UK-EU Relations Post-Brexit: Study Visit to London

On 16 and 17 February 2023, the Master in Advanced European and International Studies - Applied European Policy and Governance Studies group travelled to London for two days to learn more about the unique relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union in the post-Brexit period.

At the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Denis Keefe raised the issue of involvement of the people and underlined that EU integration has been largely perceived as an elite process in the UK. Now we are still in the period of “making Brexit work”.

Meanwhile at the Delegation of the European Union to the UK, Emilien Gasc raised the challenges of implementing the trade and cooperation agreement between the EU and UK when it comes to environmental standards and climate policy. Elias Centellas highlighted the gaps Brexit left in the field of education, research, work opportunities and people-to-people contacts.

At the European Parliament Liaison Office, Sanna Kangasharju explained the interparliamentary cooperation between the European Parliament in Brussels and the UK Parliament in Westminster. She also described the work of the London office, which is one of only two EP liaison offices outside the EU besides Washington, D.C.

Finally, the UKANDEU think tank presented the results of a post-Brexit survey on economic data, UK-EU trade and public opinion of Brexit in the UK.

Thank you to all of the institutions and speakers for their insightful contributions.