The seventh EPRC webinar of 2022, and the first in the new academic year, was held on October 12th (11:00 – 12:00 UK) over Zoom. Professor Kevin Morgan from Cardiff University presented on the topic “Post-Brexit Regional Policy in Wales”.
Professor Morgan argued that post-Brexit regional policy in Wales has been one of the reasons why inter-governmental relations between Cardiff and London have plummeted to the lowest level in the history of democratic devolution. His presentation aimed to highlight and explain two dimensions of this conflict:
- the policy challenges of integrating regional policies designed in London and Cardiff, where the UK’s “Levelling Up” policies have been unfavourably compared to EU regional policies and
- the governance challenges that have emerged as national and subnational governments in Wales seek to negotiate the New Centralism of Conservative governments in London.
The New Centralism is deemed to be a politically dangerous trend because it threatens to undermine the devolution settlement in Wales (and other devolved nations) and compromises the territorial integrity of the UK.
Kevin Morgan is Professor of Governance and Development in the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University, where he is also the Dean of Engagement. Place-based policy is one of his core research interests and he is actively engaged with place-based policy and practice communities in Wales, the UK and the EU. He is currently a member of the Scientific Committee of European Commission’s Joint Research Council, where is he part of a team working on the Partnerships for Regional Innovation programme, the new generation of EU regional innovation policies.
Professor Kevin Morgan’s presentation can be accessed here, and the recording of the webinar can be viewed on the EPRC’s YouTube page here.
Future EPRC webinars will delve into topics of sustainability, regional policy and development.
If you would like to attend, watch out for updates and registrations by following @eprc_eu on Twitter, European Policies Research Centre on LinkedIn, or register for our webinar mailing list through marie.c.devine@strath.ac.uk.