Press
Will Ukraine join Nato? Alliance cautious about membership bid that could plunge West into war with Russia
01 June 2023
iNews
But the Israel security pledge may be the wrong model for Ukraine, warns Ian Bond, a director at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “There are two problems,” he said. “One is cost – Israel has spent 10 per cent of its GDP on defence since the mid-1960s, and it’s hard to see how that is sustainable for Ukraine. The second is that Israel is a nuclear power, albeit undeclared, and no-one wants that for Ukraine.”
The EU cannot leave it to the US and China to slug it out
01 June 2023
The Parliament Magazine
Europe is playing a dangerous game allowing China and the US to escalate their conflict, leading to serious ramifications for the EU's economy.
UK Politics Brexit has cost every UK household £250 in food bills, experts claim
25 May 2023
The Independent
Brexit has cost the UK £33bn in lost trade and investment, according to a new study by the Centre for European Reform, which found that the economic damage is even worse than previously feared.
Ask CER - Episode 9: Turkish elections, industrial policy and Ukraine joining NATO
24 May 2023
You asked, we answered: the ninth episode of our 'Ask CER' podcast series.
Five major banks colluded on UK bonds, antitrust agency says
24 May 2023
Bloomberg
“In theory, fines could be up to 10% of each bank’s annual global turnover,” said Zach Meyers, a senior research fellow in competition policy at the Centre for European Reform. “Since the collusion only relates to a small part of their businesses, the fines are likely to be considerably smaller.”
Electric cars could be crucial for the EU to meet its climate goals
22 May 2023
The Economist
Whether the EU will manage to meet its ambitious climate goals will now depend on member states’ willingness to deliver on the plans and to abstain from watering down any legislation that does not sit well with their voters, says Elisabetta Cornago of the Centre for European Reform in Brussels.
Has Brexit left Britain in a better state?
21 May 2023
The Sunday Times
Others, such as John Springford from the Centre for European Reform — who has analysed the performance of several “doppelganger” countries since the UK voted to leave — think the initial economic hit of leaving was as much as 5 per cent, thanks to more trade friction and less business investment.
As Greece votes, leader says blocking migrants built ‘good will’ with Europe
21 May 2023
The New York Times
Europe is “less on top of Greece for doing pushbacks and all the sort of things,” said Camino Mortera-Martinez, who heads the Brussels office for the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank.The latitude given Greece, she said, was in part recognition that the country had lived through a decade of brutal austerity.
Construction and aerospace join car industry in calls for better Brexit rules
20 May 2023
iNews
The Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) has has also led to a shortfall of 330,000 in the UK labour force, mostly in the low-skilled sector, according to the joint findings of the thinktanks Centre for European Reform (CER) and UK in a Changing Europe.
Record UK migration surge set to expose government divisions
20 May 2023
Bloomberg
“Immigration pretty much automatically adds to GDP because there are more people in the country working and consuming,” said John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “We have some good evidence that immigration actually helps to grease the wheels of the labor market a bit, and allows people to hand off lower-productivity tasks to other workers and concentrate on things which they were most productive at.”
Britain clashes with European judges over plan to send boat migrants to Rwanda
19 May 2023
Voice of America
But Europe is not in the mood to meet Britain's demands after its exit from the European Union, says Camino Mortera-Martinez, a Brussels-based analyst with the Center for European Reform."I'm not necessarily sure that they will go the extra mile to go and enter into reform of yet another European institution to please Mr. Sunak and his hardline government, when it comes to migration," she told VOA.
For Biden, crisis at home complicates diplomacy abroad
18 May 2023
The New York Times
“I don’t think many European governments are very concerned, presumably because these crises come round quite often but never end in disaster,” said Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform in London. “Cutting short the trip is a bad signal, but there is such good will to Biden in most capitals that they are prepared to cut him some slack.”
European Scrutiny Committee: PESCO and UK-EU defence co-operation
17 May 2023
Luigi Scazzieri gave evidence at the European Scrutiny Committee on the topic of UK-EU defence co-operation (from 14:43 mins).
Brexit: Suella Braverman speech confirms truths
17 May 2023
The Herald
Centre for European Reform deputy director John Springford’s latest report on the impact of leaving the EU on the UK economy, published in December, estimates that Brexit had, by the second quarter of 2022, reduced the country’s GDP by 5.5%.
Biden administration lacking a major foreign policy success
15 May 2023
Arab News
As Ian Bond, the director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, pointed out: “There had been serious transatlantic disagreements in the past — notably over Iraq in 2003 — but no previous president since World War II had challenged the very principle of the transatlantic alliance in the way that Trump did when he questioned whether the US should feel obliged to defend a NATO ally that was attacked.”
Could Turkey’s elections see the end of 20 years in power for president Erdoğan?
14 May 2023
The Scotsman
Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform, says there are “three fundamental reasons” why relations between the EU and Turkey have deteriorated.“The worsening state of democratic freedoms in Turkey; a plethora of bilateral disputes between Turkey and several member states, which further undermined Ankara’s EU accession process; and disagreements over foreign policy, with many member-states seeing Turkey’s positions as antagonistic,” he wrote in a briefing note published ahead of the elections.
The next day in EU-Turkey relations
13 May 2023
Ekathimerini
If Turkey's current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wins, the European Union will continue its policy of transactional cooperation with Turkey and crisis management when they break out.Erdogan's approach to the war being waged in Ukraine will be a key variable and potential source of tension, particularly if Turkey does not lift its veto on Sweden's NATO membership.
Elections en Turquie : ce que changerait une défaite d'Erdogan pour les Européens
11 May 2023
Les Echos
« Les résultats des élections influenceront la relation entre l'UE et la Turquie, qui s'est profondément détériorée au cours de la dernière décennie », écrit Luigi Scazzieri dans une note pour le Centre for European Reform.
Dette, déficit: pourquoi la France est plus mauvais élève que la Grèce et le Portugal
11 May 2023
Le Figaro
« La situation budgétaire de la France affaiblit sa position comme second pilier de stabilité dans la zone euro aux côtés de l'Allemagne, face aux grands enjeux comme la guerre en Ukraine, la défense ou le changement climatique. Il y a une vraie inquiétude », note Sander Tordoir, chercheur au Centre for European Reform, à Berlin.
So versuchen Paris und Berlin, sich einander wieder anzunähern
10 May 2023
Handelsblatt
„Man merkt, dass die Dinge schlecht sind, wenn Paris und Berlin die Symbolik betonen“, sagt Charles Grant, Direktor der Denkfabrik „Centre for European Reform“.