
Rotary Club Presentation on Brexit by H. E. Dr. Vitezslav Grepl
21.11.2016 / 12:43 | Aktualizováno: 21.11.2016 / 13:01
(This article expired 30.11.2018 / 01:00.)
On November 11, 2016, H. E. Dr. Vitezslav Grepl, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Thailand, held a presentation on "Brexit" in the Rotary Club in Bangkok, and its perception by the Czech Republic and the European Union.
The presentation was held during a lunch hosted every month by the Rotary Club in Bangkok for its members and invited guests. About 65 invited people were present, generally from high-ranking business, banking, university and social circles. The presentation itself consisted of a PowerPoint presentation including tables, diagrams, pictures and summary of main highlights and lasted for about 20 minutes. An extended Q&A session followed the presentation.
The Ambassador summarized main information about the referendum and the reasons behind it. He highlighted the example of the British Pound depreciation as an important aspect connected to expectations, mentioned the most important data on economic and political developments and the direction of the EU and stressed the basic values upon which the EU is based. Moreover, he presented most important statements of EU and Czech Republic representatives and foreshadowed focal points which the EU intends to apply during upcoming negotiations with the United Kingdom. including models and alternatives for these negotiations. He paid particular attention to naturally occurring work and study migration flows within the EU and the future status of EU citizens, including Czechs, in the UK, as well as the possible status of British citizens in other EU countries, depending on possible (non)deal between the UK and EU related to free flow of goods, services, capital, and persons.
The Ambassador presented basic data on the EU, the Czech Republic, and the UK, with focus on overall profile, economic potential, volumes of trade and flows of people. He presented examples of selected car manufacturing flows (MiniCooper, Škoda, Nissan) within the EU market (including the UK) and pointed at potential risks related to possible future deviation from common EU legislature and technical standards.