Negotiating the future. The UK's repositioning in Europe: processes and consequences

The UK's departure from the European Union will be a historic development for the UK, the EU and the wider continent. This project will examine the evaluation of the UK's relationship with its European neighbours over the next three years: it will research and report on three aspects the approach of the UK and the EU to the negotiations on the future UK-EU relationship - what position each takes, and the actors who are included and excluded on each side; it will monitor the progress of the negotiations and examine the implications, both of the most likely scenarios for the 'macro' model of the relationship - the 'Norway model' and its variants, the Canadian Economic and Trade Agreement, a Swiss-style bilateral, 'No Deal' - and for the governance of key policy sectors, including aviation, competition policy, and financial services, that are up for negotiation under the terms of the Political Declaration; and it will examine the UK's bilateral strategy to strengthen relations with EU member states, its relations with European countries outside the EU, and the impact of Brexit on international arrangements covering security and other key fields.

The project will deliver an authoritative account of developments that will fundamentally recast the UK's position in Europe . Research activities will be based in the first instance on synthesising existing research, but since past work alone can provide only a foundation for the analysis of fast-moving and complex developments, the project will also include new research, in particular the analysis of primary documentation and commentary, and interviews with key decision-makers, stakeholders, and informed observers across Europe. It will build to gain access on the PI's network of contacts, developed over a career of researching the relationship between the EU and the member states, experience as a Senior Fellow in the first round of calls under the programme, and through leadership of the ESRC-funded project, 'Negotiating Brexit', which brought together an observatory of experts covering 15 member states, the main EU institutions, the UK, and Norway as the largest state in EFTA.

With an ambitious plan of engagement and knowledge exchange activities, the project will produce and disseminate informed analysis using a variety of channels and outputs that will meet the demand from the public, as well as more specialist requirements from decision makers, parliamentarians, the devolved authorities, regulators, business, workers and other interests in the UK and elsewhere. It will thus advance the 'UK in a Changing Europe's mission of providing an authoritative and independent reference point for high-quality research-based information on Brexit. Such analysis is especially important, since, as the Article 50 negotiations have shown, the political debate in the UK has tended to neglect the positions of the EU27 and media coverage to focus on largely on Westminster.

The research team will actively engage with users throughout the project's duration. It will deliver research syntheses, reports, blogs, and other material that are easily accessible to policy makers, businesses, journalists, civil society organisations, educational institutions and the general public, interested in the UK's relationship with the EU. These publications will be made available via a dedicated project website and the 'UK in a Changing Europe' knowledge hub at King's College London. The dissemination programme includes local, national and international events, including a 'town hall', public lectures, and talks to sixth-formers in Norwich, and and an annual international conference on the negotiations, as well as addresses to meetings organised by community groups, participate in panels. As a Senior Fellow, I will work closely with the Director of 'The UK in a Changing Europe' and other Fellows, contributing to publications, participating in events, and working with the local, national and international media.

The project includes an active strategy of engagement with policymakers and businesses throughout the UK, civil society organisations, schools and young people, the general public, and actors in the wider international context. The work and outputs of the project are designed to meet their varying requirements.

First, since the media will be the key channel for communicating our analysis to the general public, and vital actors in the construction and development of public debate and understanding of the negotiations, their implications, and the evolving relationship between the UK and its neighbour, it will be important to ensure that the broadcast and print media at home and broad is aware of the project and its outputs. Drawing on his previous experience of working with the media, the PI will mobilise new and existing contacts, as well as liaising closely with Professor Menon and Ben Miller, respectively the Director and the communications officer of 'The UK in a Changing Europe' to maximise coverage of the findings in the media. Since in particular the subject matter of the negotiations is technical, there will be strong demand for contributions that are informed by research expertise. Research and reporting will be central in meeting this need, which will provide opportunities for engagement with local, national and international media outlets. In addition, twitter and blogs will be used to attract media interest and to provide coverage at key moments.

Second, I will use existing personal networks, as well as contacts established by 'The UK in a Changing Europe', to communicate analyses to decision makers, parliamentarians, parliamentary support services, stakeholders, think tanks, and civil society organisations through a combination of open and closed meetings. With an active and pressing public debate, the value of analysis based on independent analysis and expertise will be made clear to such users, grounded as it will be in an impartial and research informed approach. As part of engagement , there will be specific targeting of regulatory agencies, regulatees and consumer organisations on the implications of future governance arrangements for particular policy sectors. As well as personal contacts, I will use the formal schemes and other networks with regulatory communities centred on the UEA Centre for Competition Policy, by creating a 'Brexit and the future of regulation' forum that will enable and promote the active exchange of knowledge between researchers and users.

Third, the wider public -- in the UK and more widely across Europe -- will be a beneficiary from the research and user-engagement undertaken by the project. Concise, informed research-driven materials, written with clarity and precision, as well as podcasts on key topics, will be important points of reference, especially given the solipsism that has hitherto characterised the political debate surrounding the UK and the EU, and the focus on events at Westminster, leading to a neglect of the wider context, the Brussels perspective, and the views from the national capitals of the EU27. Based on Kassim's previous experience and contacts made as a Senior Fellow, we plan local and regional events, including talks to business, young people, and community groups, which will enable members of the public to address direct questions about aspects of the negotiations and the future of the UK's relations with the EU and 'Europe' more generally. We will also use existing contacts, including those developed through 'Negotiating Brexit', to raise the profile of the project and to disseminate analysis to audiences internationally.

Finally, the analysis produced by the project and its reporting will inform academic debate and discussion and provide important source material for scholars. Outputs will be disseminate in the form of commentaries, podcasts, peer-reviewed journal articles, and conference presentations. The latter item will be funded by UEA.