News
QUB Policy Engagement “Brexit Clinic” 20 September 2018
TREUP PI’s were engaged in today’s BREXIT clinic – for those who missed the slides, here they are:
New publication: special issue NILQ “On the never ending road to Brexit”
This special issue focuses on challenges and opportunities for the European Union, also addressing topical issues such as the EU’s role in policing the rule of law (with special focus on Poland) and “Irish question” in Brexit. The general introduction and those two articles are open access. The issue overview can be found here
Academic Conference: “BREXIT” 15 months on – socio-legal perspectives for the EU and Europe
Saturday 23 September 2017, 9:00 – 17:15 hrs
Queen’s University Belfast, Main Site Tower
Our sincerest thanks to speakers and participants for making this a successful conference – a summary report is now available here , and a summarising video here. NEW: some of the papers are published in a special issue of the NILQ – check our web page here: https://nilq.qub.ac.uk/index.php/nilq/issue/view/7
The Home Office “Statement of Intent” for EU citizens’ settled status in the UK – for what it is worth…
On 21 June the Home office has issued a 60 page long “Statement of Intent” (SoI) on how EU citizens will be able to secure settled status in the UK after “Brexit”, with immense resonance in the press and blog sphere. Is a mere Statement of Intent worth the hubbub?
The Island of Ireland in the draft withdrawal Agreement – Dagmar Schiek
Professor Schiek offers a first legal political assessment of the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in the draft withdrawal agreement from legal perspectives. She concludes that the EU Commission’s proposal on the one hand constitutes a major compromise, in that a sectoral approach to the EU Internal Market is allowed for Northern Ireland alone, in order to avoid the need of a physical infrastructure at the border on the island of Ireland. On the other hand, the draft falls short of securing the all-island economy in the service sector, and also has shortcomings in maintaining the hybridity of identities in Northern Ireland as aspired by the 1998 Agreement (also known as Good Friday or Belfast Agreement). TREUP Occasional Paper 3 (2018) An updated version taking into account the provisional agreements between the EU Commission’s and UK government’s negotiation parties on 19 March, is available here :The island of Ireland and the UK in Withdrawal Agreement Draft 19 March 2018 Schiek
Human Rights in a Changing Europe – Colliding Spheres of Justice? 15/06/2018
How will Human Rights be protected in Europe between the Council of Europe and the European Union? Debates on how the two competing courts contributed to Equality and Social Justice (panel one, key note: Evelyn Collins, NI Equality Commission) and to resolving tensions between human rights and criminal justice (panel 2, key note: Daniel Sarmiento, University Carlos III Madrid). For more information check the call for papers(closed), the conference report (HERE), the slides of Dagmar Schiek’s conference summary (HERE), and podcasts of speakers summarising their contributions (HERE). Abstracts and cv’s can be found in the conference folder (HERE). *This was a Bar Council’s recognised CPD event.
Economic & Monetary Union & Social Justice (26/01/18) – report now available
Chaired by Prof Dagmar Schiek (QUB), and with presentations by Prof Ulla Neergaard (Copenhagen), Prof Fabian Amtenbrink (Rotterdam) and Dr Bart Vanhercke (OSE, Brussels), the discussion focused on whether the EU’s renewed social agenda, epitomised by the Pillar of Social Rights, can be aligned with the legal frame of Economic and Monetary Union, … Continue reading
New posts on Northern Ireland and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU
In a recent extensive working paper Billy Melo Araujo examines the role of devolved governments in negotiating the UK’s new relationship with the European Union, adding a post-scriptum on the negotiators’ joint report of December 2017 ( http://go.qub.ac.uk/Melo-Araujo-Post-Brex-FTA ). In a shorter blog for the UK in a Changing Europe, Dagmar Schiek discusses the options of avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland considering the positioning of the UK government in addition to the negotiators’ report (http://ukandeu.ac.uk/will-the-irish-question-be-solved/ ).
Brexit deal: Creative solutions postponed – and much work for legal drafters
While the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar praises a “politically bullet proof” agreement on avoiding a so-called hard border, pragmatic Commission negotiator Michel Barnier offered a more realistic summary in his press statement:
“Together with the UK, Irish and all EU governments, we will now need to develop creative solutions that work.”
If this is true, the much praised negotiation progress closing phase one Article 50 TEU negotiations may appear as “back to square one” for appreciating the unique situation of the island of Ireland. Even without legal … Continue reading