Time: 6:00 - 7:30pm Venue: Collette Bowe and Martin Harris Rooms, Queens Building, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road E1 4NS
The Centre for Small States is hosting a Leverhulme seminar on the challenges and opportunities that small states and entities face in relations to Brexit. A panel of five experts on small states will reflect on the political, economical and societal consequences of Brexit for small European states, British overseas territories, and Crown dependencies. The aim of the panel discussions is to answer questions such as: How will Brexit change the relationship between Britain and these small states/entities? What does ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ Brexit mean for them? How could these small states/entities react to the Brexit negotiations between Britain and the European Union in order to secure their interests?
A drinks and canape reception will be provided for those in attendance.
Peter achieved his BA in History and Politics and MSc in International Relations at the University of Southampton. He continued his studies at Southampton, achieving his PhD in 2000. Peter joined the staff at UWE soon after.
In 2004-05 Peter was a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in London. In 2009-10 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, and in 2013 and 2014 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Royal Netherlands Institute of South East Asian and Caribbean Studies in Leiden.
Peter has given advice on the Caribbean to the British and Jamaican governments, the UN, the UK Overseas Territories Association, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He is also co-editor of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics and on the editorial board of the journal The Round Table, The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.
Paul Hardy has over 20 years of experience as an EU lawyer, working both in Brussels and Westminster, most recently as the EU Legal Adviser to the House of Lords. His professional background makes him uniquely placed to provide in-depth analysis and advice on the political, policy and legal implications of Brexit, both in the UK and overseas, for private and public sector clients.
He is a Legal Director and Brexit Director in DLA Piper’s Litigation and Regulatory group, complementing its existing Government Affairs, Trade and Regulatory capabilities.
Ms Motselisi Matsela is an Economic Advisor, Small States in the Economic, Social and Sustainable Development Division at the Commonwealth Secretariat. Before joining the Secretariat, she served as an Economist for 8 years at the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Secretariat based in Windhoek, Namibia. Her main role was to coordinate the development and implementation of the Revenue Management Programme, that was basically overseeing the collection of customs and excise duties and ensured equitable sharing of the pooled duties, which serve as one of the main revenue sources to some member countries of the Customs Union. She also served at the Lesotho Revenue Authority as a Director, Performance Analysis Unit and led research and revenue analysis. She served at the Lesotho Ministry of Finance as Senior Policy Analyst. Motselisi hold Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa.
Baldur Thorhallsson is Head and Professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Iceland. He is also Jean Monnet Chair in European Studies and Programme and Research Director at the Centre for Small States at the University. His research focus is primarily on small state studies, European integration and Iceland’s foreign policy. He has published extensively in international journals. He has contributed to several academic books and written two books on small states in Europe: Iceland and European integration: On the Edge and The Role of Small States in the European Union. He holds a PhD (1999) and MA (1994) in Political Science from the University of Essex in England. In 2002, Baldur established a Centre for Small State Studies at the University of Iceland in association with colleagues around the globe and re-established the Icelandic Institute of International Affairs. He was Chair of their Board until 2011. Baldur has taught on small states at several Universities and was 'Class of 1955' Visiting Professor of International Studies at Williams College (MA, USA) in the fall semester 2013. Baldur is currently working on a number of research projects related to Iceland's external affairs and small states in European integration and teaching two courses on small states in Europe.
For directions to the venue, please refer to the map.
This event is free but prior booking is required. Register online via Eventbrite.
For more information on this event, please email lawevents@qmul.ac.uk.
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