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“The markets are still digesting a seismic shift in Germany fiscal policy,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, adding that investors “seem to be pricing in” some relief from Donald Trump’s tariffs as well as upwardly revised growth projections.

Economen spreken van een substantiële hervorming. „Dit heeft grote betekenis”, zegt Sander Tordoir, hoofdeconoom van denktank Centre for European Reform en Duitslanddeskundige. „Dit is een weg om de schuldenrem heen voor existentiële zaken: defensie en infrastructuur.” Net als talloze economen pleitte Tordoir de voorbije maanden voor versoepeling van de knellende regel. „Dit is precies wat de dokter voorgeschreven had”, zegt hij.

Le BDI, la fédération allemande de l’industrie, a salué le paquet législatif, mercredi matin. « L’Allemagne est de retour », a réagi Sander Tordoir, chef économiste au Centre pour la réforme européenne.

Charles Grant vom Centre for European Reform in London hat nun eine Schadensbilanz seit Trumps Amtsantritt am 20. Januar aufgestellt.

It will take “five years as a minimum” for Europe to “fully deter Russia without any US contribution,” said Luigi Scazzieri, assistant director at the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank. “You can probably get something that fills a large part of the gap in two to three years — but only with a lot of urgency.”

Simply raising the number of troops might not be enough, Luigi Scazzieri, from the Centre for European Reform tells Euronews."Europeans need to step up their defence whether the Americans leave or not"."To generate credible deterrence, you need to have more capabilities, particularly those on which we rely most on the US: Long-range missiles, aerial defences, aerial supply, air surveillance and transportation, for example", Scazzieri added.

“It would be an obstacle in any future free trade negotiations if you try to negotiate a ‘full-fat’ free trade agreement with the US,” warns Aslak Berg, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform, suggested a narrow, tech-focused deal could include the UK promising to adopt a similar approach to artificial intelligence regulation, for example – where the US has strongly criticised the EU’s more stringent legislation. “That could be preferable to getting into the weeds of a free trade agreement,” he said.

“How many foreign mining concerns are going to want to put money into those sorts of circumstances?” Ian Bond at the Centre for European Reform asks.“We are a long way from the first shovel going into the ground, let alone from minerals in usable quantities coming out of the earth.“There are already significant sources of the rare earths and most of the other minerals that Ukraine has in other friendly countries like Canada, Australia, Chile.