Brexit : what next? - A discussion organised by the Institute for European Studies and Department of International Relations

Abstract

On March 10th the Institute for European Studies in collaboration with the Department of International Relations organised a symposium on BREXIT entitled ‘BREXIT: What Next?’. The symposium was a great success with a full house in excess of 180 people. In the month when the British government triggered Article 50, it was felt timely to take stock of developments and discuss the way forward with special guests representing the key actors, namely the British government, the European Parliament and the European Commission. The symposium began with an overview of BREXIT provided by Prof. Neill Nugent. Prof. Nugent has a long history of collaboration with the Institute and taught at the College of Europe in Bruges and at Manchester Metropolitan University as well as having been the Institute’s External Examiner for a number of years. After Prof. Nugent’s concise overview of how BREXIT came about and the prospects of how the negotiations will develop the symposium proceeded to hear from the panel. The discussion began with the British High Commissioner to Malta, Mr Stuart Gill, who reiterated that BREXIT did not imply that Britain would no longer be a part of Europe but that the prospects for cooperation were now limitless as Britain sought to pursue an international future while maintaining close cooperation with its fellow Europeans. The symposium then went on to hear from the MEPs Dr Theresa Comodini Cachia and Dr Alfred Sant who both discussed the uncertainty that surrounded the immediate future as the EU tackled what was, ultimately, a first, namely the withdrawal of a member state. Finally, Dr Elena Grech, Head of the European Commission Representation to Malta highlighted how the negotiations would be a difficult process because, ultimately, no member state had wanted to find itself in this situation, of having to see a partner leave the group. The symposium was concluded with a Q&A session and then a reception.