Workshop on Trade – "The Swiss Experience with EU Market Access: Lessons for Brexit"

On Thursday 23 November 2017, the Department of European Economic Studies, in collaboration and with the support of the Swiss Mission to the EU, organized a one-day workshop on "The Swiss Experience with EU Market Access: Lessons for Brexit".

The objective of this workshop was to illustrate the options available to the UK and the EU for a deep post-Brexit economic relationship, on the basis of the experience with the EU-Switzerland agreements. Topics discussed included migration, the effect of changes in trade policy on employment, and the factors determining the formation of trade agreements.

Contact person: Tony O'CONNOR

PROGRAMME

09.45: Modern trade patterns and trade agreements

• "Global Value Chains, Trade Shocks and Jobs: An Application to Brexit" (Hylke VANDENBUSSCHE, Catholic University of Leuven)
• "Determinants of Preferential Trading Agreement Formation" (Gerald WILLMANN, Bielefeld University)

12.00: Lunch (by invitation only)

13.30: Free movement of workers between Switzerland and the EU

• "Countering Public Opposition to Immigration: The Impact of Information Campaigns" (Giovanni FACCHINI, University of Nottingham)
• "Exposure to Immigrants and Voting on Immigration Policy: Evidence from Switzerland" (Tobias MÜLLER, University of Geneva)

15.30: Lessons for Brexit from the Swiss Experience

• "What can we learn from the Swiss experience?" (Jacques PELKMANS, Centre for European Policy Studies)
• "Concluding thoughts on the lessons from Swiss-EU relations for Brexit" (Philippe NELL, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs)

17.30: End

Related events:

21 November 2017: Panel debate "Voluntary Return Policy as a Tool for Migration Management: Exchange of Best Practices"
25 January 2018: Conference "The EU’s ‘Privileged Partnerships’ with its Neighbours: An Institutional Perspective" 
March 2018 (tbc): Roundtable "Foresight on Differentiated Integration: Academic and Think Tank Practitioners’ Debate"