Committee to hold evidence session with experts on the foreign, security and defence relationship between the UK and the EU
From 4pm on Tuesday 18 October, the European Affairs Committee will hear evidence from six experts on the UK-EU foreign, security and defence relationship:
At 4pm:
- Professor Malcolm Chalmers, Deputy Director-General at the Royal United Services Institute
- Sophia Gaston, Head of Foreign Policy at Policy Exchange
- Hans Kundnani, Associate Fellow and former Director, Europe Programme, at Chatham House
At 5pm:
- Dr Rosa Balfour, Director of Carnegie Europe
- Dr Nathalie Tocci, Director of Instituto Affari Internazionali
- Georgina Wright, Senior Fellow and Director, Europe Programme, at Institut Montaigne
Background
The aim of the Committee’s future UK-EU Relationship inquiry is to examine the overarching state of the post-Brexit UK-EU relationship and how it might be improved in the future. The inquiry is investigating:
- The overall UK-EU political, diplomatic and institutional relationship;
- The UK-EU relationship on foreign policy and security;
- The UK-EU relationship on environment and climate change matters;
- The UK-EU relationship on culture, education and mobility of people
This is the third evidence session of the inquiry. This session will enable the Committee to hear from a range of both UK and EU-based experts on issues relevant to the future of the UK-EU relationship in the areas of foreign policy, security and defence.
Meeting details
At 4:00pm: Oral evidence
Inquiry
The future UK-EU relationship
At 5:00pm: Oral evidence
Inquiry
The future UK-EU relationship
Director at Carnegie Europe
Director at Istituto Affari Internazionali
Director at Institut Montaigne
Possible topics
- The impact to date of the UK’s departure from the EU on foreign, defence and security cooperation between the UK and the EU
- Whether an institutionalised framework for UK-EU foreign, defence and security cooperation would be of value
- Whether the EU would be open to deepening foreign, defence and security cooperation with the UK and, if so, on what terms
- The appropriateness of current Whitehall machinery for coordinating British policy towards the EU and individual Member States
- The effectiveness of cooperation between the UK and the EU in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and any lessons that can be learned from this
- How the UK should approach the deepening relationship between NATO and the EU, as a non-EU member of NATO
- The potential for the UK to participate in the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), and the possible implications of this
- How UK cooperation with the EU should relate to the UK’s participation in other multinational organisations, such as the Council of Europe, the UN and the G7
- The implications for the UK of ongoing and future developments in the EU’s approach to foreign, security and defence policy, including the EU’s approach to ‘strategic autonomy’ and the launch of the European Defence Fund
Further Information