Brexit Briefing May - July 2018

Press release issued: 14 August 2018

Academics from the University of Bristol Law School continue to share knowledge, debate and listen to opinion at a national, regional and local level.

• Symposium: Furthering Women’s Democracy in a UK Brexit Environment

24 May 2018: Led by academics from the University of Bristol, the University of the West of England and the University of Bath under the auspices of PolicyBristol, the symposium brought together researchers, activists, voluntary organisations and unions, public sector specialists and policy makers from different nations and regions seeking to influence policy around gender equality, anti-discrimination and women’s rights.

• Implications of Brexit for the UK's single market

15 June 2018: Dr Albert Sanchez-Graells participated in the Cardiff / Liverpool joint roundtable on the UK internal / single market, supported by the ESRC 'UK in a Changing Europe' Initiative and Impact Accelerator Award. The roundtable brought together academics and policy-makers to explore the implications of Brexit for the UK's internal market and the possibilities for asymmetrical participation in the EU's internal market by the devolved administrations. The discussions explored the implications of establishing a UK wide approach, whether more local regimes are possible and appropriate, and whether the choice should be based on legal, economic or political factors. Dr Sanchez-Graells contributed his expertise on public procurement matters.

• Written evidence: Treaties, Brexit, and the Constitution

26 June 2018: Evidence submitted on 18 May 2018 to the House of Lords Committee by Dr Eirik Bjorge, co-written with Arabella Lang (Senior Researcher, House of Commons Library) and Dr Ewan Smith (Shaw Junior Research Fellow, University of Oxford) was cited in a House of Commons report. Titled ‘Treaties, Brexit, and the Constitution’, the submission tackles the foreseeable treaty problems posed by the Brexit process and suggests practicable mechanisms for parliamentary scrutiny and was referenced numerous times in the House of Commons report (‘Parliamentary scrutiny and approval of the Withdrawal Agreement and negotiations on a future relationship’).

• Brexit: Recap, Rethink, Reclalculate (?)

9 July 2018: Dr Albert Sanchez-Graells spoke at a Brexit workshop organised at the University of East Anglia. His presentation, ‘Post-Brexit procurement: what we know, what we don’t and what could come’, discussed how post-Brexit procurement regulation is still dependent on the UK's accession to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement as a member in its own right. With the WTO Government Procurement Committee requesting more information from the UK, the accession is still on hold, creating legal uncertainty and the continuation of further complex negotiations between the UK, the EU and the rest of the WTO GPA members. Previous papers by Dr Sanchez-Graells on this topic can be found here, here and here.

Blog Posts:

“Brexit – What are the options for the UK now?” by Professor Phil Syrpis
“Enough magical thinking. The silly season must stop here” by Professor Phil Syrpis for the London School of Economics and Political Science Blog

Coming up

• Bristol City Region Brexit Assembly

The Law School is an official partner of the Bristol City Region Brexit Assembly, a 12 month-long series of events and debates that are focused on the impact of Brexit on businesses in the Bristol region. The first event is a Breakfast event on 27 September with Professor Phil Syrpis on the panel.

Further information

When the UK voted to leave the EU it entered unchartered territory. With virtually no area of domestic law left untouched, our experts are on the frontline, helping shape the debate and providing opinion on the diverse legal implications of Brexit. Our regular Brexit Briefings, listed on the Brexit Centre homepage, provide highlights of our Brexit activity - key events, media engagement, blogs, and other opportunities for sharing and exchanging knowledge.