In 2022 the University Foundation started a series of panel debates In its new “Speakers’ Corner” series, which will give the floor to British speakers and speakers from EU on UK-EU affairs. The next activity takes place on May 15, 2023, at 6 pm and deals with the question  “The UK and the EU in a changing world. Time for a new departure?“. Panelists are – Professor Anand Menon (King’s College London), Sir Ivan Rogers (last UK permanent representative to the EU) and Stefaan De Rynck (Head of the Commission representation in Belgium and former senior adviser to BREXIT negotiator Michel Barnier). Moderator is Paul Adamson, chairman of the UK/EU Forum. Concluding re marks are formulated by Jim Cloos, SG of TEPSA  and Senior Associate Fellow of  the Egmont Institute. This activity is organized in colloboration by the University Foundation, TEPSA (Trans European Policy Studies Association), and the Egmont Institute.

The debate is followed by a reception.

Please register before 8 May 2023. Participation fee: 25 € p.p.  To register click here.

Topic of the debate

The new agreement to resolve the tensions surrounding the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol – the so-called “Windsor Framework” – sets the scene for a more cordial EU-UK relationship after almost seven years of uncertainty and acrimony in the wake of the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum.
This debate will examine to what extent it is realistic to envisage a ’new era’ in EU-UK relations, where the most important areas of cooperation and collaboration lie, and what should be a longer term strategy for building on this new momentum.

Presentation of the speakers 

Anand Menon is Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at Kings College London. He also directs the UK in a Changing Europe project (www.ukandeu.ac.uk). His areas of research interest include the policies and institutions of the European Union, European security, and British politics. He contributes regularly to both print and broadcast media. He is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of the European Union (OUP, 2012), and co-author of Brexit and British Politics (Polity 2018). He is a trustee of Full Fact a member of the Strategic Council of the European Policy Centre, a Council member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and an associate fellow of Chatham House. (@anandmenon1)

Sir Ivan Rogers- KCMG   Educated ( BA and DPhil courses) at Balliol College Oxford and Ecole Normale Superieure.
U.K. Treasury, including Private Secretary to Chancellor Ken Clarke.
Chef de Cab to Sir Leon Brittan 1996-99.
EU Director and then Fiscal Policy Director at HM Treasury for Chancellor Gordon Brown 1999-2003
Principal Private Secretary and G8 Sherpa to PM Tony Blair 2003-06.
Senior Government Banker at Citi, then BarCap 2006-11.
U.K’s EU, G7 and G20 Sherpa for PM Cameron 2011-13.
U.K. Permanent Representative to EU 2013-17. Resigned from U.K. civil service January 2017.
Since then, freelance consultant and commentator…

Stefaan De Rynck heads the European Commission’s Representation in Belgium, creating a bridge between the EU’s executive and Belgian politics and society. His experience in EU affairs and public policies covers  transport, sustainable urban development, regulation of financial services, and the single market. From 2016 until 2021, he was a senior advisor for the Brexit negotiations conducted by Michel Barnier. De Rynck teaches on EU governance at the University of Leuven (KUL) and published “Inside the deal. How the EU got Brexit done” (2023)

Jim Cloos is a former Deputy Director General for General and Institutional Policy at the General Secretariat of the EU Council of Ministers. Between 2001 and 2006, he was a close collaborator of High Representative Javier Solana.
From 1995 to 1999, he was Head of Cabinet to the President of the European Commission and his G7/8 Sherpa. Between 1993 and 1995, he headed the Cabinet of the Commissioner in charge of agriculture.
Jim is the Secretary General of TEPSA – the Trans European Policy Study Association, and a Senior Associate Fellow in the European Affairs Programme of the Egmont Institute.

Paul Adamson OBE is chairman of Forum Europe and Forum Global and founder of Encompass an online magazine and discussion space dedicated to covering the European Union and the UK’s place in the world. He is also the chairman of the EU-UK Forum and a member of the Independent Commission on UK-EU Relations.
Paul Adamson is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London,