Birmingham leads Brexit impact research projects

Researchers at the University of Birmingham will lead a series of three studies into the potential impact of Brexit on people in the UK, including children growing up in ‘mixed-nationality’ families.

The studies will also look into the effect of leaving the European Union (EU) on Britain’s cities and regions, and the implications for health law and how Britain’s departure may affect the wellbeing of people across the country.

Researchers have secured £853,246 of Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding. The projects are part of the ESRC’s The UK in a Changing Europe initiative.

The three research projects funded by the ESRC are:

· EU Families and 'Eurochildren' in Brexiting Britain: Renegotiating Inclusion, Citizenship and Belonging - led by Dr Nando Sigona;

· The Economic Impacts of Brexit on the UK, its Regions, its Cities and its Sectors - led by Professor Raquel Ortega Argilés; and

· Health Law Outside the EU: Immediate, Intermediate and Long Term Impacts - led by Professor Jean McHale.

Professor Saul Becker, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of College of Social Sciences, said: “Now that the Government has triggered the formal process to leave the EU, the University of Birmingham is committed to understanding the impact of Brexit on individuals and communities.

“As a leading global ‘civic’ university we have a responsibility to examine how Brexit will change people’s lives – not just in our home city and the wider country, but the impact that these changes will have on Britain’s relationships with Europe and the wider world”.

Dr Nando Sigona will lead a project studying ‘Eurochildren’, their families and their experience and responses to Brexit. Dr Sigona’s team will study the biopolitics of 40 years of British membership to the EU. The study will shed light on the impact of the EU Referendum on different cohorts of UK-born Eurochildren and examine where their families belong in a post-EU Britain.

Professor Raquel Ortega Argilés’ research team will examine the economic impacts of Brexit on the UK, its regions and cities – including those which voted for Brexit, yet are also the most economically dependent on EU markets for their prosperity and viability.

Researchers will use the most detailed regional-national-international trade and competition datasets available. to analyse how UK regional trade behaviour is shaped by goods and services criss-crossing borders many times before being consumed by households and firms.

The project led by Professor Jean McHale will study the huge challenges that Brexit brings for legislators and policymakers, as EU law has affected health policy in the UK for decades.

Significant health policy and law questions arise in regard to areas such as drug and medical devices approval; cross border treatment of patients; and public health matters like food safety, communicable disease control and tobacco regulation.

• The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 5,000 international students from over 150 countries.

• The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK’s largest funder of research on the social and economic questions facing us today. It supports the development and training of the UK’s future social scientists and also funds major studies that provide the infrastructure for research. ESRC-funded research informs policymakers and practitioners and helps make businesses, voluntary bodies and other organisations more effective. The ESRC also works collaboratively with six other UK research councils and Innovate UK to fund cross-disciplinary research and innovation addressing major societal challenges. The ESRC is an independent organisation, established by Royal Charter in 1965, and funded mainly by the Government.