Since taking office in July 2024, the UK Government has pledged to ‘reset’ relations with the EU through targeted, negotiated adjustments to the post-Brexit settlement.

What can be achieved by the ‘Reset’ is limited from the outset. The UK government will seek practical gains through targeted cooperation while avoiding any reopening of the constitutional settlement wrought by Brexit. To that end, it has set clear red lines: no return to the Single Market, the Customs Union or free movement. Yet what ‘Reset’ may entail across different policy areas depends not only on the UK’s priorities and red lines, but equally on those of the EU.

This workshop will examine the terms of the UK–EU ‘Reset’, including both the agenda that has been set and the agreements and understandings negotiated so far. It will focus on the substantive areas the UK has prioritised: SPS and veterinary arrangements, climate and energy cooperation, electricity market, security and defence, migration and borders, and professional and youth mobility. It will also consider the legal, procedural and institutional pathways through which any new arrangements might be negotiated, adopted and implemented, with particular focus on the role and implications of dynamic alignment.

Schedule

Time                   Sessions

08:15 – 10:15     Registration desk opens

08:30 – 09:00     Breakfast refreshments

09:00 – 10:00      PANEL 1: “Reset” and free movement

Professional and youth mobility – Catherine Barnard
Common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area – Fiona Smith and Carolina Maciel
Chair: Evanna Fruithof
Discussant: Sit Christopher Vajda

10:00 – 10:30     AM Coffee Refreshments

10:30 – 12:00     PANEL 2: Energy markets

Energy market and environment – Angus Johnston/John Bell
Energy market and environment: practice – Anneli Howard KC, Suzanne Rab
Electricity and state aid – Totis Kotsonis , Katrien Miclotte
Chair: Stefan Enchelmaier
Discussant: TBC

12:00 – 13:00      Lunch

13:00 – 14:00        PANEL 3: Borders and security

Migration and borders – Maria Fletcher
Security and defence – Graham Butler
Chair: Catherine Briddick
Discussant:  Jonathan Faull

14:00 – 14:30     PM Coffee Refreshments

14:30 – 16:15     PANEL 4: The constitutional and institutional dimensions

Domestic challenges of dynamic alignment – Paul Craig
The EU perspective on dynamic alignment – Alberto Alemanno (online)
Northern Ireland – Billy Melo-Araujo and Lisa Claire Whitten
Chair: Alan Dashwood
Discussant: Imelda Maher

16:15 – 17:00     PM Coffee Refreshments

17:00 – 17:30     Keynote by Brigid Laffan

17:30 – 18:45     Book launch: Paul Craig and Vilija Vėlyvytė (eds), The UK Regulatory Framework Post-Brexit: ‘Law Unbound' (Oxford University Press 2026)

SPEAKERS BOOK LAUNCH: Paul Craig, Jeff King, Gavin Phillipson, Gavin Barrett, Orla Lynskey, Catherine Briddick. CHAIR: Vilija Velyvyte

18:45 – 19:15/30  Drinks Reception

Following this event The UK Regulatory Framework Post-Brexit: 'Law Unbound' is taking place in the same space.  If you wish to attend both events, you will need to register for each event separately.  The registration link can be found here.