Time: 6:30pmVenue: Arts One Lecture Theatre, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End campus
Keynote Speaker:Dr. Matthew Sowemimo (Senior Public Affairs Manager at Marine Stewardship Council)
Discussant:Professor Tim Bale (Center for European Research, Queen Mary University of London)
Chair:Dr Sarah Wolff (Director of CER, Queen Mary University of London, UK)
2018/2019 Debating Europe Seminar Series
As the threat of a no-deal are being played out by European and British politicians, the question of what’s next is approaching quickly. Whatever the outcome Europe will remain a key strategic partner for the UK. How will the UK civil society and UK government engage with the EU after Brexit? How will British government officials best influence EU policies? Talking from a practitioner experience, Dr. Matthew Sowemimo, Senior Public Affairs Manager at Marine Stewardship Council, will share with us his views on how to continue to lobby the EU, after Brexit. Professor Tim Bale (QMUL) will engage with these propositions and discuss how the UK can remain relevant next to a European powerhouse.
About the speakers:
Dr Matthew Sowemimo was Research Director at the European Movement UK. He has published papers on British Government policy towards the European Union. He lobbied the European institutions on trade policy during his time as Campaigns Manager at the Christian Aid charity. He was a module convenor for the British Politics Theory and Practice MA at QMUL.
Tim Bale graduated from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. After teaching English in Spain, he did a Masters Degree at Northwestern University in the USA. Following a few years spent working for the NHS, he returned to do a PhD at the Department of Politics at Sheffield University. After Sheffield, he taught politics at Victoria University of Wellington in and then at Sussex University until 2012. In 2008 he won the Political Studies Association's Bernard Crick Prize for Outstanding Teaching. In 2011 he received the W.J.M. Mackenzie prize for his book The Conservative Party from Thatcher to Cameron, the second edition of which was published in late 2016. Other books include The Conservatives since 1945: the Drivers of Party Change and Five Year Mission. The Labour Party under Ed Miliband. The 4th edition of his textbook on European Politics was published in 2017. Tim's media work includes writing for the Financial Times and the Guardian, and he has appeared on various BBC radio and television programmes. He occasionally tweets @ProfTimBale. You can find his non-academic writing on his blog.
Sarah Wolff is Director of the Centre for European Research and Lecturer in Public Policy at Queen Mary University of London. She is also a Senior Research Associate at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (Clingendael). Dr Wolff is an expert on EU politics, Justice and Home Affairs (JHA), migration and border management policies, as well as EU-Arab Mediterranean relations and EU development aid. She is author of the monograph The Mediterranean Dimension of the European Union’s Internal Security (2012) and received the LISBOAN Research Award 2012 for her co-edited book Freedom, Security and Justice after Lisbon and Stockholm (2012). Her current research focuses on Secular Power Europe and EU engagement with Islam for which she was awarded a Fulbright-Schuman and a Leverhulme research grant in 2014/2015. Prior to joining the academia, Dr Wolff worked at DG Devco at the European Commission and as a parliamentary assistant at the European Parliament.
The discussion will be followed by a Q&A involving the audience.
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