Forum
Details
The conference is the culmination of a project on ‘Plugging in the British after Brexit’ that started last year, in the wake of the UK’s Article 50 notification, to explore the political and institutional arrangements for co-operation between the UK and the EU in areas other than trade and the economy.
At the conference we will launch a report that brings together analysis and recommendations for future co-operation in the areas of foreign and development policy; military and defence industrial policy; and justice and home affairs. The report examines existing models of co-operation between the EU and third countries, and draws lessons for the UK from what works (or does not work).
The agenda (subject to change) is as follows:
09:00 Registration and coffee
09:30 Session one: Crime and punishment: Can the UK get a bespoke agreement on police and judicial co-operation?
As the UK gets ready to leave the EU, finding ways to plug the British into EU justice and home affairs has proved more difficult than initially expected. Will the EU offer a ‘bespoke’ agreement to the UK? What would a security treaty, as proposed by Theresa May, look like? How can the EU and Britain avoid a cliff-edge on areas like extradition, where treaties take a long time to negotiate? What would be the role of the European Court of Justice in this area? Would the UK accept its jurisdiction? And how would the EU make sure that Britain complies with the bloc’s stringent data protection standards – a requirement if the UK is to have access to EU law enforcement databases?
Speakers
Camino Mortera-Martinez, Research Fellow, Centre for European Reform
Yvette Cooper, Member of Parliament for Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford
Peter Storr, Former Europe Adviser, Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street
Chair: Charles Grant, Director, Centre for European Reform
11:00 Coffee break
11:30 Session two: Autonomy or influence? Foreign and development policy trade-offs
There are a number of models for foreign policy co-operation between the EU and like-minded countries, relying to different degrees on formal structures. The UK and EU will both want to preserve their decision-making autonomy; and the UK is likely to find that there is a trade-off between the ability to go its own way, and the ability to influence the EU. Does the UK want a treaty-based relationship that guarantees it the right to be heard, or something looser relying on informal influence? Does it see itself generally having a similar foreign policy to the EU, or would it pursue significantly different aims outside the Union?
Speakers
Ian Bond, Director of Foreign Policy, Centre for European Reform
Rosa Balfour, Senior Fellow, Europe Program, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Simon Fraser, Managing Partner, Flint Global
Nick Westcott, Director, Royal African Society
Chair: Felix Dane, Head of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung UK and Ireland Office
13:00 Lunch
14:30 Session three: Positive sum? The pitfalls of military and defence industrial co-operation after Brexit
Both the UK and the EU would benefit from working together to keep Europe safe, even after Brexit. But there are pitfalls to navigate: EU institutions have increased their involvement in defence. A more institutionalised EU defence will be less flexible, making it harder for third countries to plug in. The EU has yet to agree all the details of its defence initiatives, which makes it challenging for the UK to negotiate a deal. Defence industrial co-operation is ultimately dependent on the economic partnership the EU and Britain negotiate. And with the UK no longer at the table, how can Britain and the EU maintain a shared understanding of threats post-Brexit?
Speakers
Sophia Besch, Research Fellow, Centre for European Reform
Paul Everitt, Chief Executive, ADS Group Limited
Kori Schake, Deputy Director-General, The International Institute for Strategic Studies
Julie Smith, Director, European Centre, University of Cambridge
Chair: Malcom Chalmers, Deputy Director-General, The Royal United Services Institute for Defence & Security Studies
16:00 Conference ends
Please email seminars@cer.eu if you wish to attend and indicate on the registration form which panels you wish to attend.