Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Brexit, but Were Afraid to Ask

It is fair to say that this year the coronavirus pandemic and the U.S. election have dominated the headlines. Deadlines for completing a Brexit deal have come and gone, and time is running out for negotiators to reach an agreement regarding the terms of the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. Although the U.K. formally left the EU on January 31, it has continued to follow the bloc’s rules until the end of this year. This 11-month transition period was supposed to allow both sides to reach a post-Brexit deal, but negotiations have stalled (over issues such as trade and fishing). What is the likelihood the U.K. and the EU will reach a deal? What will the U.K.’s relationship with the EU look like when it leaves the European single market? What impact do the U.S. election results have on U.K.-EU negotiations?

With only weeks to go, join us for a discussion with veteran German diplomat Dr. Peter Wittig, who served most recently as the German Ambassador to the Court of St. James and prior to that as the German Ambassador to the United States.

Dr. Peter Wittig recently retired from the German Diplomatic Service. He is now working as Senior Advisor for Global Affairs at the Schaeffler Group. He is also a Fisher Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Dr. Wittig is a five-time Ambassador. He served in Spain, Lebanon, Cyprus, and in Berlin in the Cabinet of two Foreign Ministers. Most recently he served as the German Ambassador to the United Nations in New York (2009 – 2014) representing his country in the Security Council, to the United States of America (2014 – 2018), and to the United Kingdom (2018 – 2020). Before joining the Foreign Service he studied History, Political Science, and Law at the Universities of Bonn, Freiburg, Canterbury, and Oxford. He taught History of Ideas as a Junior Professor at the University of Freiburg. He has published numerous articles on international affairs.