Press
France is about to vote for its president. The West is watching anxiously.
22 April 2022
NBC News
Nonetheless, Ian Bond, a senior British diplomat for almost 30 years who is now director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said a Le Pen win could mean the end of France’s historical trans-Atlantic defense role. “The French were quite often quite difficult in NATO discussions,” he said.“But where the French didn’t go was to suggest, ‘Actually the Soviet Union isn’t that dangerous, is it?’ They accepted the case that the Soviet Union was the big problem that we had to face. And if Le Pen doesn’t accept that that is true of Russia, then that is problematic.”
Ukraine-Russia: West in promise of new 'security guarantees' to Ukraine as further horrors emerge
22 April 2022
The Scotsman
Ian Bond, director of foreign policy, at the Centre for European Reform in London, said: “Based on Russia's performance so far, I suspect that creating a land bridge to Transnistria will be impossible; but it can do a lot more damage to Ukraine in the attempt.”
EU on cusp of deal to force tech giants to tackle disinformation
22 April 2022
Euronews
"In negotiating the Digital Services Act, EU law-makers balanced tackling disinformation with protecting free speech. The Commission’s last-minute proposal for stricter regulation of tech platforms during crises undermines this balance," said Zach Meyers, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank.
The UK growth problem will not fix itself
21 April 2022
Financial Times
The Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, estimates that UK trade in goods is down by around 15 per cent due to Brexit.
French election: What exactly is Marine Le Pen's stance on Russia and Vladimir Putin?
18 April 2022
Euro News
"Le Pen does not specify what military threats France faces, and barely mentions Russia. This perhaps reflects the ambiguity of her relationship with Vladimir Putin," says a report for the think-tank the Centre for European Reform (CER) on what a Le Pen presidency would mean for Europe.
What would France look like after a Marine Le Pen victory?
17 April 2022
The Sunday Times
“If Le Pen enacted her policies, the consequences for the EU would be political chaos,” warned Ian Bond and John Springford in a report last week for the Centre for European Reform that described her plans for Europe as “a manifesto for trouble”.
EU and Nato keep nervous eye on Marine Le Pen’s bid for French presidency
13 April 2022
Financial Times
Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, said president Le Pen “would be bad news for France’s relations with its EU and Nato partners, but good news for Putin”.
Sweden heeds Greta’s call to target ‘consumption-based emissions’ in world-first
13 April 2022
Euronews
Elisabetta Cornago, a climate expert at the Centre for European Reform, says “I am not sure many other countries in the EU are ready to change their approach to national target setting right now.”
Marine Le Pen is no friend of Brexit Britain
13 April 2022
The Telegraph
As Ian Bond and John Springford have argued in an article for the Centre for European Reform, Le Pen's publicly stated “France-first” agenda would potentially cripple the EU from the inside, as well as profoundly weaken the transatlantic alliance.
Potential far-right victory for Le Pen in France’s election race viewed as a threat to the EU
12 April 2022
The Independent
A report from the Centre for European Reform published Monday highlighted how Le Pen could very well go down the same road as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki in throwing up roadblocks for Brussels wherever she can to further slow the EU’s already cumbersome decision-making."The difference is that France ... is indispensable to the EU,” the report stressed, saying the consequences would be “political chaos.”
Macron and Le Pen rematch over France’s global voice: In the choir or a monologue
12 April 2022
City A.M
As Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen prepare to face off in the final round of France’s presidential election, most French voters (like voters anywhere) will probably be thinking more about their own economic situation than events in other countries.
¿Qué supondría para Europa que Marine Le Pen llegara a la presidencia?
12 April 2022
ESglobal
Marine Le Pen ha renunciado a su referéndum sobre el euro, pero su programa de “Francia primero” paralizaría la Unión Europea desde dentro y debilitaría la alianza transatlántica.
The possibility of a Marine Le Pen victory in France is a boost for Vladimir Putin
11 April 2022
The New Statesman
“The consequences for the EU would be political chaos,” conclude Ian Bond and John Springford of the Centre for European Reform.
Postwar ETS
08 April 2022
Financial Times
Before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU had planned to expand its emissions trading system to transport and housing.
Sweden set to be world’s first country to target consumption-based emission cuts
08 April 2022
Climate Change News
Elisabetta Cornago, a climate expert at the Centre for European Reform, agreed: “Because it increases ambition in climate action, it may nudge other countries that want to cast themselves as climate leaders to follow through.”
However, she added that although “the discussion will have to go there eventually, I am not sure many other countries in the EU are ready to change their approach to national target setting right now.”
However, she added that although “the discussion will have to go there eventually, I am not sure many other countries in the EU are ready to change their approach to national target setting right now.”
Analysis-Italy's politics, public opinion, could weaken West's anti-Putin front
07 April 2022
US News
"Raising military spending is not a vote winner in Italy," said Luigi Scazzieri, an analyst at the London-based Centre for European Reform.
"There has been little success in communicating to the public that we are facing a more dangerous world, especially in regard to Russian aggression. There is still not the perception of real danger to Italy's security."
"There has been little success in communicating to the public that we are facing a more dangerous world, especially in regard to Russian aggression. There is still not the perception of real danger to Italy's security."
Russia may be committing war crimes, but money keeps flowing in
06 April 2022
.coda
“European policy-makers should use this crisis to secure the triple dividend that green investment can bring: make Europe less dependent on Russian energy, help fight inflation and reduce Europe’s carbon emissions.
Are Microsoft’s days as the ‘friendly’ tech giant over?
06 April 2022
Politico
“Microsoft also engages in many of the same practices in the few areas where it has an entrenched position — in particular, how it uses Windows’ dominant position in PC operating systems to leverage into other markets,” said Zach Meyers, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
Viktor Orban’s victory is a disaster for Brussels – and helps Vladimir Putin
05 April 2022
The Telegraph
Camino Mortera-Martinez at the Centre for European Reform says that the refusal of countries such as Germany to consider an oil embargo is shielding Orban.“But if, or rather when, public pressure becomes unsustainable for the German Government in particular and there is a move towards a partial embargo of some sort … Orban will have to stick his neck out,” she says.
UK has 'ankles tied together' thanks to Brexit
04 April 2022
LBC Radio
According to Centre for European Reform calculations, Britain's trade in goods was 15.7% lower in October 2021 than it would have been without Brexit.