Press

Earlier on Wednesday, one of Britain’s leading trade experts told MPs at Westminster that there was reason to be concerned about the sustainability of the protocol. Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the protocol could only endure if it enjoyed broad consent.“It is in the EU’s interest to be as accommodating as possible so as to ensure that it endures and to ensure that it doesn’t have to keep returning to this question constantly, over and over again,” he told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

Britain should scrap visa costs for foreign workers and offer a stable regulatory climate for investment if it’s to stem a “flood” of services trade heading to the European Union after Brexit, according to a new report.  Fresh analysis by Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, urges the UK government to shift its policy focus away from securing free trade agreements (FTAs) and instead take steps to encourage immigration.

"Politically, the government made a decision to prioritize regulatory autonomy over economic integration with the EU and the trade deal reflects that - it does little to facilitate trade," says Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

Is it really possible that Russian could impact the continent's energy security by simply turning off the gas tap? In theory, yes, says Ian Bond, director of foreign policy and a Russia expert at the Centre for European Reform. "But that goes in both directions. The question is whether the EU will freeze before the Russians run out of money," he adds. After all, the Russian economy – around the same size as Spain's – is highly dependent on selling gas and oil to Europe.

“It was a mixture of both sides talking past each other,” said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, as well as the UK being afraid “to the point of absurdity” of anything that sounded like freedom of movement. “Eventually, it got deprioritised,” he added.