UK-EU Relations in the Sunak Era

ESRC 'UK in a Changing Europe' UK-EU Relations in the Sunak Era

After the tensions that marked the premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, the Sunak era has seen a turnaround in the relationship between the UK and the EU. Just after a year since Rishi Sunak took office, this conference reflects on how the UK’s relations with its neighbours have changed and assesses their future development. It asks:

What difference has the Windsor Framework made to UK-EU relations, the prospects for the TCA review, and Northern Ireland?

What is the significance of the bilateral agreements signed by the UK with EU member states and UK participation in the European Political Community? How are the UK and the EU cooperating in key areas, such as the war in Ukraine, energy, migration, and financial services?

How are the UK and the EU cooperating in key areas, such as the war in Ukraine, energy, migration, and financial services?

What are the prospects for the future UK-EU relationship with the scheduled review of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and General Elections in the UK on the horizon?

The conference will be of interest to politicians, businesses, trade unions, NGOs, campaign groups, think tanks, the media, academics, students, and the general public.

 

Provisional Programme:

8:30 Registration and coffee

 

9:00 Welcome and Introduction: Hussein Kassim, Professor of European Public Policy and Administration, University of Warwick and Senior Fellow, UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE), and Simon Usherwood, Professor of Politics, Open University and Senior Fellow, UKICE

 

9:10 Keynote: The view from Brussels: Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive, European Policy Centre

Chair: Jill Rutter, Senior Research Fellow, UKICE, and formerly Programme Director, Institute for Government

 

9:40 Panel 1: Formal relations: The Windsor Framework, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and UK bilaterals

Hussein Kassim Professor of European Public Policy and Administration, University of Warwick and Senior Fellow, UKICE

Lisa Whitten, Research Fellow, Queen’s University Belfast

Simon Usherwood, Professor of Politics, Open University and Senior Fellow, UKICE

Cleo Davies, Senior Research Fellow, 'Living with the Neighbours', University of Warwick

Chair: Jill Rutter, Senior Research Fellow, UKICE and formerly Programme Director at the Institute for Government

 

10:50 Coffee

 

11:20 Panel 2: Views from the national capitals

Pauline Schnapper, Professor of British Studies at the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris 3) and member of the Institut Universitaire de France

Nicolai von Ondarza, Head of Research Divison, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin

Declan Kelleher, Chair of European Policy Centre Governing Board, and formerly Ireland's Permanent Representative to the EU

Chair: Hussein Kassim, Professor of European Public Policy and Administration, University of Warwick and Senior Fellow, UKICE

 

12:15 Lunch

 

13:00 Roundtable: The UK and relations with the EU

Rafael Behr, Columnist, Leader Writer and Author, The Guardian

Nick Heath, Head of Europe Strategy and Expertise Department, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Jill Rutter, Senior Research Fellow, UKICE, and formerly Programme Director at the Institute for Government

Chair: Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs, King’s College London, and Director, UKICE

 

13:45 Panel 3: Developments in foreign policy, security and defence

Jamie Shea, Honorary Professor, Strategic Security Institute, University of Exeter and formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at NATO Headquarters in Brussels

Richard Whitman, Professor of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent, and Senior Research Fellow, UKICE

Patricia Lewis, Research Director and Director, International Security Programme, Chatham House

Peter Ricketts, Chair of House of Lords EU Affairs Committee and former senior UK diplomat, House of Lords

Chair: Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs, King’s College London and Director, UKICE

 

14:55 Tea

 

15:15 Panel 4: Developments in key areas: friction or cooperation?

Andreas Stephan, Professor of Competition Law and Centre for Competition Policy, UEA

Scott James, Reader in Political Economy, King's College, London

Viviane Gravey, Senior Lecturer in European Politics, Queen’s University, Belfast

Catherine Barnard, Professor of EU Law and Employment Law and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge and Senior Research Fellow, UKICE

Antony Froggatt, Energy Policy Consultant and Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House

Chair: Sarah Hall, Professor in Geography, and Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge and Deputy Director, UKICE

 

16:30 Roundtable: Views from the UK’s parliaments

Stewart Wood, Labour peer, House of Lords EU Select Committee

William Cash, Conservative MP for Stone, House of Commons

Member of the Senedd [tbc]

Member of the Scottish Parliament [tbc]

Member of UK-EU parliamentary assembly [tbc]

Chair: Simon Usherwood, Professor of Politics, Open University and Senior Fellow, UKICE

17:15 Ends

 

The conference is co-convened by ‘Living with the Neighbours’, led by Professor Hussein Kassim, with Dr Cleo Davies, both University of Warwick, and ‘The strategic development of the UK-EU relationship’ led by Professor Simon Usherwood, with Dr David Moloney, The Open University. Both are funded as Senior Fellowship Projects under the ‘The UK in a Changing Europe’ (UKICE) initiative www.UKandEU.ac.uk

Twitter: @UKandNeighbours @UKandEU

For further information about the event or if you have any accessibility or dietary requirements, please contact Dr Pippa Lacey at lwtn.bookings@warwick.ac.uk