Press

'End of the fairy tale': Summer of discontent hits Macron's reputation

02 August 2018
The Local
"He [Macron] hasn't convinced enough people that what he's doing is not just franco-francais, that he's not just pursuing a French agenda and dressing it up in European clothing," said Charles Grant, director of the London-based Centre for European Reform.

The Spectator podcast: China's new diplomacy

02 August 2018
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, spoke to The Spectator Podcast about the 'WTO option' and the likelihood of a no deal (from 16:45mins). 
“I think the chances of no deal are higher than they were. I still think it is more likely than not that there will be...

The dangerous delusion of no-deal Brexit

02 August 2018
The Economist
Brexiteers may call this Project Fear 2.0, but the evidence is against them. Market confidence would suffer. John Springford of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, says a no-deal Brexit would trigger both a recession and a run on the pound. No deal is not a serious option, even if today’s febrile politics pretends it is.

Has the EU-US trade war really been cancelled?

02 August 2018
Moneyweek
Last week, Donald Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker surprised many people when they announced an agreement to seemingly avert the trade war that many people had been expecting. While Trump has hyped this as a major breakthrough, many people have been more sceptical. John Springford, the deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, kindly agreed to discuss the implications for the deal with us.
The success of the deal “is yet to be seen”, says Springford. After all, “it’s not an agreement in itself, just an agreement to start talking about talks”.

CER podcast: What is the cost of Brexit?

Sophia Besch, John Springford
01 August 2018
The UK economy is around 2 per cent smaller as a result of the vote to leave the EU. John Springford speaks to Sophia Besch about his analysis, his modelling method and the implications of the result.

Germany's military is struggling amid rising tensions with Trump and Russia

Sophia Besch
01 August 2018
Business Insider UK
"What we've seen in the last few years — really the sort of tragic and kind of embarrassing stories about the state of the Bundeswehr — that is certainly sinking in, and Germans are now supporting more defense spending than they have in the past," Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said on a recent edition of the Center for a New American Security's Brussels Sprouts podcast. 

Theresa May to plead with Emmanuel Macron to ease Brexit stance

01 August 2018
The Times
Charles Grant, from the Centre for European Reform, said: “The French have been the toughest on Brexit on a range of issues, including financial services and Galileo (the satellite-navigation system being created by the EU). They are doing this both to grab business and because they genuinely fear how well the Eurosceptic movement will do in the European elections next May, when the National Front could conceivably win more votes. So I think France needs to demonstrate that Brexit doesn’t pay.”

UK second thoughts unlikely to change Brexit strategy

31 July 2018
EUobserver
"The Tory party is fundamentally a eurosceptic party, and any Tory leader who would talk about a referendum would be killed [politically], because that would possibly lead to Brexit not happening," noted Charles Grant, from the Centre for European Reform, a London think tank.
He told EUobserver that the debate was happening now "because there is much more uncertainty on what will happen" at the end of the negotiations with the EU.
"But chances of a vote are extremely small," he said.

A humiliating Brexit deal risks a descent into Weimar Britain

27 July 2018
The Guardian
But I am struck by how some of the best informed, most pro-European British experts, such as Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, have begun to argue that the EU 27 side is being too rigid, too exacting, too punitive in its approach. 

'Conjoined twins': How Brexit's Irish backstop conundrum could be solved

Sam Lowe
25 July 2018
The Telegraph
Sam Lowe, the trade and Brexit specialist at the Centre for European Reform is among the experts who have also lent credence to the idea. “You would create a Northern Ireland-specific backstop written into the Withdrawal Agreement which is unconditional,” he suggests, “and then combine it with an agreement for a potential all-UK Customs Union that supplements the Irish backstop, but remains conditional on a future agreement.”

“Regime change? The European Economy to 2030” – The CER’s new research project on the European economy

25 July 2018
LSE: New European Trade Unions Forum
The Centre for European Reform recently published a short Bulletin article on the future of the European economy. Here’s Bob Hancké‘s review:

Euronews: Does Trump want to strike trade deal with EU's Juncker?

Sam Lowe
24 July 2018
"I think Trump isn't looking to make a deal," Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told Euronews (from 0:20 mins).

What is at stake as Trump meets Juncker in US/EU trade war talks

Sam Lowe
24 July 2018
The Irish Times
“The EU and US tried to bunch together all the trade disputes they had been having for decades [in the TTIP negotiations], but the differences in regulatory culture, different levels of precaution and desire for protection in different sectors proved too high a hurdle,” said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

What is at stake ahead of Juncker-Trump trade talks

Sam Lowe
24 July 2018
Financial Times
“The EU and US tried to bunch together all the trade disputes they had been having for decades [in the TTIP negotiations], but the differences in regulatory culture, different levels of precaution and desire for protection in different sectors proved too high a hurdle,” said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

Brussels sprouts: Sophia Besch talks German politics, defence, and US-German relations

Sophia Besch
23 July 2018
Sophia Besch of the Centre for European Reform joins Jim Townsend to discuss the shifting internal dynamics in Germany and what they mean for US-German relations, defence spending, and how President Trump is changing things.

Merkel and Salvini's migration crisis: Much ado about nothing?

Sophia Besch, Camino Mortera-Martinez, Luigi Scazzieri
23 July 2018
E!Sharp
The number of people arriving in Europe is much lower in 2018 than in previous years. Yet, at the European Council on June 28th-29th, EU leaders had to grapple with Germany and Italy’s twin political crises over migration and asylum policy.

EU warns Brexit talks CANNOT be extended unless there is ANOTHER referendum

23 July 2018
The Express
Speaking to The Guardian, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, Charles Grant, said: “If there is a very good reason for it, then fine. “But if it is just because a deal hasn’t been agreed, then that’s not going to be fine. “The Commission and the French government say they are relaxed about a no deal, although I am not sure they are.”

Article 50 extension would need major shift in UK politics, say EU officials

22 July 2018
The Guardian
Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said that following his discussions with French government officials and the commission it was clear that a high bar would be set for an extension. “If there is a very good reason for it, then fine,” he said. “But if it is just because a deal hasn’t been agreed, then that’s not going to be fine. The commission and the French government say they are relaxed about a no deal, although I am not sure they are.”

With Brexit deadlocked, Britain stares over a cliff

21 July 2018
The New York Times
“Basically nobody has the faintest idea what will happen,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a research institute. “The risk is real of political deadlock in Britain with Britain drifting toward the cliff edge.”

ABC Radio: Does Donald Trump's step towards Putin seal a new world order?

20 July 2018
Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform spoke to ABC about how for many in the global community, the Helsinki summit signals the manifestation of a new world order, coming just days after Donald Trump waged rhetorical war against US allies in Europe, criticising Germany's Angela Merkel, Britain's Theresa May and NATO.