Here is a Brexit conference organized by Luca Rubini at the University of Birmingham on Feb 24, 2017:
This conference has two goals. The first is to explore the important legal and political questions about the new role of the UK in the international trade context, and in particular with respect to the need to enter into several Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), that a possible Brexit raises. The second objective is to broaden the view and discuss the state of the art in the PTAs world by considering both horizontal issues and specific issues.
09:00-09:30 Registration
09:30-11:00 Part I: Britain, Brexit and Beyond
Key-note Speakers: Dr. Lorand Bartels (University of Cambridge) and Ms. Lilja Ólafsdóttir (Reykjavik University, Attorney at Law, former Legal Council at the EFTA Secretariat and negotiator for Iceland on FTAs and the EEA Agreement)
11:00-11:15 Coffee break
11:15-12:45 Part II: PTAs: The State of the Art
Horizontal issues: Legal Institutions, Disciplines, Political Economy
Dr. Rilka Dragneva-Lewers (Birmingham)
Sohyun Lee (LSE)
Rafael Lima Sakr (LSE)12:45-13:45 Lunch
13:45-15:15 Specific issues (I): Subsidies, Investment and Energy
Dr. Luca Rubini (Birmingham)
Ira Ryk-Lakhman (UCL)
Andrea Rocco (Birmingham)
Natasha Georgiou (Reading)15:15-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-17:30 Specific issues (II): Labour and Environment
Dr. Maria-Anna Corvaglia (Birmingham)
Dr. Billy Melo Araujo (Queen's University Belfast)
I-Ju Chen (Birmingham)
June Namgoong (UCL)17:30-18:00 Closing session
With regard to the PTA horizontal issues, here are my thoughts. If we get to the point where the UK is actually negotiating PTAs, the UK should keep these PTAs simple. If they get bogged down with ISDS, IP, labor and environment issues, the agreements will be controversial and take a long time to negotiate. More here.
