The annual EU-UK Forum conference will take place for the first time in-person as well as online on Tuesday, 4 February, 2025 in Brussels.
It will address the evolving dynamics of EU-UK relations in a period marked by improved dialogue and cooperation. It will focus on issues such as the development of diplomatic and trade relations, boosting Europe’s economy and competitiveness and the growing importance of security and defence cooperation.
Maroš Šefčovič (born in 1966) is a Slovak diplomat, who since 1 December 2019 has served as Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight. In this capacity, he leads the Commission’s work on interinstitutional relations, better policymaking, strategic foresight and the European Battery Alliance. He is also responsible for the European Union’s relations with Western non-EU countries, notably Andorra, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, Lichtenstein, San Marino and Switzerland. He also cochairs the EU-UK Partnership Council under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the EU-UK Joint Committee for the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement.
European affairs have been at the centre of Mr Šefčovič’s career for almost two decades. In 2014, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament. From 2010-2019, he was Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of first Interinstitutional Relations and Administration, and then the Energy Union. In 2009-2010, he was European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth. From 2004 -2009, he was the Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the European Union, contributing to the country’s major integration projects, such as its entry to the Eurozone and the Schengen area. As a diplomat by profession, he served between 1992 and 2004 in Zimbabwe and Canada and as Ambassador to Israel.
He graduated from the University of Economy in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the Moscow State Institute for Foreign Relations. He holds a degree as Doctor of Law and a PhD of European Law from Faculty of Law at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He also undertook training in diplomacy at Stanford University, USA.
He wrote a book “Driving the EU forward – talks with Maroš Šefčovič”, focused on his first mandate as the Commission Vice-President. In 2018, he was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa at the Pan-European University in Bratislava, Slovakia
Stella Creasy is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been Member of Parliament for the London constituency of Walthamstow since 2010. She became the chair of the Labour Movement for Europe in February 2022.
She served in the frontbench teams of Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman from 2011 to 2015. Following the Labour Party’s defeat at the 2015 general election, Creasy stood in the Labour Party deputy leadership election, finishing second to Tom Watson.
Stephen Doughty was elected as Welsh Labour & Co-operative Member of Parliament for Cardiff South and Penarth in a by-election in November 2012. He was re-elected in the General Elections of 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Born and educated locally in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, he went on to study at Lester B. Pearson UWC in Canada, Oxford University and St Andrews University. He later worked for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, members of the National Assembly for Wales, and spent a number of years working in for humanitarian and international development NGOs World Vision UK, Oxfam GB, Oxfam International and Oxfam Cymru.
He served in the last Labour UK Government as Special Adviser on poverty, development, trade and humanitarian affairs to the then UK Secretary of State for International Development.
Following the election of Keir Starmer as Leader of the Opposition in 2020, he was appointed Shadow Foreign Affairs and International Development Minister, covering Africa, International Development and the UK Overseas Territories.
In Autumn 2021 he was appointed as Shadow Minister for Europe, North America and the Overseas Territories. He also covers themes including global security, NATO, the Polar regions, oceans and LGBT+ rights.
***Times are in CEST***
10:00 am
- 10:30 am
Registration and Coffee
10:30 am
- 10:35 am
Introduction
10:35 am
- 11:15 am
Keynote Session
11:15 am
- 11:40 am
Presentation and Discussion of Exclusive Polling
11:40 am
- 11:55 am
Morning Coffee Break
11:55 am
- 12:10 pm
Presentation of EY Annual European FDI Attractiveness Survey
12:10 pm
- 12:55 pm
Panel on Growing Europe’s Economy
1:00 pm
- 2:15 pm
Networking Lunch
2:15 pm
- 2:40 pm
Keynote
2:45 pm
- 3:30 pm
Panel on Security & Defence
3:35 pm
- 4:00 pm
Discussion on the Future of Europe
4:00 pm
- 5:00 pm
Networking Afternoon Coffee
5:00 pm
Conference Ends
The agreement of the ‘Windsor Framework’ heralds a new era of constructive dialogue and collaboration between the EU and the UK. The 2023 annual conference of the EU-UK Forum discussed some of the key areas where this new positive atmosphere is likely to produce the most results and where obstacles still remain.
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Our reach extends far beyond the Square Mile’s boundaries and across private, public and voluntary sector responsibilities. This, along with our independent and non-party political voice and convening power, enables us to promote the interests of people and organisations across London and the UK and play a valued role on the world stage.
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To discuss sponsorship and visibility opportunities at The EU|UK Forum Annual Conference, please contact the team on [email protected].
To discuss sponsorship and visibility opportunities at The EU|UK Forum Annual Conference, please contact the team on [email protected].
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James Cleverly was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 6 September 2022.
James was previously Secretary of State for Education from July 2022 to September 2022.
Before that, James was Minister of State for Europe and North America in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) from February to July 2022. He was also Minister for Middle East, North Africa and North America from September 2020 to February 2022. James was first appointed as a joint Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development on 13 February 2020.
James was Minister without Portfolio from July 2019 to February 2020, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union from April 2019 to July 2019. He was first elected as the Conservative MP for Braintree in May 2015.
James Cleverly
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
United Kingdom
*Pre-recorded speech
Bio will appear here soon.
David Lammy
Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign,
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, United Kingdom
Maroš Šefčovič (born in 1966) is a Slovak diplomat, who since 1 December 2019 has served as Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight. In this capacity, he leads the Commission’s work on interinstitutional relations, better policymaking, strategic foresight and the European Battery Alliance. He is also responsible for the European Union’s relations with Western non-EU countries, notably Andorra, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, Lichtenstein, San Marino and Switzerland. He also co- chairs the EU-UK Partnership Council under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the EU-UK Joint Committee for the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement.
European affairs have been at the centre of Mr Šefčovič’s career for almost two decades. In 2014, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament. From 2010-2019, he was Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of first Interinstitutional Relations and Administration, and then the Energy Union. In 2009-2010, he was European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth. From 2004 -2009, he was the Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the European Union, contributing to the country’s major integration projects, such as its entry to the Eurozone and the Schengen area. As a diplomat by profession, he served between 1992 and 2004 in Zimbabwe and Canada and as Ambassador to Israel.
He graduated from the University of Economy in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the Moscow State Institute for Foreign Relations. He holds a degree as Doctor of Law and a PhD of European Law from Faculty of Law at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He also undertook training in diplomacy at Stanford University, USA.
He wrote a book “Driving the EU forward – talks with Maroš Šefčovič”, focused on his first mandate as the Commission Vice-President. In 2018, he was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa at the Pan-European University in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Maroš Šefčovič
Vice-President Interinstitutional Relations & Foresight
European Commission
Lindsay Appleby has been the UK’s Ambassador to the European Union since January 2021. Lindsay joined the (then) Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1996. Prior to his current role, Lindsay was the UK’s Deputy Chief Negotiator in the No. 10 Downing Street Europe Task Force during the negotiations of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. He has also worked as the Director General for EU Exit in the FCO (2017 to 2020), Director Europe (2015 to 2017), Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Colombia (2012 to 2015), and Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary (2010 to 2012).
Lindsay Appleby
Ambassador and Head of the UK Mission to the European Union
Bio to be added soon.
Catherine Barnard
Professor of EU Law and Employment Law
University of Cambridge
Kelly Beaver is Chief Executive of Ipsos in the UK and Ireland. She has been with Ipsos for over a decade and was previously Managing Director of Ipsos’s UK Public Affairs division. Kelly holds several honorary positions external to Ipsos in academia and charities. She is passionate about the use of evidence in decision-making and her roles outside of Ipsos enable her to make a wider contribution to the social sciences discipline in promoting its use. She is a Fellow of the UK Academy for Social Sciences, a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London, and a Gwilym Gibbon Research Fellowship at Nuffield College, Oxford University. She is also Trustee for the Government What Works Centre for Early Intervention. Kelly is a regular commentator in the national press and broadcast media. She is experienced at presenting to senior audiences on public and business leader opinion and societal and consumer trends across a range of topics including trust, gender equality, employee engagement, leadership, and many others.
Kelly was awarded an MBE in June 2022 as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to academia, research and the COVID-19 response.
Kelly Beaver MBE
Chief Executive UK and Ireland
Ipsos
Anu Bradford is Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organizations at Columbia Law School, a Director for Columbia’s European Legal Studies Center, and a Senior Scholar at Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business at Columbia Business School. Bradford is also a nonresident scholar in the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her research focuses on international trade law, European Union law, digital regulation, and comparative and international antitrust law.
Bradford earned her S.J.D. (2007) and LL.M. (2002) degrees from Harvard Law School and also holds a law degree from the University of Helsinki. After completing her LL.M. studies as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard Law School, Bradford practiced antitrust law and European Union law at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Brussels before returning to Harvard for her doctoral studies. She has also served as an adviser on economic policy in the Parliament of Finland and as an expert assistant to a member of the European Parliament. Bradford is the author of “The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World” (OUP 2020), which was named one of the Best Books of 2020 by Foreign Affairs. Her next book “Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology” will be published by the OUP in September 2023.
Anu Bradford
Author of ‘The Brussels Effect’
Peter Foster is the Public Policy Editor of the Financial Times and author of the FT’s weekly Britain After Brexit newsletter. He joined the FT in April 2020 from the Telegraph Media Group where he had held the position of Europe editor since 2015, focusing on the Brexit negotiations. He has more than two decades of experience covering global affairs from all sides of the world, based in New Delhi and Beijing, as well as Washington DC, where he served as The Telegraph’s US editor from 2012.
Peter Foster
Public Policy Editor
FT
Stefan Fuehring
Head of Unit, EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
European Commission
David Lidington is Chair of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the UK’s foremost Defence and Security Policy think tank, and UK Chair of the Koenigswinter Conference (UK/Germany) and the Aurora Forum (UK/Nordics and Baltics). He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Centre for European Reform and Hon President of the Great Britain China Centre, a Foreign Office arms-length public body.
David represented Aylesbury in the House of Commons from 1992 to 2019.
As Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster he served as deputy to Prime Minister Theresa May from January 2018 to July 2019, having previously served in the May governments as Leader of the House of Commons and as Justice Secretary.
David served as Minister for Europe throughout the coalition government and David Cameron’s Conservative government (2010-2016), the UK’s longest-serving holder of that post. He held responsibility for the UK’s relations with more than 50 countries in Europe and Central Asia and represented the UK at the EU, NATO, OSCE, Council of Europe and the UN Security Council.
Sir David Lidington
UK Minister for Europe 2010-2016
Chair of the Royal United Services Institute
Nathalie Loiseau
Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence
Suzanne Lynch is the co-author of Brussels Playbook, Politico’s flagship morning newsletter. Prior to joining Politico, she worked as a foreign correspondent and finance reporter for the Irish Times. She covered US politics, including the tumultuous Trump years, as Washington Correspondent for the Irish Times between 2017 and 2021.
She was previously European Correspondent, based in Brussels, where she led coverage of the euro zone crisis, Brexit and the refugee crisis. She has also written extensively on financial and arts issues, and is a regular contributor to international TV and radio platforms.
She holds a BA from University College Dublin and a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University.
Suzanne Lynch
Chief Brussels Correspondent
Politico Europe
Dr. Roderick Parkes is deputy director of the research institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). He also heads the Alfred von Oppenheim Center for the Future of Europe, where he works on issues of European integration and the EU’s role in the world. He joined DGAP from the Institute for Security Studies, a Paris-based agency of the EU, where he provided advice to decision-makers on dealing with the intersection of EU internal security and foreign policy.
Over the past 15 years, Parkes has worked across Europe. At the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), he worked on a special research project for the foreign ministry on the geopolitics of migration; at the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), he headed the Europe Program; and at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), he worked as a researcher in Berlin before heading its liaison office to EU institutions and NATO.
Parkes holds a PhD from the University of Bonn and studied at Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh, and Sciences-Po Grenoble. He has taught at the European Security and Defense College, NATO School Oberammergau, and NATO Defense College.
Roderick Parkes
Head of the Future of Europe Center, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Stephen Phipson has been the Chief Executive of Make UK since joining in 2017.
Stephen previously spent 5 years as a senior civil servant holding the position of Head of the Defence and Security Organisation within the Department for International trade delivering export support to UK defence and security businesses and prior to this Stephen held the position of Director for Security Industry Engagement within the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism at the Home Office.
Before serving in the UK Government Stephen spent 35 years in senior roles in the manufacturing industry including 15 years with Smiths Group plc as President of Smiths Detection where he was awarded a CBE in 2010 for services to the Security industry. Stephen has worked extensively abroad in high technology manufacturing businesses and started his career as an engineering apprentice with the Plessey company.
Stephen Phipson CBE
CEO
Make UK
Duncan Robinson is The Economist’s political editor and Bagehot columnist. Prior to this Duncan was Brussels bureau chief and author of the Charlemagne column, as well as a political correspondent in London. Before joining the newspaper, he worked at the Financial Times.
Duncan Robinson
Political Editor and Bagehot Columnist Economist
Pedro Serrano
Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom
Bio to be updated soon.
Patrick Wintour
Diplomatic Editor
The Guardian
Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and founder and editor of Encompass, an online magazine dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.
Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.
In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.
Paul Adamson
Chairman
EU|UK Forum
The Independent | 12 June 2023
Euronews | 12 June 2023
Irish News | 12 June 2023
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