Press
When will Ukraine join the EU – and how is Ireland helping the cause?
31 December 2022
The Irish Times
Because of rampant problems within the western Balkans, the challenge is huge. “None is close to joining the EU,” says Luigi Scazzieri, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. “They must all overcome substantial hurdles to meet the Copenhagen criteria, which define the EU’s standards on strong democratic institutions, a functioning market economy and the ability to take on the obligations of membership.”
Europe's energy sacrifices: The winter test of resolve
30 December 2022
Financial Times
“Everyone is talking about energy costs and comparing energy bills and that brings people together,” says Elisabetta Cornago, senior research fellow in energy at the Centre for European Reform. “Citizens want to see businesses, shops, and public entities save energy just as they are doing at home. Reducing very visible energy consumption like public lighting and shop signs, those things individually probably don’t make a big difference but it is about trying to put together a lot of relatively small consumption cuts and the visible ones can be highly motivating.”
Post-Brexit Guide: What's been the impact — and how did it happen?
29 December 2022
Euronews
A report by the Centre for European Reform in December 2022 is the latest to illustrate how Brexit has hit the UK's GDP, investment and trade.
Brexit: The EU may have moved on, but the UK remains trapped in a doom cycle
27 December 2022
iNews
“Ukraine has opened the EU’s eyes to the fact that there are a lot of big boys in the world and they have to play at the same level,” says Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels office at the Centre for European Reform. “It has given the EU confidence – and brought it together more than anything else. And it is the first time that the EU has found a crisis that fits it well.”
UK traders on Brexit: ‘It’s increased paperwork, stress, everything’
27 December 2022
The Guardian
But John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform, says it’s important to track the UK’s performance against other, similar economies – an approach he calls the “doppelganger method”.“If you compare UK trade after leaving the single market to UK trade before, then you’re not really comparing apples with apples, because you need to compare with other countries. There’s been a big global goods trade boom since the end of the pandemic,” he says.
Crise au Royaume-Uni : comment le Brexit a détérioré l’économie britannique
26 December 2022
Le Parisien
Dans un article publié le 21 décembre, le Centre for European Reform (CER) estimait qu’au 2e trimestre 2022, le PIB britannique était inférieur de 5,5 % à ce qu’il aurait été si le pays était resté dans l’UE.
Tony’s picks of the week
24 December 2022
Financial Times
The UK’s gross domestic product, investment and foreign goods trade have all taken a substantial hit as a result of Brexit, John Springford calculates in an analysis for the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
Comienza una nueva era de política exterior finlandesa
23 December 2022
ES Global
La invasión rusa de Ucrania ha provocado unos cambios sin precedentes en la política exterior finlandesa. La solicitud de ingreso en la OTAN no debe ser más que el principio.
Brexit snarling again amid more grim economic news
23 December 2022
The Independent
John Springford at the Centre for European Reform, who has been tracking its increasingly dire impact on the UK economy, released his latest update this week.Based on the performance of similar countries before and after the event, he calculated that the UK’s economy was 5.5 per cent smaller in the second quarter of the year than it otherwise would have been. In real money, economic output was £33bn lower and tax revenues were £12bn lower.
Brexit chickens come home to roost
23 December 2022
The Herald Scotland
A particularly stark report on the cost of Brexit was published on Wednesday by the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank. CER deputy director John Springford’s latest report on the impact of leaving the EU on the UK economy estimates that Brexit had, by the second quarter of 2022, reduced the country’s gross domestic product by 5.5 per cent. That is a very big amount indeed.
The UK is now at a permanent disadvantage to competitors in the single market
22 December 2022
Financial Times
This week’s chart comes from the latest assessment of the effects of Brexit (up until June 2022) by John Springford at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. The headline number is a 5.5 per cent (£33bn) negative hit to GDP in the second quarter of 2022, when compared with remaining in the EU single market.
La factura del Brexit: la economía de RU se ha reducido un 5,5% desde su salida de la UE
22 December 2022
EL Confidencial
La economía del Reino Unido era en junio de este año un 5,5% menor de lo que habría sido si el país continuara integrado en la Unión Europea (UE), una ralentización que ha forzado a subir impuestos, según un informe divulgado por el laboratorio de ideas británico Centre for European Reform (CER).
Spain's constitutional crisis raises concerns over polarization
22 December 2022
Voice of America
Camino Mortera, of the Centre for European Reform, a research institution, said the Spanish government’s attempts to interfere in the composition of the judiciary had worrying overtones of events in Poland and Hungary.Warsaw and Budapest have muzzled the independent judiciary in moves which have concerned the European Commission and civil rights groups.“Given what is happening with Poland and Hungary, just a mere suspicion that a government is trying to intervene in any way in the composition of a court through emergency legislation raises suspicions,” she told VOA.
Rocks and hard places
22 December 2022
Politico London Playbook
With organizations like the Centre for European Reform painting stark pictures about the GDP hit from Brexit (5.5 percent, according to John Springford) the red flashing lights don’t appear on the verge of dimming. And that means the debate about whether Brexit was such a good idea will continue to rage, while public sentiment gurgles beneath the surface.
Three-quarters of UK firms say Brexit deal has not boosted business
22 December 2022
The Guardian
The BCC’s call for action from the government came as research from the Centre for European Reform (CER) thinktank claimed Brexit had shaved 5.5% off GDP and cost £40bn in tax revenues.In a report, the CER’s John Springford compares Britain’s performance since Brexit with a basket of similar economies.
Firms frustrated by post-Brexit trade red tape
22 December 2022
BBC News
John Springfield, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, said that in the second quarter of 2022, Brexit meant the economy was £33bn smaller than it would have been had the UK voted to remain.He added that Brexit's effect in stifling the economy meant the government had to raise taxes to find an extra £40bn to fund public services.
If trade is a Cinderella indicator, the UK has stopped coming to the ball
21 December 2022
The Times
The Centre for European Reform’s latest assessment, to be published shortly, which compares the UK’s performance with a “doppelganger” UK of similar countries but unaffected by Brexit, is expected to report significant negative effects on both exports and business investment.
Brexit reduced UK economy by 5.5% and led to tax rises
21 December 2022
The Irish Examiner
Brexit has left the UK economy 5.5% smaller than it would have been and added to the squeeze on public services that’s behind strikes crippling the railways and National Health Service, a prominent research group concluded.The Centre for European Reform said that slower growth is also weighing on the UK Treasury’s revenue and that the tax increases announced in the autumn fiscal statement wouldn’t be necessary if the UK were still in the European Union’s common market.
Le Brexit aurait déjà coûté 37 milliards d’euros au PIB britannique
21 December 2022
Liberation
D’après une estimation du Centre for European Reform, le Royaume-Uni aurait aujourd’hui un PIB 5,5 % supérieur à celui actuel si le pays n’avait pas quitté l’Union européenne.
NHK News 7: Gas prices
21 December 2022
"So houses that were already more vulnerable to energy poverty to begin with are now going to be suffering even more. And I think for this reason, it is important to make sure that policies that aim at helping out consumers start out by targeting those that are in the most vulnerable positions", said Elisabetta Cornago, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.