Press
Los líderes de los 27 aprueban una declaración vaga e insuficiente tres años después del Brexit
09 May 2019
El Mundo
Tras tres años en los que Bruselas sólo ha tenido ojos y manos para Brexit, dejando en segundo plano cuestiones vitales, en Sibiu los 27 hicieron un ejercicio más cosmético que de calado, porque la fractura es notable. En una Declaración tan rimbombante como vacía, los gobiernos se comprometieron a "defender una sola Europa", a "estar unidos pase lo que pase", a "buscar siempre soluciones conjuntas" a "proteger nuestro modo de vida, la democracia y el estado de Derecho" y a "cumplir allí donde sea más necesario". Muy bonito, muy de 'tuit' y de 'meme', pero tan genérico como insuficiente. "Un poco como los votos matrimoniales, que se rompen casi inevitablemente según pasa el tiempo", en palabras de Camino Mortera, investigadora del Centre for European Reform.
Europa busca su sitio en el debate político español
09 May 2019
El Pais
La investigadora Camino Mortera-Martínez, del laboratorio de ideas europeo Centre for European Reform, lo ve como un reflejo de dejadez política. “Sorprende mucho que tanto la política europea como la política exterior en general estuvieran tan ausentes del debate público. En países como Alemania, Francia o Reino Unido no ocurre. Tiene que ver con la mayor dejadez que ha tenido la posición de España en los últimos años”, argumenta Mortera-Martínez.
After Khashoggi
09 May 2019
The Financial Times
Beth Oppenheim at the Centre for European Reform thinks it’s time for the EU to hold a united front against the Saudi regime by restricting arms exports and backing a UN-led investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The left behind have had a better deal in the old world
09 May 2019
The Financial Times
Even when the worst inequality has been avoided, income growth has been sluggish, and worse than that in many places. Above all, acute inequality between regions within European nations is a major problem, as highlighted in a new report from the Centre for European Reform.
Letters: Trade-offs
09 May 2019
Prospect
Liam Fox says in your trade supplement (“A world beyond Europe,” May) that he wants a “global agreement on services” with Britain at the helm. He makes the point that distance does not constrain trade in services to the same extent it does goods. This is true, but it risks underplaying the impact of geography. Distance does still matter when it comes to trading services cross-border—a 10 per cent increase in distance between countries reduces services trade by 7 per cent. There will be new opportunities for UK services exporters in the future, but the government would be wise to manage expectations. Sam Lowe, Centre for European Reform
Europe's 'Nationalism' turns out to be local
09 May 2019
The Wall Street Journal
A new report this week from the London-based think-tank the Centre for European Reform digs into the economic dimension of these divides, and it illuminates a mess. The EU’s most economically successful member-states, such as Britain, nonetheless contain regions with productivity comparable to Greece’s. Manufacturing’s decline is serious in Western Europe but perhaps somewhat misunderstood. Industrial output in countryside regions more than doubled between 1980 and 2015, although that tended to involve a shift into higher-tech manufacturing.
QMV + CFSP = A-OK
09 May 2019
Berlin Policy Journal
It is too easy for individual member states to block EU sanctions or diplomatic statements. Extending majority voting to foreign policy would encourage greater unity.
Representative Democracy in the EU: Not such a clean break: Westminster's continuous oversight of EU affairs post-Brexit
09 May 2019
CEPS
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska of the CER contributed a chapter titled 'Not such a clean break: Westminster's continuous oversight of EU affairs post-Brexit', see page 333, in Representative Democracy in the EU.
UK and Ireland agree to maintain common travel area after Brexit
08 May 2019
The Financial Times
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said that the agreement should be “celebrated” but warned “it does not tell us anything about how goods will be treated when they cross the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland post-Brexit”. He added: “While the common travel area was always designated an issue to be negotiated and resolved by the UK and Ireland bilaterally, the external trade policy of the EU is very much not.”
Just four countries and one man want the UK to remain in the EU, says Labour MP
08 May 2019
Yahoo News
Charles Grant, director for the Centre for European Reform, argued that nobody knows what countries truly think as there has been no formal requirement to make public their position.Mr Grant claimed French leader Emmanuel Macron was “isolated” in his “tactical” position at the last European council summit when he pushed for a short extension against the majority who backed Angela Merkel view that “if you give them a very long extension, Eurosceptics will think Brexit will never happen and vote” for the withdrawal agreement.
CER podcast: A guide to the Spanish election
08 May 2019
Sophia Besch asks Camino Mortera-Martinez to talk through the Spanish election results.
Parliament Live: Exiting the European Union Committee
08 May 2019
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform joined Sir Jonathan Faull, Chair of European Public Affairs, Brunswick Group and Larissa Brunner, Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre to give evidence on the progress of the UK’s negotiations on EU withdrawal.
Draghi succession may go down to wire unless EU sorts other jobs
08 May 2019
“Whatever happens with the commission top job, then the ECB can be decided afterwards,” said Christian Odendahl, chief economist at Centre for European Reform in Berlin. “The commission seems to me a much more complicated decision politically. The ECB top job will probably be a part of the horse-trading at the end, but that’s not the priority.”
These maps show how ridiculously unequal Britain’s economy is
08 May 2019
CityMetric
Britain is a rich country: this relaxed assumption about our place in the economic pecking order has helped fuel everything from Brexit to the complacency that led to Brexit.
Grayling TV: The EU elections aftermath
06 May 2019
This week we speak to Camino Mortera, a senior research fellow for the Centre of European Reform. Camino is a specialist on justice and home and European affairs. This time, she talks to David Simon, head of Public Affairs Grayling on predictions after the EU elections.
Can Theresa May reach a Brexit deal with Labour?
03 May 2019
Politico
Sam Lowe, a trade expert and senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, believes a compromise government-Labour proposal could end up looking a lot like part 23 of this document, which states that “the economic partnership should ensure no tariffs, fees, charges or quantitative restrictions across all sectors, with ambitious customs arrangements.”The phrasing, Lowe said, “can be read to achieve both [the government’s future relationship proposal, agreed by ministers last year at] Chequers and a customs union, depending on your priority.”
Brexit means … European Parliament elections?
02 May 2019
Clingendael
Almost three years after the historic vote to leave the European Union, Britain is destined to participate in the European Parliament elections against the express wishes of most politicians on both sides of the Channel.
UK Huawei leak exposes post-Brexit security peril
02 May 2019
Bloomberg
“There are different concepts of what Britain should be afterwards,” said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform. “Probably, most of the rivals to succeed Theresa May would want the UK to be out there as a great trading nation, however that pans out in practice. But within the Conservative Party there is also a strong strand of economic nationalism that would say we don’t want to let in all this foreign stuff.”
Parliament Live: Exiting the European Union Committee
01 May 2019
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, along with David Henig Director, Dr Pınar Artıran and Ruth Lea CBE, gave evidence on the progress of the UK’s negotiations on EU withdrawal.
Read transcript here.
Read transcript here.
May weighs remaining in EU customs union
01 May 2019
Financial Times
Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, said: “Being in such a customs union would place no constraints on the UK’s ability to negotiate in the areas of services, intellectual property, public procurement, data and regulatory barriers to trade in goods.”