Press

Why we should support nuclear power

Stephen Tindale
08 April 2014
Ecologist
The UK should continue to use nuclear power, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, writes Stephen Tindale. It should also test new nuclear technologies that can burn plutonium, such as the PRISM reactor, and develop molten salt reactors.

Hungary is becoming the biggest reason why we may have to leave the EU

07 April 2014
The Telegraph
"It is quite alarming that Fidesz and Jobbik have won so much of the vote. Jobbik is a fascistic party that is scary in a way that Ukip, Le Pen, and Geert Wilders are not scary" said Charles Grant.

The EU and the Eastern Partnership: Whose backyard is it anyway?

07 April 2014
European Leadership Network
Almost 40 years ago the nations of Europe agreed in the Helsinki Final Act to respect each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and choice of political system. By invading Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, President Putin has violated all these principles. This has profoundly destabilising implications for all the countries that lie between...

US asks Europe to spend more money for defence

Rem Korteweg
04 April 2014
International Business Times
"If you decide to increase defence spending today, the impact will only let itself be felt in four or seven years down the line, so when dealing with the current Ukraine crisis, it won’t matter," said Rem Korteweg of the CER.

What can we do about smog in the UK?

Stephen Tindale
03 April 2014
Fabian Society
The smog in much of the UK at present is not as visible as the infamous 1950s smogs, and may not be quite as dangerous. But it is not safe. The 50s smogs were vanquished by a Conservative government banning coal burning in homes and moving coal power stations away...

Gazprom uses gas to tighten noose on Ukraine

01 April 2014
The Telegraph
Ian Bond, from the CER said Mr Putin aims to reduce Ukraine to a "vassal state" by pushing for a loose federation in Ukraine under his control. He has upped the ante with a new strain of ethno-nationalism, laying a claim to all areas abroad deemed to be "historic Russia".

Cinq européens débattent

31 March 2014
Confrontations Europe
Quel serait le sens d’un nouveau contrat pour reconstruire notre Europe ? Claude Fischer ouvre le débat avec quatre Européens « insoupçonnables » : Charles Grant, directeur du CER(1), Thomas Hanke, journaliste au quotidien Handelsblatt, Andrea Ricci, directeur d’ISIS(2), et Maciej Witucki, président de la Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie...

David Cameron eyes Danish premier to solve Brussels dilemma

31 March 2014
Financial Times
Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform think-tank said if the left does get the first crack at the top job in Brussels "at least three moderate Socialists would be viable alternatives" to Mr Schulz.

Nowy szef NATO na nowe czasy

Rem Korteweg
31 March 2014
Rzeczpospolita
W obecnej sytuacji Norweg jest właściwym wyborem dla obu stron. Traktuje zagrożenie rosyjskie poważnie, ale w sposób bardziej zniuansowany niż w Europie Wschodniej – mówi „Rz" Rem Korteweg, ekspert Centre for European Reform w Londynie.

Dashed Ikea dreams show decades lost to bribery in Ukraine

31 March 2014
Bloomberg
"Yanukovych won the 2010 election more or less fairly because his allegedly more Western-leaning opponents, first of all, spent so much time fighting between themselves, and secondly, presided themselves over so much poor governance and corruption," said Ian Bond of the CER.

Farage's TV debate has lit the European touchpaper

Polly Toynbee
27 March 2014
The Guardian
It's high time all those who fear Britain heading for the exit stood up and rallied to the cause – the CBI, chambers of commerce, every individual and every interest or campaigning group which would lose out. Where is the money flowing into pro-EU supporters, such as the well-informed Centre for European Reform?

The EU debate: How should Labour respond?

Stephen Tindale
27 March 2014
Progress online
Well done Nick Clegg. Not for winning – it is hard to debate with someone who regards the truth as just one option – but for taking part. And for the radical strategy of making the European elections about Europe.
How should Labour’s leaders respond? Ed Miliband is firmly pro-European. He...

Ukraine crisis: OSCE unarmed on the front line

27 March 2014
BBC News
"Anything that requires a decision by the OSCE's permanent council is vulnerable to a veto by a single state… but if you can reach consensus, then that gives a decision extra strength," said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the CER.

How the international sanctions game is played

24 March 2014
Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty
"They [sanctions] won't automatically extend to relatives, but they will, for example, extend to shell companies where the EU or the US can identify that the controlling interest is held by a person who is subject to sanctions," says Ian Bond of the CER.

Weaning Europe from Russian gas

Rem Korteweg
24 March 2014
The New York Times
[Building gas 'interconnecters'] is relevant in what some analysts, like Rem Korteweg of the CER, consider a possible escalation scenario: that Russia cuts supplies of gas through Ukraine but continues pumping it through its other two pipelines to the West — one through the Baltic and the other through Poland.

Obama and allies seek firm, united response as Russia grips Crimea

24 March 2014
The New York Times
A special role in the crisis has fallen to Germany, Europe's biggest economy, and to Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Russian speaker who is familiar with Mr Putin and in a stronger position at home than other leaders. "Merkel certainly gets it," said Charles Grant, director of the CER.

German AfD tries to shake off 'Tea Party' tag

Simon Tilford
24 March 2014
Deutsche Welle
Simon Tilford is [also] wary of making easy parallels. "I think it's a little unfair," he told DW. "I think there are Tea Party echoes in economic policy, but I think those echoes are actually much stronger in the CSU [Bavarian sister-party to Merkel's CDU]."

Menysprear el gas rus

Rem Korteweg
23 March 2014
El Periodico Internacional
"La UE no podrà canviar la seva dependència del gas rus de la nit al dia. Tampoc és realista esperar que la UE reemplaci completament les seves importacions de gas rus, entre altres coses perquè la producció interna (sobretot al mar del Nord) s'està reduint", afirma Rem Korteweg, del CER.

Avrupa ekonomisi crizi atlatamaya çalışıyor

Simon Tilford
23 March 2014
EU Turkey News Network
"Ekonomik büyümenin yeniden başlaması ve mali pazarların durulması nedeniyle gevşeme havasına girme riski var. Avrupalı siyasetçiler euro bölgesinde ciddi kurumsal reformlar yapmadan, örneğin risk havuzu oluşturmadan da kriz batağından kurtulabileceklerini düşünebilir." [Simon Tilford].

Europe looks to US, Qatar gas to reduce reliance on Russia

21 March 2014
Voice of America
"Russia depends very heavily on the revenues from the gas that it sells to Europe. At least half of the national state budget comes from sales of hydrocarbons to Europe," said Ian Bond of the CER.