The end of the Brexit transition period is rapidly approaching. Monckton Chambers is delighted to be collaborating with the University of Cambridge to deliver a five-part webinar series on EU Relations Law across October – December, exploring all aspects of this new legal relationship between the UK and EU.
Panels are formed of leading experts from academia, Monckton Chambers and the Judiciary. Please see below details and individual registration links for each one-hour webinar, hosted on Zoom. We look forward to welcoming you at some, or all, of the below events. Please also check out our new EU Relations Law blog, covering all aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement, the future relationship negotiations, and the UK internal market.
The webinars are being held on the following dates:
Webinar 1 – 7 October, 1pm – 2pm – What is EU Relations Law? The Legal Ecosystem of Brexit
The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union is of immense political and economic significance. But it also amounts to a legal transformation both internally within the UK and externally in the UK’s relationship with the EU and other countries. A complex legal ecosystem is emerging that draws upon EU law, international law, UK and devolved law in fashioning a set of rules and principles that manage the phenomenon of Brexit. The aim of this webinar is to introduce the salient and novel features of this body of law that we term “EU Relations Law”.
Chair: Professor Kenneth Armstrong, University of Cambridge
Speakers:
Jack Williams, Monckton Chambers – What is EU Relations Law?
Anneli Howard, Monckton Chambers – Key Aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement and Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland
Professor Alison Young, University of Cambridge – Key Aspects of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020
Professor Kenneth Armstrong, University of Cambridge – The Future Relationship – What Type of Agreement (if any?)
The recording is available here
Webinar 2 – 14 October, 1pm – 2pm – EU Relations Law – Interpretation, Enforcement and Dispute Resolution
EU Relations Law is more than a body of formal rules. It has an institutional infrastructure that includes institutions for the interpretation and enforcement of that body of law. In examining this institutional dimension, the role of UK and EU courts is of particular interest not least because Brexit put that role and relationship under scrutiny. The seminar aims to evaluate this evolving institutional landscape and the tasks assigned to old and new institutions in shaping EU Relations Law.
Chair: Christopher Vajda, former judge of the Court of Justice of the EU
Speakers:
Professor Takis Tridimas, Kings College London – Enforcement and Dispute Resolution under the Withdrawal Agreement
Dr Emily Hancox, University of Cambridge – Interpreting and Departing from Retained EU Law Case Law
Dr Lorand Bartels, University of Cambridge – Enforcement and Dispute Resolution in the Future Relationship
Jack Williams, Monckton Chambers – Domestic Enforcement and Dispute Resolution
The recording is available here
Webinar 3 – 25 November, 1pm – 2pm – The UK Internal Market
Leaving the EU internal market has been a clear domestic policy priority of the UK Government albeit one that has encountered political resistance among the constituent nations of the UK. More directly, the repatriation of regulatory powers to the UK also entails an enhanced role for the devolved governments in the elaboration of domestic regulatory policies. However, the risk that regulatory divergence within the UK might create friction in internal trade in goods and services has prompted the UK Government to propose enshrining a Market Access Commitment in UK law. This webinar explores the thinking behind the UK Government’s proposals for a UK Internal Market and how its squares with the responsibilities and ambitions of the devolved governments.
Chair: Valentina Sloane Q.C., Monckton Chambers
Speakers:
Professor Jo Hunt, University of Cardiff – The UK Internal Market – a Solution in Search of a Problem?
Alan Bates, Monckton Chambers – A Market Access Commitment – The Principles of Mutual Recognition and Non-Discrimination
Professor Kenneth Armstrong, University of Cambridge – The Impact of the UKIM on Devolved Powers in Scotland
Professor Stephen Weatherill, University of Oxford – Two Internal Markets – the Position of Northern Ireland
The recording is available here
Webinar 4 – 2 December, 1pm – 2pm – The External Trade Relations
As the UK moves towards the end of the transition period, Brexit will become less about the UK’s departure from the EU and more about its future relationship with the EU and with other trading nations. Ambitions for the future EU-UK economic relationship are limited to the agreement of a free trade agreement. Whether or not even that style of agreement can be concluded, the legal discipline underpinning the EU-UK economic relationship will change markedly. Any new agreement between the EU and UK will have to be implemented in domestic law in the UK adding to the body of statutes that encompass the Brexit process. But looking beyond its relationship with the EU, the UK also needs to find ways of replicating existing trade deals to which it is a party by virtue of EU membership while also seeking out new opportunities to pursue an independent trade policy. This webinar focuses on the emerging external trade policy of the UK and the legal instruments which give it effect.
Chair: Philip Moser Q.C., Monckton Chambers
Speakers:
Professor Catherine Barnard, University of Cambridge – The EU-UK Future Trade Relationship – What Changes?
Gerry Facenna Q.C., Monckton Chambers – Approving and Implementing the New Relationship in Domestic Law
Alexander Horne, Legal Adviser, House of Lords International Agreements Committee – Parliamentary Scrutiny of Trade Agreements
Brendan McGurk, Monckton Chambers – External relations: Ireland and Northern Ireland
The recording is available here
Webinar 5 – 7 December, 5pm – 6pm – A Level Playing Field for EU-UK Economic Relations
For both the EU and the UK, protection of their autonomy has defined the terms of their mandates for the negotiations. For the EU, protecting its autonomy means that a zero quotas and zero tariffs free trade agreement gives the UK significant market access that exposes it to potentially unfair competition from the UK unless the UK agrees to abide by level playing field requirements. For the UK, protection of its autonomy means that the UK should be free to define its own regulatory policy and the role of the state in the economy. But it is not just public intervention in the market that is in issue. Brexit will see the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority develop its mandate across its anti-trust and mergers jurisdiction while also potentially acquiring a new state aid control function. In this webinar, we explore how potential distortions to competition will be manage in the new EU relations legal framework.
Chair: Judge Ian Forrester, former judge at the General Court, CJEU
Speakers:
Professor Kenneth Armstrong, University of Cambridge – Regulatory Policy and Level Playing Field Obligations
George Peretz Q.C., Monckton Chambers – State Aid Control
Michael Bowsher Q.C., Monckton Chambers – Procurement
Dr Oke Odudu, University of Cambridge – The Role of the Competition and Markets Authority