The UK’s departure from the EU will have far-reaching consequences for its European neighbours and the EU institutions, as well as the UK itself. This important project will examine the approaches taken by the governments of the remaining member states (EU27), the EU institutions, and the UK to the Article 50 negotiations and to the negotiations concerning the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
Bringing together leading experts from across the EU to form a cross-national observatory and funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, 'Negotiating Brexit' will:
- provide informed commentary as the negotiations develop via a dedicated website, blogs and downloadable texts aimed at a general readership in the UK and beyond
- hold conferences open to all at important stages of the negotiations
- create a digital depository of key documents available to anyone interested in the UK’s changing relationship with the EU
- deliver a collective volume that tracks the approaches of governments and EU institutions from David Cameron’s 2013 Bloomberg speech, through the June 23 referendum, the formal triggering of the Article 50 process by the government of Theresa May, to the negotiations themselves
- examine in an edited collection the domestic politics of Brexit across the EU
- contribute to academic scholarship on preferences, preference formation, and international negotiations
The team will work closely with the ‘UK in a Changing Europe’, a programme funded by the ESRC to provide independent and expert analysis to decision makers, stakeholders, the media, and the general public.
The project is led by Professor Hussein Kassim, University of East Anglia, and Dr Simon Usherwood, University of Surrey.
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Blogs
The impact of Brexit on the economies of selected Euro area member states
Brexit and the EP: What rights for the European citizens?
The Hungarian Parliamentary Elections
Macron and Brexit: An update
Gibraltar, UK and Spain: How Brexit could be an opportunity
| Country or institution | Members of the observatory | Position and affiliation |
| Austria | Sonja Puntscher-Riekmann | Professor of Political Theory and, Director of the Salzburg Centre of European Union Studies, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, University of Salzburg |
| The Czech Republic | Petr Kaniok | Associate Professor, Department of International Relations and European Studies, Masaryk University |
| Denmark | Jesper Dahl Kelstrup, | Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Business, University of Roskilde |
| Ian Manners | Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen | |
| Mads Dagnis Jensen | Associate Professor, Roskilde School of Government, University of Roskilde | |
| European Commission | Hussein Kassim | Professor, School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication, UEA |
| European Council | Hussein Kassim | Professor, School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication, UEA |
| European Parliament | Nathalie Brack | Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Université libre de Bruxelles |
| France | Christian Lequesne | Professor and Director of the Centre d'études et de recherches internationals, Sciences Po Paris |
| Germany | Eva Heidbreder | Professor, Department of Political Science, Otto-von Guericke Universität Magdeburg |
| Greece | Calliope Spanou | Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens |
| Hungary | Robert Csehi | Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy, Central European University |
| Ireland | Brigid Laffan | Professor, Director of Robert Schuman, European University Institute |
| Italy | Marco Brunazzo | Associate Professor of Political Science, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento |
| Vincent Della Sala | Associate Professor of Political Science, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento | |
| Lithuania | Ramūnas Vilpišauskas | Professor and Director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University |
| Luxembourg | Anna-Lena Hoegenauer | Research Scientist, University of Luxembourg |
| Netherlands | Adriaan Schout | Senior Research Fellow and Coordinator Europe, Netherlands Institute of International Relations, Clingendael |
| Norway | Ulf Sverdrup | Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) |
| Poland | Natasza Styczyńska | Assistant Professor, Centre for European Studies, Jagiellonian University |
| Spain | Carlos Closa | Professor, Institute of Politics and Public Goods, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Spanish National Research Council |
| Salvador Llaudes | Analyst, the Elcano Royal Institute and Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Relations, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid | |
| Ignacio Molina | Senior Analyst, the Elcano Royal Institute and Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Relations, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid | |
| Sweden | Mats Braun | Senior Lecturer, Södertörn University, Sweden |
| UK | Hussein Kassim | Professor, School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication, UEA |
| Simon Usherwood | Reader, University of Surrey |
Our first publication, ‘Negotiating Brexit: what do UK negotiating partners want?’, was launched on Friday 20 October at a conference held at the British Academy in London.
Members of the team presented their studies alongside several distinguished keynote speakers that included: former Foreign Secretary of State Sir Malcolm Rifkind QC; Legal Counsel at EU reform conferences from Maastricht to Lisbon Jean-Claude Piris; Lindsay Appleby Director General at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and Chief Advisor to the EU Brexit Negotiator, Michel Barnier, Stefaan De Rynck.
For the countries and the institutions that they cover, contributors addressed the following questions:
- How important is Brexit to them? How are they preparing? Do they see the UK’s departure as a matter for regret, opportunity, or both?
- How do they view the principles that were adopted by the European Council in the wake of the UK referendum? Do they think that Michel Barnier is doing a good job as the EU’s chief negotiator?
- How is the UK viewed from the national capitals of the EU27? Is unity likely to hold or will it dissolve when and if the talks move to the UK’s future trading relationship?
Download the Negotiating Brexit booklet
Negotiating Brexit: Where Now?
In the wake of the October 2018 European Council, which was signalled as the decisive moment for the negotiations, we launched our second publication at a conference that takes stock of developments, looks at the views from other national capitals and “Brussels”, and considers the implications in a number of key areas, including the Irish border, trade, financial services, aviation, food, and competition policy.
For a report and video highlights from the day, see our news article.
Analysis by members of the team
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Salvador Llaudes, Ignacio Molina, Miguel Otero Iglesias y Federico Steinberg: España ante el Brexit, Elcano Policy Paper 1/2018 - 12/3/2018
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Ulf Sverdrup: Surviving Brexit: twelve lessons from Norway
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Graham Butler; Mads Dagnis Jensen; Holly Snaith: ‘Slow change may pull us apart’: debating a British exit from the European Union
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Roberto Belloni; Marco Brunazzo: 'After "Brexit': The Western Balkans in The European Waiting Room
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Salvador Llaudes: The UK’s referendum and Spain: a Brexit is unlikely to be welcomed by Spanish citizens
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Carlos Closa: Secession from a Member State and Withdrawal from the European Union
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Another Europe Is Possible was established to campaign for a radical ‘in’ vote in the EU referendum on 23rd June 2016, coming from across the spectrum of the progressive left, working across party political lines to campaign for democracy, human rights, and social justice.
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The Department for Exiting the European Union is responsible for overseeing negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU.
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The EU Law Analysis blog provides expert insight into EU law developments.
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The Brexit Observatory of the Institute for Employment Studies is looking for answers to Brexit-related challenges, by sharing relevant research, tracking datasets, and linking to sources of independent information.
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Left Leave is the Campaign for a UK Left Exit from the EU.
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LSE Brexit is a multidisciplinary, evidence-based blog run by the London School of Economics and Political Science. It is part of the ‘LSE Programme on Brexit’, run jointly by the European Institute and the Institute of Public Affairs.
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Open Britain is a cross-party, grassroots campaign fighting against a hard Brexit.
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The UK in a Changing Europe promotes rigorous, high-quality and independent research into the complex and ever changing relationship between the UK and the European Union (EU).
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The UCL Brexit Hub is UCL's portal for research, academic content and expertise on all things Brexit.
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The UK Parliament Brexit News publishes research and analysis from Parliament's libraries and committees on how leaving the EU will affect different policy areas in the UK.