Brexit Conference: CCBS Director stresses the need to prioritise cross-border cooperation

Speaking at the Agenda NI conference, “Brexit : Making Sense of the Crisis” conference on 6 September, CCBS Director Ruth Taillon stressed that cross-border cooperation must be prioritised before and after Article 50 is invoked to start negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Referring to the increased dangers arising from uncertainties about the nature of the border following the Referendum, and the increased tensions already apparent around migration and citizenship issues, she called for the implementation of a number of measures to sustain cross-border cooperation.

The UK and Irish Governments should:

• provide guarantees to cross-border and transnational projects currently funded under EU 2014-2020 programmes;
• ensure new and sufficient resources are available for the social and economic development of the border region; and
• begin planning now for a ‘Peace V’ programme to address the challenges of inter-community conflict and cross-border relationships in the context of the UK withdrawal from the EU

Download Ruth Taillon’s presentation slides (PDF)