We have successfully celebrated the launch of Kobe Chats on September 17, 2016.

Afternoon Tea was invented by Queen Victoria’s Lady-in-Waiting so that the queen could conduct official discussions and business while enjoying a light snack between lunch and supper (which was taken rather late in the evening). So, today we really were re-living the original context of Afternoon Tea !

Our first guest speaker, Professor Richard Kelley shared a vitalizing talk that engaged our audience.  We remain grateful for his participation and support.

For those of you who attended, Thank you so very much. For those who may have missed it, we hope to see you at our next event in October.

Inaugral talk – Kobe Chats 

Title of talk: ‘Implications of Brexit for the UK & the EU’

Background to WHY BREXIT OCCURRED →

·    Increasing immigration into the UK from the European Union (EU) and internationally.

·    Increasing bureaucracy from the central EU Administration in Brussels and Strasburg, especially in the regulation   of labor, good and services.

·    Disproportionate Monetary contributions from the UK to the central EU budget.

·    Concerns over the political sovereignty and autonomy of the UK.

·    Treats from radical extremist groups such as ISIS.

     Origins of the European Union →

·    Background: Europe devastated by War in 1945, fears of German rearmament and militarism.

·    Spread peace in Europe.

·    Integrate elements of the European economy.

·    Free movement of capital goods and services between member states
→ effective single market (convergence).

·    Politico-institutional framework required to achieve these ends.

·    Economic integration accompanied by a social dimension.

     Historical Timeline of the European Union

·    1951    Treaty of Paris → European Coal and Steel Community (Belgium, German, France, Italy, Luxemburg and Netherlands).

·    1957    Treaty of Rome → European Economic Community (The Original Six Countries).

·    1968    Common Market established.

·    1973    Denmark, Ireland & UK joined.

·    1981    Greece joined.

·    1986    Portugal & Spain joined.

·    1987    Single European Act → Single European Market [including Qualified Majority Voting and social dialogue].

·    1991    Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty) → Eurozone [including further Qualified Majority Voting and               social dialogue].

·    1991    Austria, Finland & Sweden joined.

·    1997    Treaty of Amsterdam.

·    2001    Treaty of Nice (which was finally ratified in 2003).

·    2001    Cyprus, Malta; Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia & Slovenia joined              representing the largest number of countries joining in a single year.

·    2007    Bulgaria and Romania joined.

·    2009    Treaty of Lisbon: consolidated the legal parameters of the European Union, revised the remit of the                 European Parliament and established the Office of the President of the European Council.

·    2013    Croatia joined.

Implications of for the UK of leaving the European Union →

·    Article 50 of the EU Constitution has not yet been triggered by the UK so the UK is still for now part of the EU. The

     triggering of Article 50 has just been announced by the British Prime Minister Theresa May: March 2017 – the UK and EU will then have a two-year slot to negotiate a deal that will be acceptable to both sides.

·       The essential principles of the EU are freedom of trade and freedom of movement of individuals within member EU states.

·    While the UK will welcome freedom of trade; it will be less compromising on the freedom of movement of individuals – the principal reason why BREXIT was successful…

·    The other complex area is the numerous rules and regulations that the EU applies to goods, services and labor. The UK will favor having its own control over this once it leaves the EU. One of the negative implications of this is that the rights of workers may be less protected than before. We are currently seeing the emergence of ZERO-CONTRACT hours being adopted by some companies in the UK → which basically implies that workers have little or no security of employment.

·    In my opinion, one of the points that is most critical for the UK is that quality and talented individuals from other countries will not be as attracted to come and contribute to UK society because of the insecurity that something like a system of fixed-term work permits would imply (should the UK decide to introduce such a system). It will be crucial to find the best solution to this important issue in such fields as education, finance and medicine. Otherwise essential international talent will be lost to the UK.

·      Switzerland and Norway are not members of the EU but they have special negotiated relations with the EU. The UK may look at these relationships and adopt a similar type of relationship with the 26 remaining EU member states.

·    The most serious consequence of BREXIT is that, for a few, it has given a sort of skewed legitimacy to racist behavior in public in the forms of verbal abuse (harassment) and physical abuse (assault) – even resulting in the deaths of non-UK nationals. This must never be tolerated or condoned in any shape, size or form.  

2016年9月17日（土曜日）KOBE CHATS発足記念アフタヌーン・ティーイベントは会場いっぱいの参加者で盛会裏にスタートを切ることができました。 アフタヌーン・ティーは英国ビクトリア女王の待女が発案し、女王が昼食と夕食の間に公務のディスカッションや執務をする間のお茶とスイーツ・軽食を取る習慣が出来上がり、通常は日本でいう”おさんじ”で遅い午後にいただきます。 本日は真のアフタヌーン・ティー再現を楽しんでいただきました。 ゲストスピーカーであるケリー教授は近大での改革に取り組み、現在は学生が最も希望する大学に変貌させた中心人物です。また英国のＥＵ離脱に関連する興味ある話に熱弁を振るい、多くの質問にも答えていただく活発な講義となりました。 KOBE CHATSの活動に賛同いただき、我々への援助を惜しまないとの激励もいただきました。本日はお忙しい中大勢の参加を有難うございました。　また今回都合が悪く参加できなかった方々、10月・11月のイベントに是非参加いただけるよう、KOBE CHATS一同お待ちしております。