Press
Putin-style law leaves Georgia at a Crossroads
27 May 2024
International Policy Digest
Ian Bond, of the Centre for European Reform, told me in an interview, “The paradox of Georgia is that it has the most pro-EU population in the former Soviet space, and has come further than any other Eastern European country in tackling corruption, but it now has one of the most anti-EU governments, controlled from behind the scenes by an oligarch who made his money in Russia in the 1990s. The EU has to find a way to help those who want Georgia to become a modern European democracy, not an authoritarian satellite of Russia.”
The new migration and asylum pact: Smoke and mirrors?
27 May 2024
Cyprus Mail
In April this year, the European Parliament agreed to a reform of the Union’s rulebook on migration and asylum, approving the different legislative files that make up the so-called New Migration and Asylum Pact.
In spiking Kyiv’s guns, Biden has given a gift to Putin
26 May 2024
The Sunday Times
If you want a more detailed assessment of the dire practical consequences of a Ukrainian defeat, not least in terms of Russia seizing control of the world’s “bread basket”, read the paper by Ian Bond (an old Moscow hand from our diplomatic service and former ambassador to Latvia) published by the Centre for European Reform. It is called 'Does it matter if Ukraine loses?'
Parlamento Europeu aguarda mais extrema-direita mas fragmentada
26 May 2024
RTP
"Tradicionalmente, a cooperação é difícil para a extrema-direita, precisamente porque estes partidos priorizam interesses de âmbito nacional. Há certos tópicos com os quais [quase todos] concordam, como cortar no investimento e com o poder que as instituições da UE têm", disse à Lusa Zselyke Csaky, investigador do Centre for European Reform. No entanto, "há muito que os divide", sustentou Csaky, "desde a política externa a alguns aspetos das migrações".
ISPI podcast: Tories ai minimi storici, Sunak annuncia le elezioni in UK - Globally
24 May 2024
Il prime minister britannico Sunak ha indetto le elezioni generali in Regno Unito per il 4 luglio, con alcuni mesi di anticipo sulla fine naturale del mandato. A cosa è dovuta questa scelta? E cosa significa per UK e Europa? Francesco Rocchetti e Silvia Boccard ne parlano con Luigi Scazzieri,...
EU trade deficit with China shrinks to lowest level since 2021
21 May 2024
Financial Times
“The US shutting China out already will undoubtedly benefit the EU, as long as the US remains open to European imports,” said Sander Tordoir at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “The EU is ahead of the US on green tech manufacturing and exports.”
Ukrainan tukemista läntisin joukoin pidetään yhä todennäköisempänä
19 May 2024
Verkkouutiset
Ranskan presidentti Emmanuel Macron toimii Centre for European Reform -ajatushautomon apulaisjohtajan, suurlähettiläs Ian Bondin mielestä viisaasti korostaessaan kevään kuluessa useaan otteeseen, että länsijoukkojen lähettämistä Ukrainaan ei pitäisi sulkea pois.
Onko nyt edessä uusi brexit? Erikoinen ratkaisu kätkee Hollannin todellisen vallankäyttäjän
18 May 2024
Uusi Suomi
Euroalueen talouteen erikoistunut Centre fo European Reform -ajatuspajan ekonomisti Sander Tordoir pitää sen sijaan huolestuttavana sitä, että Hollannin uusi hallitus linjaa olevansa “erittäin kriittinen” EU:n laajentumisen suhteen.Tordoir ennakoi, että linjaus voi aiheuttaa kitkaa Euroopan komission kanssa. Lisäksi hän arvioi, että komissio saattaa puuttua maahanmuuttopolitiikan tiukennuksiin.
China's Belt & Road: Building bridges not walls
18 May 2024
EU Reporter
Another to pick up on this is the highly respected Ian Bond, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform in the UK. He told this website, “When it was first conceived, the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’, linking China and Europe overland, seemed to offer Europe the chance to work with China on opening up Central Asia and giving new life to EU assistance programmes for the region that had been struggling along since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
Companies count the cost of compliance with green regulation
16 May 2024
Financial Times
In a recent analysis of EU policy-making, Zach Meyers, assistant director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, says the European Commission, in its attempts to deal with crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, “has become a more political body”. This means, he argues, that the EU “has lost one of its strengths: having a technocratic lawmaking body focused on designing laws based on evidence and good practice, and which is less beholden to short-term politics than the European parliament and European Council”.
Who is Russia's new defence minister Andrei Belousov, and why did Putin appoint him?
16 May 2024
Euronews
“If Belousov can ensure that money is spent more efficiently, then the pressure on Ukraine is likely to grow, and the threat to the rest of Europe will also increase,” Ian Bond, deputy director at the Centre for European Reform (CER), think-tank, told Euronews.
Judy Asks: Are Europeans prepared to send troops to Ukraine?
16 May 2024
Carnegie Europe
Deploying troops to Ukraine, even for non-combat duties, entails risks most European countries are currently unwilling to take. The priority right now must be ramping up aid to Kyiv.
Driving the day: Great expectations
16 May 2024
Politico
“A key question will be whether [Draghi] is going bold on fiscal integration,” said Sander Tordoir, a senior economist at the Centre for European Reform, which would mean “more solidarity and more discipline.” China is the other big question: “The entire Brussels consensus is still ‘let’s not be harsh on China, while they have not fully up their mind” on how to handle overproduction, dumping, and a landscape where the two biggest economies have abandoned free trade, he said.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: How is China's foreign policy shifting?
15 May 2024
Charles Grant and Dr Yu Jie discuss China's foreign policy.
Europe's new power map, from ASML to the Arctic
15 May 2024
Bloomberg
Sander Tordoir and Zach Meyers of the Centre for European Reform suggest more targeted support for areas of dominance like ASML's tech, a more pan-European approach to industrial policy and the creation of alliances with like-minded partners on chip supplychains.
Europe’s economy is a cause for concern, not panic
14 May 2024
The Economist
Europe is back to having a trade surplus and a fiscal deficit that looks a lot better than America’s these days, points out Sander Tordoir of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank.
Putin-style law leaves Georgia at a crossroads
14 May 2024
Yorkshire Bylines
Ian Bond, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, also told this site, “The paradox of Georgia is that it has the most pro-EU population in the former Soviet space, and has come further than any other Eastern European country in tackling corruption, but it now has one of the most anti-EU governments, controlled from behind the scenes by an oligarch who made his money in Russia in the 1990s.
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.