Ironically, graduates of the University of Limerick's European studies degree are discovering that their skills are becoming increasingly valuable outside the EU.

Professor Edward Moxon-Browne, director of the BA in European studies and director of the Centre for European Studies at UL, says that more and more of his students are finding employment outside the EU in countries aiming to join. "Having a knowledge of what goes on inside the European Union can give these people a terrific advantage in a country like Bulgaria or Romania - or Russia even."

Traditionally, graduates have found employment within EU countries, says Moxon-Browne.

According to Moxon-Browne, the course equips students for any career that requires a knowledge of European issues. The degree is useful for jobs in banking, commerce, teaching, the civil service and non-governmental organisations, he says.

The four-year programme, the first of its kind in the State, has been in operation for 30 years, but was completely revised and updated about three years ago, says Moxon-Browne.

Before it was revised, the course focused on more traditional disciplines such as history, sociology and economics, courses on European integration and European co-operation are now included. "The point of the programme is it should be a thoroughly European programme and prepare students for working in Europe," says Moxon-Browne.

The typical intake for the course is 70 to 75 students, who have a 12 to 15 hours of lectures a week. One-fifth of this time is spent learning another language. Students who study two languages choose two further options from politics, history, economics, law or sociology. Students who take one language must select three of the above options. Students study their chosen options throughout the four years.

From the middle of their second year to the middle of their third year, students spend a year off campus, says Moxon-Browne. "During that time, they have to go to a country where the language they are studying in their degree is being spoken. They have to choose one or they can choose two languages out of French, German and Spanish. So a student can choose to go to France or Germany or Spain -or even Austria in the case of German. Some even go to Latin America to learn Spanish."

In the second semester away from campus, students do an internship, which is part of UL's strategy to provide students with work experience. They can do this via a placement in Ireland or they may stay on in the country where they have been studying at a university.

Students who choose this course must have done a language at school and there is a minimum requirement of C3 at higher level in French German or Spanish. However, students have the option to learn Spanish from scratch and for this they must have the minimum requirement in French or German to qualify.

"What makes the course attractive to students is that in all the subjects they do, they are studying things that are useful to them when they go out to live or work somewhere in Europe. Although some subjects require some theory, we tend to be as vocational as we can."

Roughly a quarter of students go on to further study. Moxon-Browne is proud of the course's employment record for the others: most, he says, move into jobs in areas with strong links to European affairs.