Brexit necessitates an agreement-plus for Northern Ireland
September 2017 - The 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement has been far more significant than making the Irish border less visible – it has redefined relations across these islands in a way that have defused it as a cause for political conflict and violence.
Professor David Phinnemore and Dr Katy Hayward
UK in a changing Europe
Brexit, Northern Ireland and Territorial Differentiation: An Opportunity Not To Be Missed
September 2017 - The UK government’s position paper on Northern Ireland and Ireland released on 16 August points to the importance of economic prosperity in sustaining the peace process.
Professor David Phinnemore and Dr Katy Hayward
Scottish Centre on European Relations
Explained: EFTA, the EEA, and why even some Brexiteers are now embracing the Norway model
August 2017 - With Brexit negotiations stalled in their early stages and Britain's exit date rapidly approaching, earnest discussions are underway about what the UK can do to avoid a "cliff-edge" Brexit.
Professor David Phinnemore
Business Insider
The UK government’s position paper on Northern Ireland after Brexit – some initial thoughts
August 2017 - Following the UK government's release of its position paper on the position of Northern Ireland and Ireland after Brexit, Professor Dagmar Schiek shares her initial thoughts on the paper and highlights what is not being addressed.
Professor Dagmar Schiek
QPOL
Brexit papers risk leaving Ireland in firing line between Britain and the EU
August 2017 - How the struggles of the UK to formulate an exit strategy from the European Union might be affecting Ireland.
Professor David Phinnemore
Irish Independent
Northern Ireland’s Brexit border: the promise of invisibility
August 2017 - The British government has sought to bring some clarity to its plans for the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland in a position paper published on August 16.
Professor John Garry
The Conversation
Leo Varadkar: Irish leader reveals fraying patience over Brexit border
August 2017 - Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (prime minister) expressed polite but firm frustration with advocates of a hard Brexit during a speech at Queen’s University Belfast.
Professor John Garry
The Conversation
Theresa May warned Sturgeon's Scotland will continue push to meddle in Brexit talks
August 2017 - An expert on European politics has warned Theresa May of “frustrated voices” in the UK’s devolved administrations, urging her to give them more of a say on Brexit.
Professor David Phinnemore
The Express
The United Kingdom may become a member of EFTA. It will soon be a problem for Norway
July 2017 - [Article not in English]
Professor David Phinnemore
Aftenposten
A post-Brexit border in the Irish sea was never really on the table – a political solution must be
July 2017 - There are fundamental questions to be asked when considering the management of the Irish border as one of the EU’s external borders.
Dr Katy Hayward
The Conversation
Competition Policy after Brexit: Ending the One Stop Shop?
July 2017 - As the process of the UK's withdrawal from the EU continues, Professor Lee McGowan looks at the policy considerations and implications of the UK taking back control of competition policy
Professor Lee McGowan
QPOL
Could the UK rejoin the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) after Brexit?
July 2017 - With the Brexit clock ticking ever louder, the need to plan the UK’s future relationships with not only the EU but other trading partners too becomes more urgent.
Professor David Phinnemore
The Conversation
Majority of Brexiters would swap free movement for EU market access
July 2017 - The majority of Brexit supporters would be happy to swap European free movement for single market access, according to two studies which suggest ways for Britain to pull back from the brink in the upcoming negotiations.
Professor David Phinnemore
The Guardian
After Brexit, should the UK just join the EEA?
June 2017 - As Brexit negotiations get underway, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see how the UK can pursue its former “have your cake and eat it” strategy, particularly when it comes to a trade deal.
Professor Christopher McCrudden
The Conversation
EU citizens’ rights in the UK after Brexit, and the future role of the European Court of Justice
June 2017 - The UK has finally made an offer to allow some EU citizens to retain some rights in the UK after Brexit. There are two sets of issues that arise: the substantive rights that will need to be agreed to, and the enforcement of these rights.
Professor Christopher McCrudden
UK Constitutional Law Association
U.K. Should Consider EFTA Deal to Kick-Start Post-Brexit Trade: Think Tank
June 2017 - Britain should consider a pact with the European Free Trade Association to kick-start its post-Brexit trading relations with 38 nations, according to Foraus, a think tank focused on Swiss foreign policy.
Professor David Phinnemore
Bloomberg News
EU Referendum: One year on
June 2017 - Much has changed over the course of the last year. But there is evidence that not enough has been done to think through both the immediate process of leaving the EU.
Professor Colin Harvey and Professor John Garry
PDF
Northern Ireland’s complexity is its strength
June 2017 - Brexit negotiations make it a testbed for the EU’s flexibility and the UK’s resilience and a renewal of the multilayered 1998 Agreement is the best way forward says Dr Katy Hayward.
Dr Katy Hayward
QPOL
Borders of the Future: Brexit and Bordering Ireland
June 2017 - If nobody wants a return to the borders of the past, then what will the borders of the future look like asks Professor Cathal McCall.
Professor Cathal McCall
QPOL
Ireland is in prime position to profit from Brexit relocations
May 2017 - The flow of money from investors around the world – so-called foreign direct investment (FDI) – will change, even before the nature of the UK’s exit from the EU becomes clear.
Dr Kieran Conroy
The Conversation
Nationalism and unionism risk destroying ground on which they stand
May 2017 - Consensus-based, powersharing arrangements only work if there is deep compromise. Pro-Brexit unionism and British nationalism are on a very different path
Dr Katy Hayward and Dr Niall Ó Dochartaigh
The Irish Times
The EU’s farming policy is hated – but what comes next may be worse
May 2017 - Leaving the EU provides “an unprecedented opportunity to revitalise our countryside in a way that balances the needs of everyone, for generations to come”.
Dr Viviane Gravey
The Conversation
How Northern Ireland voted in the EU referendum – and what it means for border talks
April 2017 - Should the border lie between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, restoring the old border created by the partition of Ireland? Or should it be placed along the Irish Sea?
Professor John Garry
The Conversation
Where Brexit means … significantly more than a soundbite
April 2017 - Cooperation across the Irish border has been painstakingly achieved against a myriad of obstacles. This achievement is to a very large extent due to the UK and Ireland’s common membership of the European Union.
Dr Katy Hayward
Reimagining Europe Blog
Northern Ireland and Brexit: the European Economic Area option
April 2017 - In some ways the most obvious way to mitigate some of the key impacts of Brexit on Northern Ireland is for Northern Ireland to join the European Economic Area (EEA). This paper sets out the case and addresses the difficulties.
Professor Chris McCrudden, Dr Lee McGowan, Professor David Phinnemore and Professor Dagmar Schiek
European Policy Centre
Frictionless or Fantasy? The post-Brexit future of UK/Ireland borders
April 2017 - Change in the status of UK citizens, goods and services vis-à-vis the EU (and vice versa) means that inevitably there will be significant increase in the ‘friction’ experienced and the scale of immigration and customs controls.
Dr Katy Hayward
PDF
Collateral damage? The potential impact of Brexit on Ireland
March 2017 - If the Brexit divorce proceedings are messy and hostile, the first victim will be vital political nuance, the second may be hard-won peace.
Dr Katy Hayward
PDF
Article 50 triggered: here’s what happens now
March 2017 - Theresa May has finally triggered Article 50 so the process of the UK's withdrawal from the EU has begun. Professor David Phinnemore lays out the various stages in the negotiations over the next two years.
Professor David Phinnemore
QPOL
Brexit Britain and trade – this is where it gets tricky
March 2017 - The triggering of Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union by Theresa May finally signals the end of the phoney war on Brexit.
Dr Billy Melo Araujo
The Conversation
Alliance Party Conference - Contributions to panel on Brexit
March 2017 - “What is the best deal for Northern Ireland after Brexit?”
Dr Katy Hayward
PDF
Escaping the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice for the European Union by EUXIT?
March 2017 - Professor Dagmar Schiek analyses the extent to which the EU’s association agreements and the new generation of its global trade agreements allow the UK to avoid the jurisdiction of the Court.
Professor Dagmar Schiek
QPOL
Hard Brexit – perspectives for the island of Ireland?
February 2017 - In the event of a hard Brexit, Professor Dagmar Schiek looks at some of the areas where the withdrawal of the UK from the EU will impact on life on the island of Ireland.
Professor Dagmar Schiek
QPOL
Queen’s academics highlight fears for cancer treatment and research in a post-Brexit world
February 2017 - The authors write: “We need to take every opportunity to remind the UK government that cancer patients and cancer research could be significantly disadvantaged.”
Professor Mark Lawler and Professor Patrick Johnston
European Institute of Oncology and the OECI
The shape of Brexit is probably already written in a 60-year-old document
February 2017 - For the United Kingdom, March 2017 represents a significant turning point. Prime Minister Theresa May plans to trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and the Brexit clock will start ticking.
Professor David Phinnemore
The Conversation
Brexit: What Next Once Article 50 is Triggered?
February 2017 - The triggering of Article 50 by PM Theresa May is imminent, but what will happen over the next two-years? Professor David Phinnemore outlines the projected timetable for negotiations and the main issues that will be up for discussion.
Professor David Phinnemore
QPOL
Bored of borders already? Building “The Wall” is only the start.
February 2017 - Dr Katy Hayward looks at the growing interest into all things border-related and asks why have borders become the latest political obsession?
Dr Katy Hayward
QPOL
Brexit could mean a flood of US foods the public don’t want
February 2017 - With Brexit looming, Professor Chris Elliott looks at the UK's discussions with the US about a trade deal and asks what impact will this have on the food that we eat?
Professor Chris Elliott
QPOL
Brexit’ means ‘Brexit’, but where is the (un)United Kingdom heading?
February 2017 - Without pretending to give answers to all questions surrounding the ‘Brexit’ and UK’s future outside the EU, this policy paper summarises the current stance of the UK.
Dr Elena Basheska, Dr Sara Clavero, Professor Dagmar Schiek
PDF
“Hard Brexit” -How to address the new co-nundrum for the Island of Ireland?
February 2017 - The UK Prime Minister’s speech of 17 January and the subsequent govern- ment’s White Paper confirmed the writing on the wall: there was never scope for any so-called soft Brexit.
Professor Dagmar Schiek
PDF
Theresa May confirms it’ll be a hard Brexit – here’s what that means for trade
January 2017 - Leaving the single market became an inevitability for the UK from the moment the Brexit referendum was framed as an outright rejection of one of its fundamental pillars: the free movement of people.
Dr Billy Melo Araujo
The Conversation
The Irish Border and Brexit: An Explainer, Parts 1 and 2
January 2017 - In a time of increasingly nationalistic and isolationist fervour in Britain’s English core, the threat posed to continued Irish integration should be noted.
Dr Katy Hayward
PDF
Four ‘green lines’ for Brexit negotiators looking to protect the environment
January 2017 - Brexit risks harming the UK’s environment unless the government passes stiff new legislation before it triggers Article 50.
Dr Viviane Gravey
The Conversation
Redeeming 'north-southery' from complacency
July 2017 - Complacency about the peace, about power-sharing, about cross-border cooperation, about, even, EU membership has allowed the unthinkable to happen.
Dr Katy Hayward
Slugger O'Toole
How does a lack of agreement in Northern Ireland bode for Brexit
August 2017 - Never mind the capacity of Northern Ireland politicians to govern, their capability when it comes to playing the bargaining game is second to none.
Dr Katy Hayward
UK in a Changing Europe
The Irish border as a customs frontier after Brexit
July 2017 - When the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, the status of its land border with the Republic of Ireland will inevitably change.
Dr Katy Hayward
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
The implications of Brexit for peace on the island of Ireland
March 2017 - Britain’s exit from the EU could undo 40 years of progress on the island of Ireland.
Dr Katy Hayward
International Politics and Society Journal (IPS)
The UK needs to come up with flexible and imaginative solutions
August 2017 - The European Council has given an unusual playing card to the UK government by stating an openness to ‘flexible and imaginative solutions’ for managing the Irish border after Brexit.
Dr Katy Hayward
European Politics and Policy (EUROPP)
A frictionless border is an oxymoron
July 2017 - Michel Barnier’s recent dismissal of the notion of “frictionless” trade between the UK and EU after Brexit has direct ramifications for one of the most complex problems faced by the Brexit negotiators: how to manage the Irish Border.
Dr Katy Hayward
The Irish Times
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Queen's on Brexit
Insight and Analysis
View 2016 article archive
Interview with Prof David Phinnemore and Dr Katy Hayward
September 2017 - Discussion on the Northern Ireland border issue in relation to Brexit.
Professor David Phinnemore and Dr Katy Hayward
A Diet of Brussels
Brexit podcast featuring Professor David Phinnemore
October 2017 - Professor David Phinnemore outlines the particular challenges Brexit presents for Northern Ireland, and thoughts on areas to explore in terms of possible solutions.
Professor David Phinnemore
Chrome Radio
Legatum Institute’s solution for the Brexit border is highly problematic
September 2017 - In the second of two related articles, Katy Hayward and Maurice Campbell review the Legatum Institute's recent paper on Brexit and the Irish border.
Maurice Campbell and Dr Katy Hayward
QPOL
German election – what does it mean for the EU and the UK withdrawal process?
September 2017 - The much-anticipated results of the German elections elicited speculation on their potential effects on the EU negotiations of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
Professor Dagmar Schiek
QPOL
Brexit podcast featuring Professor Colin Harvey
October 2017 - Professor Colin Harvey on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill 2017-19 and the key concerns the Bill raises as currently drafted.
Professor Colin Harvey
Chrome Radio
Brexit podcast featuring Professor Colin Harvey and Professor Lee McGowan
October 2017 - Professor Colin Harvey and Professor Lee McGowan discuss the implications of Brexit for the Good Friday Agreement, the Common Travel Area, and the future of Northern Ireland as well as of the United Kingdom as a whole.
Professor Colin Harvey and Professor Lee McGowan
Chrome Radio
Brexit podcast featuring Dr Glenn Patterson
October 2017 - Dr Glenn Patterson, writer and Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen's, heads south for the border. He visits Omeath and Newry to find out how those living along the border see the future post-Brexit.
Dr Glenn Patterson
Chrome Radio
Brexit podcast featuring Dr Katy Hayward and PG Student Dominik Hamm
October 2017 - Dr Katy Hayward moved to Northern Ireland in 1995. She reflects on the changes she has witnessed, and the impact of Brexit. German postgraduate student Dominik Hamm arrived in Belfast in autumn 2016, shortly after the EU referendum. He talks about what Brexit could mean for him.
Dr Katy Hayward
Chrome Radio
The Irish border is not a technical issue but a political one
October 2017 - At this stage of the exit negotiations, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic is not a technical issue but a political one, argues Katy Hayward from Queen’s University Belfast. She explains exactly why the Northern Irish/Irish issue is a block preventing the Brexit talks from progressing, and provides suggestions on how to shift it.
Dr Katy Hayward
The London School of Economics and Political Science
EU (Withdrawal) Bill and its implications for human rights and equality in NI
October 2017 - Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU and that fact continues to be significant. Common membership of the EU has been a basic assumption of the peace process and the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and Ireland has also underpinned that peace. There is extensive debate at all levels on the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland and how these will be reflected in the discussions ahead.
Professor Colin Harvey
House of Lords
Miller and Northern Ireland: A Critical Constitutional Response
October 2017 - There are many unfortunate results of Brexit, but one of the most problematic is the adverse effects that Brexit has had on current and future relationships between Britain and Ireland, and within Northern Ireland. These adverse effects were entirely predictable and show little sign of abating.
Professor Christopher McCrudden
SSRN
The language of ‘flexible and imaginative’ solutions is unique to the Irish dimension of Brexit
November 2017 - The language of ‘flexible and imaginative’ solutions is unique to the Irish dimension of Brexit, writes Professor David Phinnemore from Queen’s University Belfast. Furthermore, he argues that at the heart of the commitment of all parties involved in the exit negotiations is the desire to ensure that Brexit does not in any way undermine the Northern Ireland peace process. He outlines what a range of ‘flexible and imaginative’ solutions might entail.
Professor David Phinnemore
The London School of Economics and Political Science
Judging Brexit Solutions
November 2017 - Much of the focus of the Brexit debate, with respect to N. Ireland/Ireland, has moved to ‘solutions’. Many are now on offer (‘reverse’ this and ‘plus’ that). How should these proposals be judged with reference to some of the values that are informing the BrexitLawNI project? There is scope for differing views but there are five issues I want to highlight (with the aim of promoting discussion).
Professor Colin Harvey
Brexit Law NI
Bordering on Brexit: The views of local communities in the Central Border Region
November 2017 - Dr Katy Hayward looks at some of the findings from the report entitled Bordering on Brexit: views from local communities in the Central Border Region of Ireland/Northern Ireland – conducted by the Centre for International Borders Research at Queen's on behalf of the Irish Central Border Area Network.
Dr Katy Hayward
QPOL
Preliminary Findings Report – Brexit and the Border
October 2017 - The Common Travel Area (CTA) is an arrangement whereby UK legislation provides there are no border (i.e. passport) controls across the land border on the island of Ireland. Common EU membership has also ended customs controls. Any restriction on freedom of movement over the land border engages compatibility with the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA 1998).
Professor Colin Harvey
Brexit Law NI
Preliminary Findings Report – Brexit and North-South Relations
October 2017 - Brexit has intensified discussion of the border on the island of Ireland. One thing that both the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA 1998) and membership of the EU did was to take the hard edges off this issue by normalising movement, as well as promoting the idea of transnational institutions and the concept of multiple identities.
Professor Colin Harvey
Brexit Law NI
Northern Ireland’s Supreme Court Brexit Problem (and the UK’s too)
November 2017 - Professor Christopher McCrudden looks at the ramifications of the devolution issues of the recent Miller Case brought before the UK Supreme Court.
Professor Christopher McCrudden
QPOL
UK Withdrawal (‘Brexit’) and the Good Friday Agreement
November 2017 - Upon request by the AFCO Committee, the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs commissioned this study on UK withdrawal and the Good Friday Agreement (the ‘Agreement’). It provides an overview of the Agreement and an assessment of the potential challenges posed to its implementation by ‘Brexit’
Dr Katy Hayward and Professor David Phinnemore
Policy department for citizens' rights and constitutional affairs.
This Brexit juncture is a critical moment for the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement
November 2017 - Dr Katy Hayward and Professor David Phinnemore highlight their current report on UK withdrawal and the Good Friday Agreement requested by the AFCO Committee of the European Parliament and commissioned by the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs.
Dr Katy Hayward and Professor David Phinnemore
QPOL
Irish minister: 'We won’t sacrifice peace on this island for Brexit'
November 2017 - Article by Professor David Phinnemore on the Brexit and the Irish border issues.
Professor David Phinnemore
Financial Times (Netherlands)
No, the Northern Ireland Brexit solution was not going to break up the United Kingdom
December 2017 - It makes little sense for the notion of a threat to the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom to be raised or taken seriously in the current Brexit discussions.
Professor Colin Harvey
The Telegraph
The DUP was painted into a corner by Brexiters’ hyperbole, but a solution is possible
December 2017 - The DUP’s apparent scuppering of the Brexit deal in Brussels this week is not merely a sign of political intransigence. The party has been effectively pushed into a corner by the way British government ministers have framed Brexit as a challenge for the Irish border.
Dr Katy Hayward
The Guardian
Talk about ‘avoiding a hard border’ is either empty rhetoric or dangerous delusion
December 2017 - Why is Northern Ireland/Ireland (NI/IRL) such a huge sticking point in the Brexit negotiations? It boils down to the implications of three things: leaving the Single Market, leaving the Customs Union, and upholding the 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, writes Katy Hayward (Queen’s University Belfast).
Dr Katy Hayward
The London School of Economics and Political Science
Brexit deal breaks deadlock – experts react
December 2017 - EU negotiators announced on December 8 that enough progress has been achieved in Brexit negotiations for talks to move on to a second phase – the nature of the future relationship between the UK and the EU. A deal on the Irish border, a major sticking point in the talks, was given the go-ahead by both the EU and UK. Here academic experts explain aspects of the agreement.
Dr Katy Hayward
The Conversation
The Impact of Brexit on Human Rights in Northern Ireland
December 2017 - Professor Colin Harvey speaks to the Oxford Human Rights Hub Podcast about the Brexit deal that has been reached between the UK and EU this morning. He also discusses the importance of human rights in Northern Ireland in the on-going discussions.
Professor Colin Harvey
Oxford Human Rights Podcast
Brexit deal: Creative solutions postponed – and much work for legal drafters
December 2017 - Professor Dagmar Schiek gives her first assessment of the latest ”Brexit” compromise on the island of Ireland from a legal perspective.
Professor Dagmar Schiek
QPOL
Regulatory Alignment: What Will It Take to Make It Work, And How Big Are the Risks of Failure?
December 2017 - The UK has a new starting point for its negotiations with the EU on the future relationship, with the phase 2 talks almost certainly unlocked following on last week’s EU-UK joint report.
Dr Katy Hayward
Scottish Centre on European Relations
Regardless of any trade deal with the EU, border checks will still be needed
December 2017 - There is already a cacophony of conflicting interpretations of the joint report between the EU and UK in Brussels last Friday.
Dr Katy Hayward and Paul McGrade
Newsletter
‘Specific solutions’ & ‘distinct arrangements’: more of the same for post-Brexit
December 2017 - The UK has offered surety for maintaining an open Irish border, promising to maintain wide-ranging alignment with EU rules covering every aspect of the 1998 Agreement, north/south and east/west. Moreover, it has asserted that Northern Ireland will ultimately have the right to decide for itself to follow UK or EU rules, should they diverge in the future.
Dr Katy Hayward and Paul McGrade
Slugger O'Toole
Young people’s views on ‘Brexit’
December 2017 - What do young people in Belfast think about Brexit? This question was at the heart of the ‘My Life My Say and European Parliament Brexit Café’, held for people under 30 in Belfast on 8 December 2017.
Dr Amanda Kramer
Brexit Law NI
Strategic remainers and leavers
December 2017 - Professor John Garry looks at the ins and outs of where the UK is in the Brexit process.
Professor John Garry
QPOL
Brexit deal gives more rights to Irish passport holders, experts say
December 2017 - People born in Northern Ireland who carry Irish passports could have more rights after Brexit than those who carry British passports, legal experts have claimed.
Professor Dagmar Schiek
The Guardian