Press
Has the European Central Bank become too powerful?
13 September 2023
The Economist
Officials must combine a monetary-policy justification with adherence to the eu’s fiscal rules and the need for sustainable debt. As such, “ECB lawyers have to be among the most innovative in the world,” says Sander Tordoir of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank.
CER Podcast: Ukraine's road to EU membership
13 September 2023
Ian Bond and Hennadiy Maksak discuss Ukraine's road to EU membership.
La «dame de fer» de Bruxelles entre deux destins
13 September 2023
Le Temps
«Son principal atout est son engagement en faveur des principes du marché libre, qui l’a parfois amenée à s’opposer à des intérêts particuliers. Elle a également réussi à convaincre de nombreuses personnes que la Direction générale de la concurrence n’avait pas pour seul objectif d’attaquer les entreprises américaines, mais qu’elle appliquerait la politique de concurrence sans crainte ni faveur, y compris lorsque des entreprises européennes sont visées», analyse Zach Meyers, chercheur en politique de la concurrence au Centre for European Reform.
EU subsidy race is on – and Germany is winning it
12 September 2023
EurActiv
“The problem here is that the relaxed state aid rules benefit countries like Germany that have low public debt and can afford to lavish subsidies,” Zach Meyers, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER), a think-tank, told Euractiv.
One year on, Trussonomics is still inflicting damage
09 September 2023
The Sunday Times
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, was quick out of the blocks to reveal that on his “doppelganger” calculations, the UK economy was still 5 per cent smaller than it would have been by the second quarter of 2022, compared with 5.5 per cent on his previous calculation.
G20: A chance for Europe to shape the global order
09 September 2023
Financial Times
I caught up this week with Charles Grant, the director of Centre for European Reform, for the first time since I commissioned him to write op-eds for the FT during the eurozone debt crisis. Bear in mind, he notes, that while just about everyone in the EU is in favour of multilateralism, given the war in Ukraine and the focus on EU enlargement it is not top of people’s minds.
Italy’s recovery funds saga a test for EU fiscal integration
07 September 2023
EurActiv
This could also erode the future will of ‘frugal’ countries to pool resources or issue EU debt, said economist Sander Tordoir from the Centre for European Reform, who prompted the European Commission to be more open about the RRF pitfalls.“The Commission and member-states have neglected to build genuine consensus beforehand on what would constitute big-picture political success for the RRF,” he told EURACTIV, warning of a backlash.
Britain can recover from the self-harm of Brexit. Today’s return to the EU’s Horizon project shows how
07 September 2023
The Guardian
The Centre for European Reform estimated that at the end of 2021, the British economy was 5% smaller than it would have been had Britain not left.
Germany’s economic rut gets deeper
07 September 2023
The Wall Street Journal
“There’s a triple-whammy [facing Germany]: higher energy prices, a global environment that’s not conducive to goods trade and the China shock,” said Sander Tordoir, a senior economist at the Centre for European Reform in Berlin.
Georgia's foreign policy and its alignment with the EU CSFP
07 September 2023
The Georgian Institute of Politics
The risks of strengthening ties with Russia in the midst of its war of aggression against Ukraine should be obvious.
Future is Blue: Unpacking German economic troubles
06 September 2023
Is the German economy again the sick man of Europe, as it was once labelled back in the late 90s? We take a look at the current economic challenges of Germany together with Sander Tordoir, Senior Economist at the Centre for European Reform, and Raymond Torres, Funcas Europe Director.
Apple and Microsoft seek exemption from EU Digital Markets Act
06 September 2023
Arn
“Microsoft's arguments may hold some weight,” said Zach Meyers, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, who said the company could reasonably argue that a platform with a 3% market share is not an "important gateway" for businesses. He added that while there may be some concern around Microsoft's vast ecosystem and its aggressive promotion of Bing, the search engine’s low market share illustrates how insurmountable Google's lead is, even with Microsoft throwing everything at it.
EU lists ‘gatekeepers’ to be regulated, opens iMessage and Bing investigations
06 September 2023
Computer World
Even if Apple and Microsoft are ultimately successful in their challenges, there would not be an immediate floodgate of arguments from other gatekeepers, as the tech firms would have needed to object to their platforms being regulated before the list was published, said Zach Meyers, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
How big banks won the banking crisis
05 September 2023
CNN
John Springford, deputy director at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, said: “The revisions are good news. But since 2021 the economy has stagnated — and that followed a period of below-trend growth after the [2016] Brexit referendum. So while the size of the economy is bigger than we thought, Britain still has a growth problem.”
UK economy bounced back from Covid, ONS revisions reveal
01 September 2023
Financial Times
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said it was “worth remembering” that the ONS had previously revised 2020 GDP down by 1.7 percentage points in changes last year.
The silent majority must be heard. We need to rejoin the EU
30 August 2023
The New European
The Centre for European Reform estimates that the Brexit hit to GDP is around 5.5%.
Comment l’Europe a renoncé à sa stratégie industrielle
29 August 2023
Alternatives Economiques
« L’Italie et l’Espagne se sont satisfaites de la possibilité de transférer une partie de l’argent des fonds de cohésion européens vers les priorités énoncées par la plate-forme Step », décrit par exemple Sander Tordoir, économiste au Centre for European Reform.
Brexit: India trade deal and Kemi Badenoch
25 August 2023
The Herald
Centre for European Reform deputy director John Springford’s latest report on the cost of Brexit to the UK economy, published in December, estimates that leaving the EU had, by the second quarter of 2022, reduced the country’s GDP by 5.5%.
Meloni's balancing act
25 August 2023
EurActiv
Her first year in office has confounded expectations, as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blended Atlanticism and pragmatism towards the EU with right-wing populism on immigration, cultural issues and green policy.
The CMA's hardball approach to the Microsoft deal paid off - but EU gamers will be left out
24 August 2023
City AM
A deal with the UK competition watchdog could mean British gamers have more choice than their European counterparts.