Professor Jennifer Todd:

I thank the committee. I have circulated a document and will talk briefly. A British exit of the EU would be very serious. I will focus on two issues. If a British exit threatens the openness of the Border and the functioning of the North-South institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, it will affect North-South trade, the funding of cross-Border projects and peace and stability in the North. Peace and stability in the North are based on the Good Friday Agreement, one pillar of which is North-South relations. It is dangerous to erode any of the pillars of the Good Friday Agreement because it would encourage those with an interest in pulling back on it, either loyalists or dissident republicans, to do so. BrExit would remove the purpose of the Special EU Programmes Body, SEUPB and the North-South bodies established under it, and could undermine the goal and functioning of other North-South bodies.

Peace and stability are also based on the opening up of the Border. The Border is no longer so important in daily life on either side of it and this is part of the root of the relative Nationalist satisfaction in the North. This would change with BrExit due to the implementation of customs etc. BrExit would encourage sovereigntism in the UK and among Unionists. The withdrawal of funding for cross-Border projects would undermine very positive small projects that contribute to peace and reconciliation. There is a need to compensate for potential losses both by negotiating stronger North-South links to the EU for funding purposes, representation and cross-learning, for example, from the Nordic Council. There is a need to proactively put this on the agenda partly because BrExit would be very dangerous and partly because it is only positive to create a momentum of better North-South relations, to reinvigorate the Good Friday process and strengthen peace and stability in the event of the many possible future shocks, BrExit or others.