On 14th November 2019, ESCP Business School's London Campus hosted its latest ‘Re-Thinking Europe’ event, allowing for further examination of the Brexit process. The key question was whether or not Brexit could be delivered in 2020 as per the current Government's ambition.

London Campus Dean and Brexit commentator Professor Simon Mercado was joined by Guillaume Bazard, Consul General of France in London, who gave a keynote speech addressing the future of EU nationals in the UK post-Brexit.  Following his address, the Consul General joined an expert panel consisting of:

  • Philippe Chalon, Director of External Affairs at International SOS
  • Samar Shams, Immigration Law Partner at Spencer West LLP
  • Neil Sherlock CBE, Senior Adviser at PwC and Joint Chair of the French Chamber's Brexit Forum

The Panel examined the latest developments in the Brexit process by taking a look back at the previous six months and prospects for 2020.

Topics discussed during the event included inter-governmental processes and the EU27 response to them; business concerns and impacts in the light of continuing uncertainty or ‘no-deal’; and immigration and future worker and citizen rights, including issues around the skilled worker definition and threshold. 

The panellists also debated and shared their perspective on political and parliamentary processes related to Brexit, including the positions in the current General Election and potential outcomes.

The event followed with an open Q&A session through an online platform.


Photos from the event can be found here: https://escpeuro.pe/35Zsosm 


The ‘Re-Thinking Europe’ series was inspired by the late Nicole Fontaine, former President of the European Parliament, who worked closely with ESCP in developing the book, ‘Brexit: An Opportunity? Re-Thinking Europe’. Mme. Fontaine’s book was at the heart of the School’s inaugural event in November 2017. Since then, ESCP has run events at the London Campus and in Westminster, touching on themes like ‘Brexit and Migration’ and ‘Brexit and Higher Education’.

ESCP students focus closely on EU affairs during their studies, the most high profile example being the yearly Start@Europe seminar within the Master in Management (MIM) programme. This annual event takes around 800 students to the European Parliament in Brussels for a negotiation simulation that is sector-leading. 

The School also works closely with the French Chamber of Great Britain (CCFGB) and its Brexit forum as official sponsor.  

ESCP's London Campus was awarded the prestigious Times Higher Education UK Business School of the Year Award for 2018, in part for its work around the topic of Brexit. 

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