Press
Brussels set to endorse Ukraine as a candidate for EU membership
17 June 2022
Euronews
Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels office of the Centre for European Reform (CER), described enlargement as the "trickiest" issue facing the EU and noted that the Commission's early lobbying on member states for Ukraine membership "is working.""Many think that Ukraine is not ready to join the EU yet, but they know the EU cannot afford to keep it in the waiting room for years, as it has done with other candidates like North Macedonia," she said.
¿Qué sabemos hasta ahora del coste del Brexit?
17 June 2022
ESglobal
En mayo de 2020, el periodista James Forsyth, que goza de buenos contactos, escribió en The Spectator que el gobierno británico se encontraba cómodo con la idea de abandonar la UE sin un acuerdo.
War on its doorstep has rekindled talk of enlarging the EU
16 June 2022
The Economist
Barring reform of the EU, any current member has the power to derail any application, notes Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank in London.
Letters: The Brexit effect
16 June 2022
Prospect
In Tom Clark’s excellent round-up of the economic effects of Brexit, he noted that exports to the EU “look almost unaffected on the headline numbers.” As ever with statistics, it depends on how you cut it.
Britain needs to face up to the cost of Brexit
16 June 2022
Encompass
The UK debate about Brexit’s impact on the economy has ranged from non-existent to unserious. Labour is avoiding the subject, to try to regain lost voters in pro-Brexit constituencies, and the government immediately changes the subject to vaccines or free trade deals.
Brexit trade friction caused 15% fall in UK-EU exports in first half of 2021
15 June 2022
Financial Times
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform noted there was “some disagreement among economists about the extent to which the TCA has reduced UK trade. But, he added, “all agree that it has made the British economy significantly more closed”.
UK government Brexit reforms ‘risk trade war with Brussels’
15 June 2022
Global Trade Review
The Centre for European Reform estimates goods trade is 13.6% lower than had the UK remained an EU member state. Comparing the British economy to a basket of countries with similar economic performances prior to Brexit, the Brussels-based think tank suggests UK GDP is 5% smaller and investment 14% lower as a result of leaving the bloc.
Have we passed the high-water mark of European unity on Ukraine?
15 June 2022
LSE blog
EU leaders presented a united response in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet as the war continues, this unity is coming under strain.
CER podcast: Is Brexit to blame for Britain's economic woes?
14 June 2022
In this week's CER podcast Rosie Giorgi spoke to economists John Springford and Thomas Sampson about how Brexit has impacted the UK economy.
Liz Truss struggles for momentum in Conservative leadership race
14 June 2022
Financial Times
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, said Truss’s style had not always gone down well in Brussels and major EU capitals like Paris and Berlin. “They feel as if she treats the diplomatic world like it’s the Tory party conference,” he added.
UK now ‘teetering on brink of trade war with EU’, warn London business leaders
14 June 2022
The Evening Standard
His [Richard Burge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry] warning came after the Centre for European Reform think-tank estimated that Brexit has already dealt a £31 billion blow to Britain’s economy.
Cabinet minister in ‘complete denial’ over Brexit harm to Britain’s economy which experts put at £31billion
13 June 2022
Yahoo News
An analysis by the Centre for European Reform puts the GDP blow to the UK economy from quitting the EU at £31 billion.The leading think-thank estimated the figure by creating a doppelganger model of Britain’s economy to compare how it would have performed if it had remained in the European trading bloc.
Only independence can unite young Scots
13 June 2022
The Times
If England votes for Brexit, this policy, which latest Centre for European Reform figures show has cost the UK economy £31 billion so far, shall be visited on the four constituent parts of the UK, even if it damages business and, in the case of Northern Ireland, threatens a hard-won peace.
Is Brexit working? Four key tests
12 June 2022
The Observer
The Centre for European Reform estimates that the UK has seen a growth shortfall relative to economically comparable countries of more than 5% over the period, although it recognises that not all of this is down to Brexit.
'Boris out of ideas and now fighting old battles - we're stuck until he's gone'
12 June 2022
The Mirror
Johnson’s £31billion Brexit damage to the UK economy – the respected Centre for European Reform calculated a 5.2% growth hit – combined with polls finding most people wish we had stayed in the EU expose the protocol push as a naked attempt to appease his party’s Right-whingers.
Change record! ITV fury at Brexit claim 'clear damage' from EU exit 'hard to ignore'
12 June 2022
The Express
While Joel Hills, the ITV's Business and Economics Editor, did acknowledge the “greater political freedoms” of Brexit, including being able to “enact immigration reforms and a speedy vaccine rollout”, he went on to argue the “economic benefits are far harder to identify”.
He argued this point in an online article on the basis of research by the Centre for European Reform (CER), which found that by the end of last year the UK’s economy was 5.2 percent, or £31billion, smaller than it would have been had it stayed in the EU.
He argued this point in an online article on the basis of research by the Centre for European Reform (CER), which found that by the end of last year the UK’s economy was 5.2 percent, or £31billion, smaller than it would have been had it stayed in the EU.
Brexit is ‘largely to blame’ for UK’s £31bn revenue loss
11 June 2022
The Independent (Ireland)
Brexit is “largely to blame” for billions being lost in Britain’s trade and tax revenues in recent years, according to a new study .The Centre for European Reform (CER) said that by the end of last year, Britain’s economy was 5.2PC – or £31bn (€36bn) – smaller than it would have been without Brexit and the Covid pandemic.“We can’t blame Brexit for all of the 5.2pc GDP shortfall… but it’s apparent that Brexit is largely to blame,” said John Springford, author of the CER study.
What is the true cost of Brexit?
11 June 2022
The National Wales
“The results are sobering,” says John Springford, the author of the report that removes all doubt that it is more Brexit rather than the pandemic that is bringing Britain to its knees.The report by the Centre for European Reform think-tank unveils findings that show leaving the free trade market will have a bigger impact on the UK economy in the long term than Covid-19.
LBC: The economic impact of Brexit
10 June 2022
John Springford discussed the economic impact of Brexit on the UK with Martin Stanford. Short of re-joining the single market or the EU as a whole, John said the UK needs to invest in boosting productivity, improve transport infrastructure & streamline trade policy as much as possible.
Brexit and Covid ‘leave UK trailing behind rivals’
10 June 2022
The Times
Brexit and the pandemic have reduced the size of the UK economy by 5.2 per cent compared with its peers, according to research that largely blames Britain’s exit from the European Union for stunted growth.Analysis from the Centre for European Reform think-tank found that Brexit was the main driver of weakening growth, falling goods exports and chronically low business investment.Using a model comparing the UK with similar countries to provide a shadow economy as a point of reference, the analysis concluded that Britain’s GDP was £31 billion, or 5.2 per cent, lower than its “doppelganger” at the end of last year.