Press
The charms of variable geometry
11 June 2016
The Economist
These concessions may seem esoteric, but Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank in London, thinks they are important - and not just for Britain. What the EU has conceded is, in effect, that its members are now moving not just at different speeds but towards different ultimate destinations. This is why true believers in a federal Europe hated the deal given to Mr Cameron. But some other non-euro countries, like Sweden, Poland and Hungary, liked it. Indeed, if Brexit prevails on June 23rd, they may try to secure the same deal for themselves.
UK voters back Norway-style Brexit, poll reveals
11 June 2016
The Telegraph
John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform, said that free movement would be an "obvious roadblock" for anyone in Westminster hoping to keep the UK in the EEA. Mr Springford said: "It would be hard for elites to claim that the referendum had not essentially been a vote against free movement, when the majority of people who want to vote leave cite it as their biggest issue."
TOK FM: Referendum coraz bardziej dzieli Brytyjczyków?
10 June 2016
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska talks to Jacob Janiszewski on TOK FM to discuss the increasingly divided debate in the UK on the EU referendum.
If we leave the EU, other countries will think we're a bunch of spoilt children. They'll be right
10 June 2016
The Telegraph
Seen from outside the UK, Britain’s Brexit debate has taken on an otherworldly quality. Foreigners struggle to see how the UK could flirt with something so destructive to its own interests.
EU referendum: The chattering classes clash with the common man in Frinton-on-Sea
10 June 2016
The Telegraph
Frinton’s two conflicted sides were very much on display this week when Douglas Carswell, the Ukip MP, held a public debate with Charles Grant, head of the pro-EU Centre for European Reform, and one of Britain’s leading advocates for Europe. ...On borders, Mr Grant asserted – quoting Lord Lawson of the Leave campaign, in support – that there would have to be “some sort of border controls” with Northern Ireland, but Mr Carswell said that was scaremongering and “not true”. Lord Lawson, he added, was wrong.
CER podcast: Debate on - Can Britain join Norway in the EEA?
09 June 2016
Could Britain end up in the EEA? The CER couldn't agree, so we decided to have a debate between our director Charles Grant and senior research fellow John Springford.
Brexiting yourself in the foot
09 June 2016
Prospect
It looks as if the "Leave" camp will focus on immigration for the remainder of the Brexit campaign. Judging from the latest polls this may turn out to be a winning strategy.
US may turn to Canada for help with new NATO force in east Europe
09 June 2016
Reuters
"There are divisions within NATO," said Sophia Besch, a European defence expert at the London-based Centre for European Reform think tank. "Some allies feel the focus should be on the south."
Es könnte passieren, gleichsam aus Versehen
09 June 2016
Die Presse
The Remain camp is winning the economic and business cases in the referendum race, but immigration fears and low turnout could tip the scales towards Leave.
US may turn to Canada for help with new NATO force in east Europe
09 June 2016
Reuters
"There are divisions within NATO," said Sophia Besch, a European defense expert at the London-based Centre for European Reform think tank. "Some allies feel the focus should be on the south."
How Britain may leave the EU and end up with just as many immigrants
08 June 2016
The Times
Suppose the British decide for Brexit. About 70 per cent of MPs in the House of Commons favour Remain. That doesn’t mean that MPs would ignore the referendum result.
Why leaving the EU really does mean Brexit
08 June 2016
The Telegraph
I keep meeting people who believe a vote to leave the EU won't really mean that we leave. There are at least three reasons why British voters would not be given a chance to change their mind in a second referendum.
Russia using refugee crisis to divide the West
08 June 2016
Anadolu Post
Russia is deploying a raft of measures, from propaganda to threats of nuclear war in an effort to divide and weaken the West. After a slow start, the West is responding.
Waging war on the myth of an EU army
07 June 2016
Politico
As the referendum nears and Britain's EU debate becomes less evidence-based, Brexiteers are tapping into deep-rooted tropes of Euroscepticism guaranteed to alarm the British public.
Pro-remain plot to keep UK in single market after a vote to quit despite public concerns over mass migration
07 June 2016
The Daily Mail
Charles Grant, director of the pro-EU Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: "It is quite possible that Parliament would vote to impose the Norway model on a post-Brexit Tory government."
Brexit would leave EU less liberal, less Atlanticist
06 June 2016
Reuters
"Brexit would make the narrative of the EU about disintegration, not integration," researchers at the London-based Centre for European Reform said in a report entitled: "Europe after Brexit: Unleashed or undone?"
MPs 'considering using majority' to keep UK in single market
06 June 2016
BBC News
Charles Grant, director of the pro-EU Centre for European Reform think tank, said: "I think it is quite possible that Parliament would vote to impose the Norway model on a post-Brexit Tory government. "Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are free marketers down to their finger tips and might be quite happy to be beaten up by Parliament and have this model imposed on them. They might protest but secretly quite like it. The pressure for Britain to retain some linkage with the single market would be overwhelming."
Is Juncker in danger of becoming Putin's "useful idiot"?
06 June 2016
iNews
His visit will not help Russia’s relationship with the West, will do nothing to resolve the ongoing Ukraine crisis, and could even split the European Union, according to Ian Bond, the director of foreign policy at the London-based Centre for European Reform think-tank. It will certainly deliver the Russian leader another propaganda coup, he says. “This is a really bad move by Juncker. It is really ill-timed,” Mr Bond said, dismissing the 16-18 June St Petersburg International Forum as “a fundraiser for the Russian economy” rather than a serious conference.
Is Juncker in danger of becoming Putin’s “useful idiot”?
06 June 2016
iNews
His visit will not help Russia’s relationship with the West, will do nothing to resolve the ongoing Ukraine crisis, and could even split the European Union, according to Ian Bond, the director of foreign policy at the London-based Centre for European Reform think-tank. It will certainly deliver the Russian leader another propaganda coup, he says.
ARD: Die Story im Ersten - Albtraum Brexit
06 June 2016
Das Rennen zwischen Befürwortern und Gegnern eines Austritts aus der EU ist denkbar knapp. Doch was kommt nach einem Brexit?