Inside The Deal: How the EU got Brexit done

A Book Launch in Brussels

With Dr Stefaan de Rynck

Stefaan de Rynck discussed his new book, 'Inside the Deal: How the EU got Brexit Done'. As a close aide to Michel Barnier, Stefaan De Rynck had a front row seat during the Brexit negotiations. In his frank and uncompromising new book, he gives an unvarnished account of how the deal with the UK was reached and debunks some of the myths and spin that have become indelibly linked to the Brexit process. Dr de Rynck was joined by Dr Nicholas Startin (John Cabot University) and journalist Katrin Pribyl who contributed their own thoughts on the Brexit negotiations from an academic and media perspective. The session was chaired by Prof Brigid Laffan (President of the European Policy Centre). This event is supported by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

About the speakers

Dr Stefaan de Rynck: Stefaan De Rynck was a senior advisor to Michel Barnier, the Brexit Negotiator for the European Union. He has worked as an EU civil servant on financial regulation, the single market, transport policy, sustainable urban development and on EU Treaty changes. He has a PhD in political and social sciences from the European University Institute in Florence and teaches at the Public Governance Institute of the University of Leuven in Belgium.

Prof Brigid Laffan: Brigid Laffan is the President of the European Policy Centre and Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute. Previously, she was Director and Professor at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and Director of the Global Governance Programme and the European Governance and Politics Programme at the European University Institute (EUI). She is an elected member of the Royal Irish Academy. In 2014 she was awarded the UACES Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to European Studies.

Katrin Pribyl: Katrin Pribyl is a senior foreign correspondent, having previously worked in the U.K., the Middle East and Germany. Since mid 2021 she’s the Brussels-based EU correspondent for a pool of major regional German newspapers. Her main remit has been to report on the European Union and Nato. Before her move to Brussels, Katrin spent nearly eight years in London as the UK & Ireland correspondent, spearheading coverage on Brexit, Westminster politics and U.K. current affairs. Prior to that, she lived and worked in Jerusalem, Israel.

Dr Nicholas Startin: Nicholas Startin’s research focuses primarily on Euroscepticism and opposition to the EU, centring on political parties, public opinion, referenda, the media, and the UK’s relationship with the EU. He was co-founder of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) Comparative Research Network on Euroscepticism and was chair of UACES between 2018 and 2021 His latest publication, co-authored with Dr Kathryn Simpson, ‘Tabloid Tales: How the British Tabloid Press Shaped the Brexit Vote’, was published in JCMS (The Journal of Common Market Studies) in August 2022.

Gallery

Inside the Deal: How the EU got Brexit done

Prof Brigid Laffan as Chair

Prof Brigid Laffan introduces the book 'Inside the deal' and the speakers Dr Stefaan de Rynck, Katrin Pribyl and Dr Nicholas Startin at the Press Club Brussels.