.
Drafting traps
- Opinion presented as analysis, or assertions with no reason or source.
- Vague recommendations ("strengthen cooperation") with no actor, action or date.
- The wrong instrument, or a misstated legal base.
- Ignoring subsidiarity and proportionality when they are the point of the question.
- No addressee: the reader cannot tell what they are being asked to approve.
Rule of thumb
One idea per paragraph, stated in its first sentence. Use the active voice, define abbreviations once, number the options so the reader can refer to them, and keep a neutral institutional register. Structure: context, problem, options, assessment, recommendation, next steps.