London's Relationship with the EU

London has a distinctive relationship with the EU and its vitality is particularly affected by changes to EU directives that affect capital and labour flows. Given the on-going debate about the UK’s position within the EU, we hosted a seminar to examine London’s specific relationship with the EU as an economic block and as a set of institutions. The seminar was not about whether the UK should be “in” or “out” of the EU, but was about identifying the key issues that need to be taken into account to ensure London’s best interests are served.

Summary of London's Relationship with the EU Seminar

Transcript of London's Relationship with the EU Seminar

Mayor Boris Johnson has now commissioned a report, to be compiled by a working group headed by Gerard Lyons, the Mayor's Chief Economic Advisor. The report will investigate the pros and cons for London with EU membership.

Guest speakers

Finance Sector panel

Nadia Calvino, Deputy Director-General in DG MARKT Previously Deputy Director General in the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission with special responsibility for Mergers and Antitrust.

Gerard Lyons, The Mayor’s Chief Economic Advisor Previously Chief Economist and Group Head of Global Research at Standard Chartered. During his 13 years at Standard Chartered, he held a range of senior roles on the bank's committees. Lyons has also held the posts of Chief Economist and Executive Director at DKB International and Chief UK Economist at Swiss Bank Corporation.

James Perrott – Solicitor, Global Immigration, PWC Legal Senior Manager in PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal's Global Immigration Tea, working for PWC member firms in 123 countries.

Christian Sewing - Deutsche Bank Group – Deputy Chief of Risk Management Sewing has also worked as Deutsche's chief credit officer for Japan, where he was responsible for all the bank's Japanese counterparty risk, and within Deutsche's corporate finance division in Toronto. Joined Deutsche in 1989.

High-Tech creative panel

Eric Van Der Kleij – Head of Level39 and former CEO Tech City Investment Organisation Eric Van Der Kleij has over 25 years experience as a technology entrepreneur, including founding and growing Adeptra, a fraud and collections technology business. Eric previously acted as Chief Adviser to UKTI’s Directorate for Investment, implementing major global projects with a particular focus on Tech City. He is now Head of Level39, a technology accelerator.

Pat Loughrey - Warden of Goldsmiths, University of London Joined Goldsmiths as Warden in April 2010 after working for the BBC as Director of BBC Nations and Regions since May 2000. Previously Head of the BBC’s Project North. Work includes the creation of MediaCityUK, a new city dedicated to media production in which Goldsmiths is also involved.

Jeff Lynn - Chief Executive Officer, Seedrs Limited Co-founder and CEO of Seedrs which is developing a platform to change the way that start-up companies raise seed capital

Gareth Macneachdainn – Director, UK Public Sector team, Cisco Director of Innovation and Strategy in CISCO UK and Ireland. Before joining CISCO, he had roles at HP, DG Connect UK and recently in the Cabinet Office as Assistant Director for Civil Contingencies. Macneachdainn runs the Local Government Engagement programme for smart Cities in the UK.