A new research report*, "How does Brexit and its potentially restricted movement of people affect high-skilled UK passport holders in Luxembourg's services economy?", is the result of a project seminar "Regional Development", part of the Master course in Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Luxembourg led by Dr Sabine Dörry (LISER) in the winter term 2016/2017. The choice of this particular research topic was inspired by Sabine Dörry's research focus on international financial centres and, in particular, the role of the state in promoting their financial hubs.

This study explores the personal and professional strategies British lawyers working in the Luxembourgish economy use to cope with a highly uncertain political situation whose outcome ultimately affects their lives, that is, Brexit. Interview data with British lawyers, on which this very small study builds, suggests that the majority of them seek to consolidate their private and professional situations in Luxembourg. Against the background of major uncertainty, main strategies comprise the application for Luxembourg nationality and, if appropriate, a potential relocation of their professional legal activities from the English to the Luxembourgish legal system.

This research paper is an exploratory study. It started from the initial assumption that Brexit would cause impacts on the financial centre of Luxembourg. In particular, it assumed that the Brexit negotiations might result in a restricted movement of people between the United Kingdom (UK) and the remaining EU 27 member states. Such an outcome would particularly affect individual professional careers of British citizens working in Luxembourg's services economy. With its specialisation in financial and corporate services, a field increasingly governed by English contract law, UK lawyers are in high demand in Luxembourg. A looming 'hard' Brexit threatens these developments.