Press
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pacte de stabilité européen : qu’impliquent les nouvelles règles budgétaires pour la France ?
23 April 2024
Sud Ouest
Mais la France ne sera pas pour autant épargnée d’ici là, explique Sander Tordoir, du Centre for European Reform : « Cette exclusion va probablement donner un relatif répit jusqu’à ce qu’Emmanuel Macron quitte ses fonctions, mais il sera bien requis de Paris de réduire son déficit structurel graduellement à compter de 2025 », résume cet expert de la politique budgétaire en Europe.
UK exports of services have grown 9 times faster than goods since 2010
22 April 2024
Financial Times
“Trends in UK trade have been a long-run shift from goods exports to services exports, as competition from both the EU and other manufacturing centres has pushed UK comparative advantage towards services,” said John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “Brexit has accelerated that shift.”
How would we know if World War Three had started?
18 April 2024
The Week
Russia is still the "primary pathway" to World War Three, Dr Luigi Scazzieri, of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, told Sky News. If it prevails in Ukraine, an emboldened Putin may be tempted to strike a Nato nation, which would demand a coordinated response. The likelihood increases if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election and further undermines the alliance.
ANC Digital: EU leaders to discuss how to boost growth, compete with US, China during special summit
17 April 2024
"To make progress in these areas [EU growth], you really need member-states prepared to make compromises, including to give up some of their own national sovereignty over these particular areas," said Zach Meyers, assistant director, CER.
FUTURE IS BLUE PODCAST: Europe's response to Chinese and American economic competition
17 April 2024
In this new episode hosted by Carlos Carnicero Urabayen, Sander Tordoir, Senior Economist at the Centre for European Reform, delved into the intricate dynamics of the global geopolitical landscape, the rise of economic nationalism and Europe's strategic positioning amidst the assertive manoeuvres of superpowers like the United States and China.
Can the European Union find its own recipe for competitiveness?
16 April 2024
Politico
Fair Play asked Sander Tordoir, a senior economist at the Centre for European Reform, how the EU can find its own recipe for economic success.“The European model may very well be a model in which you pursue certain industrial policy goals and responses to trade tensions in a way that’s more subtle and that you use environmental goals to achieve that aim,” he said. One example: the French payments to help consumers buy electric vehicles made in an “environmentally sustainable” way. “In essence, this is a European clause,” but it is “more subtle” than US green subsidies, he said.