University welcomes European Commissioner

One of the European Union’s most senior officials will outline the benefits of continued UK-EU cooperation against terrorism and cybersecurity, in a public lecture at the University of Stirling.

Sir Julian King.

Sir Julian King, European Commissioner for the Security Union, will deliver the Andrew Williamson Memorial Lecture on Thursday 1 February 2018. Sir Julian will consider some of the issues that will shape the development of a future UK-EU relationship.

A former diplomat and senior civil servant, Sir Julian was appointed as the UK’s nomination to the European Commission in 2016. His lecture comes as the UK Government embarks on a second phase of Brexit negotiations with European political leaders.

Speaking ahead of the lecture, Sir Julian King said: “Security is one of the areas, whatever else happens in the wider Brexit discussions, where there is a clear self-interest — a shared self-interest, of the EU27 on one side and the UK on the other — to find productive ways of continuing to work together as close as possible.”

Legacy

Now in its 35^th year, the Williamson Lecture was established in memory of Andrew John Williamson, a University of Stirling politics student who was tragically killed in a road accident in 1981. The memorial lecture was created and funded by his parents with the aim of bringing a high profile political speaker to the University each year to speak on a theme of contemporary political interest.

Previous speakers have included Nicola Sturgeon, Vince Cable, and Ruth Davidson.