Press
Far-right EU election gains could boost nationalist parties on home turf
11 May 2024
The Guardian
First, said Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank, the parties that make up the current “grand coalition” of conservatives, socialists and liberals “are likely to lose a substantial number of seats, but maintain their overall majority”.
Pluses and minuses of the EU recovery fund
11 May 2024
Financial Times
Iain Begg sets out the problem lucidly in this article for the Centre for European Reform think-tank. Somehow, the EU must repay the debt incurred under the recovery fund. But will national governments be willing to pay more into the EU budget to do that? Will they approve the European Commission’s proposals for the EU to raise new forms of revenue on its own?
Halen geopolitiek en tijdgeest de Europese gedachte in?
10 May 2024
De Tijd
Volgens John Springfield van het Centre for European Reform zal de keuze tussen etnische homogeniteit en het in stand houden van de Europese welvaart de komende jaren acuut worden. Mensen van buiten de Europese Unie zijn nodig om de veroudering van de bevolking te compenseren.
“Immigration necessary to sustain European economic system”
09 May 2024
EU News
A study by John Springford of the CER argues that boosting arrivals from non-European countries is necessary to safeguard the welfare system and overcome labour shortages.
The Spectator Podcast - Coffee House Shots: Can Lammy charm Trump?
09 May 2024
Charles Grant spoke on the Spectator podcast about David Cameron, David Lammy, Donald Trump and China.
A redemptive moment for EU-UK relations
09 May 2024
Financial Times
Anton Spisak, the former UK government official and Centre for European Reform associate fellow who Miliband credited at the end of his speech, isn’t certain where Labour ends up on that question, but he is clear that nothing can really change without a political paradigm shift at the top of the British government and the EU.
Europe to fund Ukraine weapons with profits from frozen Russian assets
09 May 2024
Voice of America
Ian Bond, a foreign policy analyst and Russia specialist at the Centre for European Reform, said Brussels could go further. "What the EU is talking about is not seizing the principal - but using the interest [from frozen Russian assets], which might amount to seven or $8 billion a year and using that for the benefit of Ukraine," Bond told VOA.
It's up to the EU to hold back the great tech decoupling
03 May 2024
EurActiv
EU countries can no longer ignore growing pressure from countries seeking a tougher line on China, nor can they ignore China’s efforts to replace Western firms in high-tech supply chains.
Immigration can help Europe bridge the demographic deficit
02 May 2024
Financial Times
The radical right is likely to make big gains in the European parliament elections next month, with the “great replacement’ theory — that liberal elites are promoting immigration from outside Europe to undermine ethnic and cultural homogeneity — becoming increasingly influential.
The week that summed up the performative and inept nature of Brexit
02 May 2024
Financial Times
That reality is central to the observation made by John Springford of the Centre for European Reform in his contribution to an excellent collection of essays on Labour and the economy produced by the Social Market Foundation think-tank (worth your time). Springford makes the obvious point that given the political constraints on alignment and not joining the EU single market and customs union, Labour is unlikely to offer “a dramatically different change of direction” if it wins power at the next general election.
CGTN: Charles Grant: Unlike US, EU cares about what China does
01 May 2024
CER director Charles Grant unravels the complexities between China, the US and the EU, exploring divergent interests and perspectives.
Varoitus lännen Ukraina-linjan epämääräisyydestä – ”täysimittainen hyökkäys Nato-maahan”
01 May 2024
Verkkouutiset
Puolustussotaa käyvän Ukrainan tilanne on brittiläisen ulko- ja turvallisuuspolitiikan asiantuntijan Ian Bond mukaan erityisen vaarallinen osaltaan siksi, että läntiset poliitikot ovat ilmaisseet omat tavoitteensa liian epämääräisesti.
TV-Sondersendung zur Europawahl: Kann es sein, dass Polen uns bald abhängt?
01 May 2024
Focus Online
„Es scheint, dass wir ein bisschen zu sehr schwarzmalen“, sagt Wirtschaftswissenschaftler Sander Tordoir. Aber er sieht auch die Gefahr, dass China und die USA ihre Vormachtstellung ausnutzen, um Europa zu spalten.
Etat de droit: vingt ans après, la faiblesse de l’élargissement européen
01 May 2024
L'opinion
"Ce n’est pas tant l’Etat de droit comme condition pour rejoindre l’UE qui a été sous-estimé, mais le risque que les pays fassent marche arrière après être entrés", dit Ian Bond, deputy director, CER.
Eurozone emerges from recession but France, Germany stay weak
30 April 2024
EurActiv
Sander Tordoir, a senior economist at the Centre for European Reform, told Euractiv that the data suggests that the supply shocks triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 “are really well and truly behind us”.“There is some life left in the European economy,” he said. However, he warned that growth in the bloc’s two largest economies, Germany and France, which both expanded by just 0.2%, remains concerning: “Germany remains weak; France is also not great,” he said.
Arte: Europa 2024 - Was bewegt uns?
29 April 2024
Sander Tordoir appeared on Arte to speak about Europe's economic challenges in the upcoming European Parliament elections (from 46 mins).
Von der Leyen thinks a second term’s in the bag — but scandals lurk
28 April 2024
The Sunday Times
According to Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, an influential think-tank: “Von der Leyen is by a long way the most powerful president since Jacques Delors”, who was the scourge of British Eurosceptics when he headed the commission for a decade from 1985.
UK veterinary deal with EU could boost agrifood exports by 22%, study finds
25 April 2024
Financial Times
John Springford, associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said that if the full 22.5 per cent boost to exports was realised, it would translate to an increase of about £2bn in UK agrifood exports to the EU, based on 2023 food exports of £8.6bn to the bloc.
“That’s not nothing, and would be helpful to British food producers, but it is a small boost when compared to total export volumes to the EU, which amounted to £150bn in 2023,” he added.
“That’s not nothing, and would be helpful to British food producers, but it is a small boost when compared to total export volumes to the EU, which amounted to £150bn in 2023,” he added.
New NATO member 'preparing' key infrastructure for war with Russia
24 April 2024
Newsweek
Analysis last year by the Centre for European Reform think-tank noted concerns among European policy-makers about Moscow's use of hybrid attacks and the threats they pose to critical infrastructure. These fears have increased following reports of Russian surveillance of energy infrastructure in Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, the think-tank said.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Evaluating Enrico Letta’s report on the single market
24 April 2024
Aslak Berg and Zach Meyers discuss Enrico Letta's report.