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Events, News

What Europe Means To Me, November 2016

23 November 2016
Ian Thomson

Ian Thomson

Ian Thomson and Frederico Rocha with a group of interns.

We held our latest event in the series What Europe Means to Me on Thursday 17 November.  On this occasion we thought it would be interesting to look at the UK’s decision to leave the Union from the perspective of a number of other EU Member States.  How had their governments, citizens and stakeholders  reacted to the decision, what factors played a role in the current relations between themselves and the UK, and what would be their strategy in the forthcoming negotiations between the EU and the UK?

An audience listening to a speaker.As usual at such events we asked our current cohort of Cardiff EDC interns to each take a country, investigate the issues and give a short presentation on their findings. On this occasion the following interns spoke on these countries:

  • Alessandra Ciccolella : Poland
  • Artemis Koutsopoulou : Ireland
  • Casandra Boruzescu : Spain and Germany
  • Bastien Beauducel : Denmark
  • Martha Kubiniec : Lithuania
  • Ana Alexandrescu : Malta
  • Coralie Beauchard : Hungary
  • Inma Moreno : Romania
  • Jiacheng Yang : The Netherlands

Each intern made a highly professional presentation full of insight and balance. Cumulatively this brought out how challenging the future negotiations are inevitably going to be, while also highlighting the intensity of existing bilateral economic, political, security, human and cultural relations between many countries and the UK. Some countries could see some opportunities for their country and/or the EU itself once the UK had left the EU, but overall most EU Member States deeply regretted the decision of the UK to leave.

Frederico Rocha and Rachel Minto sitting at a desk.We were also fortunate to have as our expert discussant Rachel Minto of the Wales Governance Centre. Rachel discussed the role of the EU Institutions in the forthcoming negotiations, the Article 50 process and some of the challenges facing Wales and the United Kingdom. The event was ably chaired by Frederico Rocha, Deputy Director of the Cardiff EDC.

Our audience of forty five students and local citizens joined in the subsequent lively discussion, before enjoying a delicious buffet. You can see more photographs from the event on our Facebook page.

Further information on Brexit after the referendum can be found in our Information Guide and via European Sources Online.

 

The next What Europe Means to Me event will be held at the Cardiff EDC on Thursday 9 March 2017 and will mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome in March 1957.