Press
Far-right wild card Giorgia Meloni taps into Italians’ wish for radical change
26 September 2022
Financial Times
“It’s a shocking moment,” Luigi Scazzieri, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said of the party’s meteoric rise. “It’s the reflection of the electorate that feels like it has tried everything else now turning to the solution that is more radical and new.” “It’s this huge contrast with Draghi that makes it very hard for people to understand,” Scazzieri added, saying that it reflects “a country that really feels that things are going in the wrong direction” after two decades of economic stagnation.
EU holds its breath as it waits to discover Giorgia Meloni’s true political identity
26 September 2022
The Guardian
A more likely point of contention, according to Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform, is if the EU tightly links recovery funds to Italy’s completion of judicial and civil service reforms started by Draghi. If a conflict develops over the EU’s interpretation of the rule of law there are genuine prospects of a Poland-Hungary-Italy triangular alliance, Scazzieri argues.
Liz Truss urged to ‘steer clear’ of Emmanuel Macron's new European club
25 September 2022
The Express
Director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, Charles Grant, said that French officials had told him that the British participation in the Prague summit would help UK-France relations.He said: “Macron thinks this is really important for discussing strategic issues and he wants the British to take part. The French say that the Brits can help to shape how the EPC emerges.”
Italy's tilt to the far-right: EU braced for Giorgia Meloni
24 September 2022
RTE News
The three parties also want to revise Italy’s €200 billion EU Covid recovery plan - in agreement with the EU - to put more resources into energy diversification and help consumers with higher energy prices. "This programme would be expensive to implement, and a loose fiscal policy would lead to higher borrowing costs for Italy and perhaps a financial crisis," says Luigi Scazzieri, who is a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER)."Meloni is aware of the risks of appearing spendthrift, and is trying to stress that she is fiscally responsible."
El plan de energía de la UE para un invierno difícil: ¿qué opciones hay?
23 September 2022
ES Global
El nuevo plan de la Comisión Europea aspira a reducir el uso de la electricidad para disminuir los precios y los posibles apagones, extraer parte de los beneficios extraordinarios de las empresas energéticas y recortar los ingresos de Rusia por el gas.
How the Balkans are putting the EU’s standing on the line
23 September 2022
For Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, Vučić is an opportunist above all else.“There is a cynical calculation going on about how he can extract the maximum benefit from both sides. He is a Serb nationalist and it plays well with his voters if he can also be shown to be standing up for ethnic Serbs in Bosnia. Does he want to annex the Republika Srpska? I suspect not because that would actually bring down the wrath of the EU on his head in a way that would not suit his interests. But he’ll be quite happy to cause a certain amount of trouble.”
What is the legacy of outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi?
23 September 2022
Euronews
"Ukraine is probably the dossier in which he [Draghi] made the single biggest difference," Luigi Scazzieri, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER), told Euronews. ..."He was significantly ahead of Italian public opinion in saying so and definitely in terms of his support for Ukraine," Scazzieri said, in particular when it comes to arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Meloni's likely win will not necessarily strengthen Orbán
22 September 2022
EU Observer
"A right-wing government, with Brothers of Italy at its core, would reduce Italy's influence in the EU and make Italy-EU relations more turbulent. But Italy would not become a new Poland or Hungary," Luigi Scazzieri, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, wrote in a recent note.
The trouble with “red lines”
22 September 2022
The New European
“I actually see this as a red line being enforced,” argued Luigi Scazzieri, European foreign and security policy expert at the Centre for European Reform. “Russia’s under crippling sanctions and really didn’t expect that. Yes they could be a bit tougher but people are choosing to see the glass half empty rather than mostly full.”
Italy poised to elect first female leader amid concerns over Neo-Fascist roots
22 September 2022
Voice of America
“In part it's about her policy platform, her socially conservative views, her economic views — which are also quite social in a way in terms of, for example, raising people's pensions or benefits,” said analyst Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform.“But it's also in large part due to her own personal appeal. And I would single out here, for example, her way of talking, which is very down to earth. It’s very effective in connecting with ordinary voters,” Scazzieri added. “Finally, she also benefits from not having been anywhere near government for the past 10 years, and so she can credibly say that she represents something new.”
CER podcast: Finding a solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol
21 September 2022
Hilary Benn MP and Charles Grant discussed the standoff between the UK and the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Liz Truss explores joining Macron’s proposed European group
21 September 2022
Financial Times
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said French officials had told him that UK-France relations were very poor but that British participation in the Prague summit would change things. “Macron thinks this is really important for discussing strategic issues and he wants the British to take part,” said Grant. “The French say that the Brits can help to shape how the EPC emerges.”
Far-right favourite to be Italy's next PM softens on EU as election looms
18 September 2022
The Guardian
Luigi Scazzieri at the Centre for European Reform points out that the League-Five Star government never vetoed EU sanctions against Russia. He does not think that will change under Italy’s likely next government: “In terms of sabotaging western unity … that’s not going to happen.Some EU supporters are less sanguine about a Meloni government.
Remember the Russian super yachts? They could be sold to rebuild Ukraine
16 September 2022
City A.M
“The path the EU is trying to take is creating a new crime that would be around evasion or breaking sanctions laws”, says Zach Meyers, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
Google’s failure to quash EU antitrust ruling has broad implications for tech companies
15 September 2022
Computerworld
Zach Meyers, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the decision poses significant questions for the wider tech sector as it does not only challenge a particular business practice, but potentially Google’s underlying business strategy of offering services, such as Android—which make no revenue—to drive consumers towards services which Google can monetise, like Google search.“Many other large tech firms like Amazon and Meta adopt similar practices, producing an ecosystem of services—only some of which are profit-making—but which mutually reinforce each other,” Meyers said, noting that although their situations are not directly comparable, these firms will be keeping a close eye on proceedings in order to not fall foul of the same accusations.
Who is Giorgia Meloni? Far-right leader may be Italy's first female leader
13 September 2022
The Washington Post
Especially as it pertains to her positions on Europe, she has moderated more noticeably than the other Western European nationalist who earlier this year made a run for power, France’s Marine Le Pen. While Le Pen’s platform had ideas that would have led to standoffs with Brussels — like prioritizing national law over E.U. law — Meloni’s does not, said Luigi Scazzieri, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.“This kind of sanitization and Europeanization has gone a lot further in Meloni’s case than in Le Pen’s,” Scazzieri said.
State of the Union: What has the Commission done since the last speech and what it plans to unveil
13 September 2022
Euronews
"I think COVID-19 is going to be regarded as one of the major success stories of the European Union over the years to come," Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels Office of the Centre for European Reform (CER), another think-tank, told Euronews.
MPs likely to be recalled for emergency ‘budget’ after Queen’s funeral next week
12 September 2022
The Guardian
Back to relations with the EU, and Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform thinktank, says he thinks British officials are trying to persuade Liz Truss to accept an invitation to the first meeting of the European Political Community in Prague in October.
El nuevo liderazgo de España en la Unión Europea, ante la oportunidad de jugar "el papel que le corresponde"
11 September 2022
RTVE
"Lo que se le achaca a España habitualmente es un perfil bastante bajo en la UE, una falta de ambición para marcar agenda. Pero con el tema de la energía se está poniendo las pilas y está ejerciendo un liderazgo bastante importante", explica a RTVE.es Camino Mortera, responsable de la oficina de Bruselas del think tank Centre for European Reform (CER).
Radio France: Mort d'Elizabeth II : royauté et identité britanniques en question
10 September 2022
Le 8 septembre vers 19h30, le palais de Buckingham annonçait qu'Elizabeth II s'était éteinte "paisiblement" dans son château de Balmoral. A 96 ans, après 70 ans de règne, la reine laisse les 56 états du Commonwealth orphelins. Que représente ce royaume de 2.5 milliards d'habitants ? Avec: Charles Grant, Directeur du Centre...