Activities: Inward Delegations

On 23-26 June 2019, BGIPU hosted a delegation of six parliamentarians from Italy to build upon their understanding of Brexit from a range of differing UK perspectives. It was also useful for UK Members to gain knowledge of the key issues at play in Italy and to hear how the UK’s activities are perceived abroad. The visit reinforced the already strong UK relationship with Italy and saw willingness on both sides to foster closer bilateral links in the future.

From 11 to 13 March, a parliamentary delegation from Slovakia visited the Palace of Westminster led by the Chair of the EU Committee, Mr Lubos Blaha accompanied by 5 other members.  The visiting delegation benefited greatly from this visit at a pivotal time in the Brexit process and had access to many key players on all sides of the debate. It gave them important views of the difficult issues facing the UK Parliament and underscored that Slovakia stands ready to support the UK as a reliable friend whatever the eventual outcome. 

A Parliamentary delegation from the Netherlands led by the President of the Senate made a timely visit to the UK from 25 to 27 February to discuss bilateral relations against the background of the UK’s imminent departure from the European Union.  The programme ensured the delegation met with as many relevant Select Committees as possible and that they heard from many UK Parliamentarians across the full scope of views regarding Brexit.  Exchanges showed that bilateral relations remained very close and strong.

On 2-3 July BGIPU hosted a small cross party delegation from Austria for a timely visit to see a snapshot of the state of the UK’s Brexit process moving forward and hear a wide variety of perspectives on the likely end state for a post-Brexit Britain. It was equally useful for UK members to hear about the key issues and challenges being experienced by Austria including the socio-economic impacts and political changes being created by migration pressures on Europe.