Public event

Visions for a common future post-Brexit: the UK, Germany and Europe

Brexit negotiations are in full swing, and how they will pan out remains unclear. Among the German public, the UK’s decision to leave the EU has been met with various reactions, from incredulity to contempt, to resignation and even relief after many crisis-ridden years. As negotiators in Brussels seem to make little progress, disinterest appears to be the new posture: Brexit is a foregone conclusion and it’s time to move on. But the UK’s future after Brexit will remain closely entwined with that of Germany and Europe. In order to move forward, we must start to consider the future of this relationship now. What can a positive approach entail and how can we begin to put that in motion?

The event will open with a keynote speech by Gisela Stuart “Brexit is not an illness - A positive vision of the post-Brexit times”. The former Labour MP, a major figure in the Vote Leave campaign and Chairwoman of Change Britain, will debate her vision with students and alumni of the Hertie School.

Gisela Stuart is a British Labour party politician who has been a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2017. She has served as as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, as UK Parliamentary Representative to the European Convention and on the Defence, the Foreign Affairs as well as on the Intelligence and Security committees. During the 2016 EU membership referendum, she became one of the figureheads and Chair of the Vote Leave campaign. She is Chairwoman of Change Britain, a cross party organisation set up “to make sure Brexit actually happens” and lay out a positive vision of a future BREXIT deal.

The keynote is followed by a discussion with:

Christian Freudlsperger is a Doctoral Student at the Hertie School in the Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies' (BTS) PhD programme. He holds a BA from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich) and an MA from the Sciences Po in Paris. His PhD research focuses on the role of sub-federal actors in external trade policy.  

Katharina Gnath holds a PhD from BTS, is a guest lecturer at the Hertie School and coordinates “Strengthen the Euro”, a joint project of the Hertie School’s Jacques Delors Institute Berlin and the Bertelsmann Foundation. She previously held fellow positions at Stiftung Neue Verantwortung and the German Council on Foreign Relations.

Lisa Gow holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from Strathclyde University (Scotland). At the Hertie School, she studied public policy with a specialisation in public management, social policy and labour policy. Lisa taught UK law at Ruhr University Bochum and completed a Blue Book traineeship at DG Justice at the European Commission in Brussel.

Introduction and moderation:

Rupert Graf Strachwitz is the Executive Director of the Maecenata Foundation and Director of the Maecenata Institute for Philanthropy and Civil Society, which he founded in 1997 after a career as a consultant to civil society. In a volunteer capacity, he has been Vice Chair of Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft, Berlin, since 2013.

In partnership with Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft.