In 2015, the European Union (EU) and New Zealand (NZ) announced the decision to discuss pursuing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The announcement – after 50 years of historical irritations dating back to when the United Kingdom joined the then European Economic Community – was a watershed in EU-NZ relations. Yet, just six months after the FTA announcement, Brexit added a new, and somewhat unexpected, dimension to the EU-NZ relationship. This upcoming UC Connect public lecture looks at how New Zealand’s relationship with the EU has been coloured, first and foremost, by its familial, cultural and historical relations with the United Kingdom, and the potential impact of Britain leaving the EU on January 1 2021 on New Zealand.

Dr Serena Kelly is a senior lecturer in the politics of the European Union and Deputy Director of the National Centre for Research on Europe at the University of Canterbury (UC), chair of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Christchurch, and Vice-President of the European Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand. Her current research examines the impact of Brexit on New Zealand, the proposed EU-NZ Free Trade Agreement as well as the visibility of the EU’s development policies in the Pacific.

UC Connect – New Zealand, the EU and Brexit: What next? Presented by Dr Serena Kelly, Senior Lecturer, The Politics of the European Union, Global, Cultural and Language Studies, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Research on Europe, University of Canterbury, 7pm – 8pm, Wednesday 28 July 2021 – C1 lecture theatre in C-Block, Ilam campus, University of Canterbury.

For further information or to request an interview, please contact:

National Centre for Research on Europe Deputy Director, Dr Serena Kelly, serena.kelly@canterbury.ac.nz, Phone: +6433695355

or

UC Communications team, media@canterbury.ac.nz, Ph: (03) 369 3631 or 027 503 0168