On Monday 8 June, the British Foreign Policy Group hosted a discussion about the future of the European Union in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a lively debate, panellists discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the EU’s legitimacy with citizens, the strength of its institutions, its relations with its Member States, and its capacity to act as a global actor on issues such as climate change and engagement with Russia and China.

Speakers:

• Fredrik Erixon, Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE)
• Georgina Wright, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government
• Bojan Pancevski, Germany Correspondent, Wall Street Journal
• Sophia Gaston, Director of the British Foreign Policy Group (Chair)

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Fredrik Erixon is a Swedish economist and writer. He has been the Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) since 2006. Fredrik’s latest book (co-authored with Björn Weigel) was The Innovation Illusion: How so Little is Created by so Many Working so Hard (Yale University Press). His research interests cover international economics, European relations with Asia and North America, trade and regulatory policy, philosophy and technological change. His next book, Saving Liberalism for the 21st Century, is about challenges from populism and other ideas to the open society.

Georgina Wright is a senior researcher on the Brexit team at the Institute for Government, where she focuses on UK engagement and influence in the EU after Brexit. Her research interests include the EU27’s views of Brexit, Franco-British relations and the future of the EU. Prior to joining the Institute, she was a research associate at Chatham House and has worked for the European Commission and NATO in Brussels. She frequently gives evidence to select committees in the House of Commons and House of Lords. Georgina read Politics at the University of Edinburgh and holds an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe (Bruges). She speaks English, French and Italian.

Bojan Pancevski is The Wall Street Journal’s Germany Correspondent, covering all aspects of Europe’s largest economy and its influence on the rest of the continent and beyond. Before joining the WSJ he had been covering Europe for The Sunday Times from Brussels and Vienna, focusing on subjects as diverse as the war in Eastern Ukraine, the 2015 migration crisis, the rise of Islamic terror, Russian meddling in Europe and Britain’s departure from the European Union.