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LKI was honoured to have Hon. Laurent Fabius, President of the Constitutional Council of France and former Prime Minister of France, deliver a lecture on “Europe and the International Order, Post-Brexit” on 14 February 2017. The lecture was followed by a brief question and answer session.

In his wide-ranging lecture, Mr. Fabius included an analysis of three potential post-Brexit scenarios in his lecture. These were described as:

(i) a ‘Soft Brexit’ in which the UK retains some trading links with the EU, facilitated by customised agreements involving the promotion of free trade between parties;
(ii) a ‘Hard Brexit’ in which the UK separates itself from the EU’s legal frameworks, and formulates new national legislation for its trade and investment sectors; and
(iii) a possible ‘Uncertain Brexit’ scenario, in which discord could settle among the UK and other EU member states, sending them in different directions. The potential for the UK to further strengthen its ties with the US could weaken the EU’s sovereignty.

The lecture was preceded by an address by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute. Among the issues addressed by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera were the potential impact of Brexit on Sri Lanka, the loss of Sri Lanka’s GSP+ access to the British market, and the effects of a possible depreciation of the British Pound on Sri Lankan exports and its tourism industry.

For the audio of the lecture, click here .

For the audio of Hon. Mangala Samaraweera’s introductory address, click here .

Thank you to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French Embassy in Colombo for their assistance in organising this event.