Collaborate or compete: How are UK-EU relations serving key growth sectors?

To help counter stagnant economic progress and drive growth, sustainability and competitiveness the UK and EU set out their respective strategies in 2024, and even though separate their approaches show significant overlap, including the sectors they prioritise: renewables and high tech.

You are invited to attend this business event where you will hear perspectives from the panel on the status of UK-EU relations today and future benefits, and gain insights from experts on current frameworks and likely outcomes from the upcoming review of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The audience will also be asked to join in the discussion and have the opportunity to ask questions.

Confirmed panel members and speakers for this Festival of Europe Scotland event are:

William Bain is Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce. An expert on UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement he is a regular author, speaker and contributor to broadcast and written media outlets on economic matters and regulatory systems. Previously he was a member of the frontbench UK Parliamentary policy teams and a member of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.

Professor Martin Tangney OBE founded the UK’s first sustainable biofuel research centre at Napier University. He is the founder and scientific advisor of Celtic Renewables whose patented and proven process converts industrial by-products and waste into green chemicals. In 2022 they opened Scotland’s first biorefinery demonstrating the potential of this industry to support the net zero transition and creation of biotechnology jobs.

Professor Adam Dixon, is the Adam Smith Chair at Panmure House and Professor at Edinburgh Business School, his books include The Spectre of State Capitalism (2024) and Sovereign Wealth Funds: Between the State and the Market (Agenda, 2022). His career includes advising organisations like the OECD, World Bank, European Commission, World Economic Forum and the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds.

The event will be chaired and moderated by Heriot-Watt University alumni Sir Graham Watson, adjunct Professor of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, and former MEP for South West England from 1994 – 2014.

Venue: Adam Smith’s Panmure House is Panmure House is located at 4 Lochend Close, Edinburgh EH8 8BL. This event is free but Festival of Europe Scotland organisers do encourage you to consider donating to the national treasure that is the Panmure House Project.

Date & Timings:

Tuesday, May 6th, 2025, 10am – 12 noon with registration from 9.30am.

Queries: europefestivalsscotland@gmail.com