What comes after Brexit? ZEW Lunch Debate in Brussels to Discuss the Future of the EU

The British vote in June 2016 has called into question the entire EU integration process. Up to this point the prevailing opinion in academia, politics and business was that dissolving EU treaties is not an option, if only because of the extremely high transaction costs this would involve. Brexit has shown, however, that we are no longer looking at an expansion of the EU but rather its decimation. Propelled by its two main engines, Germany and France, what path can and does the EU plan take now that the United Kingdom wants out? The next ZEW Lunch Debate to be held on 28 September 2016 at the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the European Union in Brussels will focus on the German-French perspective on the post-Brexit era, based on the results of a unique survey conducted among French and German politicians. The debate will be introduced by ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach, who will provide some insight on the potential economic effects of Brexit for the EU.

As the second largest economy in Europe, the United Kingdom will be sorely missed when it leaves the EU after 43 years of membership. The question of what happens next now automatically falls to the two largest remaining economies in the block – Germany and France. In collaboration with the École Polytechnique in Parisand the University of Mannheim, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) has surveyed the opinions of members of the German Bundestag as well as the French Assemblée nationale and senate.

Discussing the results of this survey as well as their political and economic implications at the ZEW Lunch Debate on "The Post-Brexit European Union – A French-German View”will be

• Prof. Dr. Friedrich Heinemann, head of the ZEW Research Department “Corporate Taxation and Public Finance”
• Professor Pierre Boyer, junior professor of theoretical finance at the École Polytechnique
• Sylvie Goulard, Member of European Parliament part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group (ALDE) and member of the European Parliament’s Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs
• Peter Simon, Member of European Parliament part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and vice-chair of the European Parliament’s Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs

The panel discussion will be moderated by ZEW President Achim Wambach after he delivers an introductory speech on “Brexit: A Fractured Europe?”

Since its launch in 2014, the ZEW Lunch Debate series has provided a lunchtime platform for experts to discuss current economic challenges facing Europe. Events within this series, which take place in Brussels on a regular basis, provide an opportunity for critical, open and spirited debate.