A very timely session on dynamic alignment and the prospective UK-EU SPS agreement Tomorrow, 11:00 UK time!

Although the book is set to come out on 7 May, I already found a copy @lordrickettsp.bsky.social!

One of the most amazing spontaneous initiatives in the history of Polish internet 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Fulham win, sun, Craven Cottage by the river. Saturdays don’t get better than this #FFC

Fulham win, sun, Craven Cottage by the river. Saturdays don’t get better than this #FFC

A new report by the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee looking into the UK-US relationship 🔴 Lord Robertson: “One of our central conclusions is that the UK must move beyond the sentimental notion of a ‘special relationship’”. committees.parliament.uk/committee/36...

Our call for evidence for our dynamic alignment inquiry closes on Mon (20 Apr)! And on Tues at 11:00 am we're taking evidence from business orgs & trade experts incl. the CBI & British Chambers of Commerce. Get all the info on our inquiry 🔽 committees.parliament.uk/work/9684/dy...

An excellent session with the Norwegian and Swiss Ambassadors, now available on demand 📺⬇️

A wonderful obituary to an excellent scholar, great teacher and, most importantly, a good person www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

An excellent explanation of what dynamic alignment is by Professor @cbarnard.bsky.social. There’s more! 📖 committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence...

Something for all UK-EU relationship watchers: what lessons can the UK learn from the Swiss and Norwegian models of cooperation with the European Union More info ⬇️

Next Tues, 14 April, at 11am we're hearing from the Swiss & Norwegian Ambassadors to the UK for our current inquiry into dynamic alignment. And our call for evidence remains open - to 9am 20 April. Get all the info about our inquiry here: committees.parliament.uk/work/9684/dy...

A week today, 14 April at 11am, the Swiss & Norwegian Ambassadors to the UK are giving evidence to our inquiry into dynamic alignment. And our call for evidence remains open - for another fortnight, to 9am 20 April. Get all the info about our inquiry here: committees.parliament.uk/work/9684/dy...

A very interesting read. In my previous life, when I was working on a PhD thesis on European energy security (in particular, on narratives about Russian energy), OIES somehow always ended on the “favourable towards Russia” scale (especially around RU-UA energy crises of 2006 & 2009)

Thanks Dave Musgrove for having me on the podcast to discuss the origins of the international order, why it’s unravelling and what’s to be done. The story starts in WWII with 🇬🇧 diplomats shaping the future, as my new book Peace Makers relates. geni.us/PeaceMakers podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

Reminder: our call for evidence for our inquiry into dynamic alignment is open! Deadline: 9am 20 April. We're interested in economic/trade/regulatory impacts of the prospective UK-EU dynamic alignment agreements + how a system of dynamic alignment might work committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evi...

A powerful Report. I agree with their most striking conclusion: “Preparing for a ‘worst-case scenario’ whereby Europe can no longer rely on US support in the event of a crisis, the Government must work with European partners to invest in its own capabilities to offset this potential withdrawal”.

📢 The Swiss and Norwegian Ambassadors to the UK are giving evidence to our inquiry into dynamic alignment on Tues 14 April at 11am. And our call for evidence is open! Get all the info about our inquiry here: committees.parliament.uk/work/9684/dy...

Our 1st evidence session for our new inquiry into dynamic alignment is Tues 24/3, 11:30am, with -Catherine Barnard, Prof. of European Law, Cambridge Uni/UK in a Changing Europe -David Collins, Prof. of Intl Economic Law, City St George’s, Uni of London Watch here 🔽 parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

Lords European Affairs Cttee's new inquiry into dynamic alignment ⬇️. Cttee wants to inform the House (esp. its consideration of Gov's 'reset Bill' when we get there) on issues arising from this potential change to the UK-EU relationship & welcomes submissions that would help with this. Deadline 20/4

We've launched an inquiry into dynamic alignment. We're interested in issues incl. how the process might work, lessons from other countries, parliamentary scrutiny, role of the devolveds, & GDP/trade/regulatory implications. Deadline for submissions: 20 April committees.parliament.uk/committee/51...

Yesterday evening, the Polish President vetoed a bill that would facilitate Poland’s access to the EU’s SAFE programme loans. Gov claims there’s a “Plan B” and Poland may still access (some?)1 € Putting my (rusty) analyst hat on: political consensus on 🇵🇱 defence policy is over. Watch this space

Delighted to be opening the debate tomorrow 26 Feb in the Lords around 1145 on the Committee’s Report on the UK-EU reset. With 37 speakers and many viewpoints it should be insightful and might be sparky! The old order is over. Whatever the shape of the new, closer UK-EU relations will be vital.

Tomorrow, Thurs 26 Feb, the House of Lords is debating our recent report 'Unfinished Business: Resetting the UK-EU relationship' (probably around 11:40am). Lots of Members are signed up to speak! Read our report & the Government response here: committees.parliament.uk/work/8830/th...

We have a new Chair & 8 new Members, after the House agreed the annual rotation of committee Members yesterday. Welcome to our new Chair, Lord Stirrup, & thank you to our outgoing Chair Lord Ricketts @lordrickettsp.bsky.social. See our full new line-up here: committees.parliament.uk/committee/51...

💥📣 My new book will be out on 7 May! Order your copy now: geni.us/PeaceMakers. It’s the exciting story of the men and women of the Foreign Office in WWII. In a world torn apart by war, they evacuated UK citizens, picked up intel in shadowy corners, corralled allies and organised PoW escape lines.

We're taking evidence on Weds (21 Jan 2:30pm) from Home Office Minister Lord Hanson of Flint. We'll be asking re: a range of Home Office EU business, incl. citizens' rights & follow-up to last year's summit on law enforcement cooperation & irregular migration committees.parliament.uk/event/25910/...

Lord Peter Ricketts on BBC4 re Trump/Greenland: 'The right thing for the European countries is to react very calmly, to be firm & polite in public, ... making the case that America can have all its security interests served by working with Denmark and with Nato.' www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

West London is black and white again. The nature is healing #FFC

Whatever else 2026 has in store, we will have the most sensational example of cultural diplomacy for a generation with the Bayeux Tapestry returning to the UK for the first time in 1,000 years, and on display at the British Museum from September. The vivid images speak to all ages. Don’t miss it!

Somewhat unexpectedly, one of the best books I’ve read this year. The history of the August 2024 prisoner swap, the largest one since the Cold War. A lot about the US, Germany, and Slovenia. Less than expected about Poland, holding a GRU operative included in the swap.

Polish basketball mecca - no better place to watch basketball than the Wrocław-based Hala Stulecia, home of Śląsk Wrocław

European Commission has today recommended UK-EU negotiations for 2 agreements: UK participation in EU internal electricity market & UK financial contribution to reducing EU regional disparities—so, more developments since our Nov report on the UK-EU reset publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ld...

Includes very good live coverage of the Ukrainian president’s visit to Poland and his meeting with his Polish counterpart, a significant step in a somewhat complicated Polish-Ukrainian relationship

The European Commission has today renewed the UK's EU data adequacy status, to 2031. Based on our earlier work on the issue, in our Nov report on the UK-EU reset we noted renewal "would avoid significant disruption to UK-EU cooperation across the board". publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ld...

Good to hear that the Government are (finally) taking action to get this money to those who need it most in Ukraine. This is what we called for in our @lordseuroaffairs.parliament.uk Report in January 2024 Report committees.parliament.uk/publications...

We've published a letter we've received today from Nick Thomas-Symonds about the agreement on the UK's association to Erasmus+ in 2027, plus updates on other negotiations following the 2025 UK-EU summit & confirmation of UK-EU aims before next summit in 2026 committees.parliament.uk/publications...

🤯

Our Chair @lordrickettsp.bsky.social is at the COSAC conference of European Affairs c'tees in Copenhagen. Noting participants' calls for a stronger Europe, he said Europeans must work together to achieve this—as in Geneva last week—& expressed hope for a pragmatic solution on UK association to SAFE

In the Folketing in Copenhagen for COSAC - Chairs of national European Affairs Cttees. I expect much support for Ukraine and the urgent need for a strong Europe - a good context to regret the disconnect between this and the failure of talks on UK access to SAFE. @lordseuroaffairs.parliament.uk

An excellent snapshot of the complicated state of the Polish - German relationship www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Came, saw, conquered #FFC #FollowFulhamAway

Our Chair @lordrickettsp.bsky.social is on this week's Parliament Matters podcast from @hansardsociety.bsky.social (at 21' 25"). He discusses the UK-EU 'reset' & our recent report on it, & Parliament's current & future role in scrutinising UK-EU relations, including prospective dynamic alignment

We've written to the Government with Qs re: the European Commission 2026 Annual Work Programme & the Gov's Explanatory Memorandum on it—incl on migration, energy & competitiveness. We look at these documents every year as part of our regular EU scrutiny work. committees.parliament.uk/publications...

I represented @houseoflords.parliament.uk at a Summit in Stockholm to remind the world of Crimea’s plight since 2014: killings, children sent to Russian camps, cultural heritage destroyed etc. Zelensky put it powerfully in his speech to us ‘Putin wants legal recognition for what he has stolen’.

Our Chair @lordrickettsp.bsky.social is representing lordspeaker.parliament.uk & houseoflords.parliament.uk today at the Crimea Platform parliamentary summit in Stockholm, to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people & call for a just settlement including respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Our Chair @lordrickettsp.bsky.social and several of our Members are members of the UK delegation to the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (PPA) and taking part in the Assembly's sixth meeting today & tomorrow at Westminster. 📺 Watch live on youtube 🔽

If you are puzzled by the proliferating EU demands for UK cash as part of the reset process I will try to see through the fog on BBC Radio 4 PM Programme at around 1730 (or later on BBC Sounds)!

An interesting aspect of the European Affairs Committee's work is its scrutiny role, in particular its examination of the Government’s Explanatory Memoranda. Below are examples of correspondence with the Government, focusing on UK-EU negotiations on the Youth Experiences Scheme, SPS and ETS

After publishing our UK-EU reset report on Weds, we've sent 2 scrutiny letters to the Gov re: youth experience scheme & SPS & ETS linkage negotiations—especially re: UK financial contributions, & plans re: EU CBAM start on 1/1/26. See all our publications 🔽 committees.parliament.uk/committee/51...