Panel discussion at LUC ‘Life after “Brexit”: What next for the EU and UK?’
Following the European Union membership referendum in the United Kingdom on 23rd of June 2016 and its result, Brexit has turned into a theme dominating public discussion in Europe and beyond. The vote of the people of the UK to leave the EU represents an unprecedented episode in the history of European integration. However, little is known on about the implications of this vote in the UK, EU and as regards their relations with the rest of the world, on when and how the UK will leave the EU or on what will be the future of the relations between the EU and the UK.
In this vein, with the aim of elucidating some of these issues, the Research Centre of Leiden University College (LUC), the Hague, organized on 14 September 2016 a panel discussion featuring academic staff from LUC and Leiden Law School. Ms. Daniel Carter (PhD Fellow, Leiden Law School) gave an overview of the referendum results and potential implications on EU citizenship. Dr. Darinka Piqani (Assistant Professor of EU Law, Leiden Law School and LUC) introduced Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and possible modalities of withdrawal from the EU. Dr. Joris Larik (Assistant Professor of Comparative, EU and International Law, LUC) addressed the implications of UK’s withdrawal on its position in international (trade) agreements and in international organizations. Lastly, Dr. Beatrix Futák-Campbell (Assistant Professor of International Relations, LUC) discussed possible implications of Brexit in the sphere of international relations as well as what Brexit could mean for the position of Scotland in the UK and the EU. As the various questions from the audience and lively discussion that followed demonstrate, "Brexit" will continue to occupy the minds of both faculty and students at the university for many months to come.