This course studies basic concepts and elements of flagship policies of the European Union, together with their institutional dimension. The course examines the birth and evolution of selected EU policies through the Treaties and discusses their consti-tutional foundations, objectives and key parameters, as reflected in the Treaty of Lisbon. It also explores the EU institutions’ role in their context and examines their content by investigating concrete EU measures and actions. The course begins by briefly presenting the objectives of the Union, its competences and its institutional organisation. It then proceeds with an examination of the internal market, EU citi-zenship, the area of freedom, security and justice, with a focus on EU asylum and migration, EU social policy, EU cohesion policy, EU policies for the environment, cli-mate change and energy, the Union’s external action and contemporary challenges facing the internal market with reference to new technologies and digital transformation.