How might the coronavirus pandemic affect the post-Brexit negotiations?

The UK has set 31 December 2020 as the deadline for negotiating its future relationship with the European Union and, if it wishes to extend that deadline, it must inform Brussels by 30 June 2020. With governments generally struggling to manage the pandemic, with time for little else, that schedule looks even more challenging. But the pandemic is likely to impact the negotiating agenda in key sectors in ways not previously envisaged. So: is the timescale still practicable? And, must we adjust what we need to talk about? This panel will draw together experts on both the process and content of the Brexit negotiations.

Simon Fraser (@SimonFraser00) previously served as Permanent Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Head of the UK Diplomatic Service from August 2010 to July 2015. He is currently Deputy Chairman of Chatham House and serves as Adviser to the Europe Programme. He is also Managing Partner of Flint Global.

Sara Hagemann (@sarahagemann) is Academic Director at the School of Public Policy, LSE.

Christian Lequesne is Professor at the Sciences-Po Centre for International Studies, Paris. He was formerly Sciences Po-LSE Professor at the European Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Brigid Laffan (@BrigidLaffan) is Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence.

Tony Travers is Associate Dean of the School of Public Policy at LSE.

This event is part of LSE's public event series - COVID-19: The Policy Response.

COVID-19 represents an enormous challenge for the social sciences to help governments and non-governmental organisations respond to the economic and societal consequences of the pandemic. Part of LSE's response to this challenge is a series of online public events that will take place over the Summer Term.

Why not visit the School of Public Policy COVID-19 Resource Centre.

This event in the series has been organised by the European Institute and the School of Public Policy.

The next event in this series will take place at 4pm on 30 April on COVID-19 and Deglobalisation.

This event is also part of the LSE Programme: Brexit and Beyond.

The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

The LSE School of Public Policy (@LSEPublicPolicy) is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Our approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSECOVID19

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from Coronavirus and Brexit: two cases of quarantine?

A video of this event is available to watch at Coronavirus and Brexit: two cases of quarantine?

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.