Event reports
On 17 October, a workshop and public debate entitled “The Day After Brexit: Reinventing Britain’s Relationship with the EU”, co-organised by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies took place in London.
The workshop began with a discussion on the causes of the EU referendum result and the lessons to be learnt it. The discussion was introduced by Anthony Teasdale, Director General of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) and Tim Beyer Helm, an adviser in the cabinet of the Secretary General of the European Parliament.
This was followed by the second session, which addressed the future EU-UK relationship. The discussion was led by Baroness Smith of Newnham from the University of Cambridge, Stephen Booth, Acting Director and Director of Policy and Research at Open Europe and Paal Frisvold, CEO of Geelmuyden Kiese in Brussels.
Elmar Brok, Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, John Bruton, former Irish Taoiseach and Vincenzo Scarpetta, Senior Policy Analyst at Open Europe, contributed statements to the third session – a discussion on the future of the EU following Brexit.
The sessions were moderated by Christian Kremer, Deputy Secretary General of the European People’s Party (EPP); Garvan Walshe, CEO of Brexit Analytica; and Roland Freudenstein, Policy Director of the Wilfried Martens Centre.
In the evening, a large audience attended the annual London Debate at Church House. The evening’s proceedings began with a welcoming statement from Hans-Hartwig Blomeier, Director of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung UK and Ireland office.
The debate itself was opened by Mikuláš Dzurinda, former Prime Minister of Slovakia, where he analysed the effect of Brexit on the UK and the EU itself.
Moderated by Iain Anderson, Chairman of the Cicero Group, the participant: Mairead McGuinness, Irish MEP and Vice President of the European Parliament; Janez Janša, former Prime Minister of Slovenia; Neil Carmichael, Conservative Member of Parliament; and David McAllister, CDU Member of European Parliament discussed the causes and consequences of the Brexit result, as well as the consequences for the further development of the EU and the future relations between Britain and the EU.
Following an exciting round of question and answers, Antonio López-Istúriz, Secretary General of the European People’s Party (EPP) summarized the debate and gave an overview of the imminent challenges.