EU and the UK
date: 29/09/2017
Fourth round of Brexit negotiations
The fourth round of Brexit negotiations took place this week. In the closing press conference, Michel Barnier, the European Commission's Chief Negotiator said the week had been constructive and that PM May's speech in Florence has created a new dynamic in the negotiations. He also said that progress has been made in some areas but pointed out that "we are not there yet in terms of achieving sufficient progress." The EU and UK also published a joint technical note on EU-UK positions on citizens' rights.
Michel Barnier's statement
The recording of Michel Barnier and David Davis's press conference is available here
EU Security Union Commissioner Julian King in Cardiff
EU Security Union Commissioner Julian King was in Cardiff on 25 September. He met Dame Shan Morgan, Permanent Secretary of the Welsh Government; Mark Drakeford AM, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and Ken Skates AM, Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure. Commissioner King gave a public lecture on the EU's agenda on security at the Senedd. He discussed the challenges posed by cybersecurity and the radicalisation in communities and particularly among young people. He also visited the National Cyber Security Academy (NCSA) at the University of South Wales, Newport and Airbus Defence and Space, Newport, where he participated in a round table meeting with representatives from the South Wales cluster.
Watch Commissioner King's speech at the University of South Wales here (link is external)
European Researchers' Night 2017
On 29 and 30 September, doors will stay open late in museums, universities and laboratories in Aberdeen (link is external), Belfast, Edinburgh (link is external), Glasgow (link is external), Huddersfield (link is external), Lincoln (link is external), London (link is external), Manchester (link is external), Newcastle (link is external), St Andrews (link is external) and Tring (link is external) to mark European Researchers' Night in what has now become a tradition for researchers to show and tell us what they actually do and why it matters for our daily life.
26 September: European Day of Languages 2017
Schools, libraries, universities and local authorities across the UK celebrated European Day of Languages 2017 with a variety of quizzes, competitions and interactive sessions.
Can national politics still support international integration? The case of the EU
Mario Monti, former EU Commissioner and Prime Minister of Italy gave a speech at the London School of Economics on 25 September in which he said that the main problems of EU integration are generated by dysfunctions of the political process in member states. He spoke about an "antibody effect" following the Brexit vote, as opposed to a contagion one, and gave the examples of the Spanish, Austrian, Dutch, French and German elections which followed the Brexit vote, as well as recent Eurobarometer opinion polls.
Listen to Mario Monti here
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