Press

Cameron reshuffle tells Europe that Britain is 'ready to leave'

15 July 2014
The Guardian
Charles Grant of the CER said: "I'm sure Lord Hill is a good man, but he is not one of the government's 'big beasts'...Sending a relative lightweight to Brussels suggests that Cameron doesn't see the dossier as very important."

Jonathan Hill, UK's low-key 'fixer' sent to Brussels

15 July 2014
Agence France Presse
Charles Grant, of the CER, described [Jonathan Hill] as a "pro-European"..."He clearly has sensible views on Europe, he is a rationalist," Grant told AFP, adding that former European Commissioner Chris Patten "has spoken warmly of him to me."

Time for Labour to lead on clean air

Stephen Tindale
11 July 2014
Fabian Society
Air pollution kills 29,000 people every year in the UK, according to Public Health England. So clean air ought to be a political priority. But it isn’t.
Fortunately, those nasty Brussels bureaucrats are trying to protect public health. In December 2013 the European Commission proposed stricter air quality standards, based...

Debatte um EU-Austritt: "Großbritannien würde mehr Schaden nehmen"

Christian Odendahl
10 July 2014
Deutschlandfunk
"Wirtschaft ist kein Nullsummenspiel, die EU würde verletzt werden von einem britischen beenden. Aber den Schaden für die Wirtschaft wäre kleiner als, als die britische", Christian Odendahl, CER.

Does Germany rule your world?

Simon Tilford
09 July 2014
The Guardian
The success of the Mittelstand is thanks to German banks, says Simon Tilford, deputy director of the CER; "Small and medium sized businesses have been able to access long-term capital at quite favourable interest rates."

UK and ECB set to clash in court over clearing houses

09 July 2014
Financial Times
John Springford, a senior research fellow at the CER, said he disagreed with accusations by some UK commentators that the euro area’s policy on clearing houses amounted to regulatory protectionism aimed at winning business from London.

Sizing up black markets and red-light districts for GDP

Simon Tilford
09 July 2014
The New York Times
"If you think that drugs and prostitution are things that do not necessarily improve the quality of life in a country," said Simon Tilford, deputy director at the CER, "then including them undermines GDP as measure of well-being."

Hiánycikk lett a női EU-biztos

Rem Korteweg
08 July 2014
Nol.hu
Rem Korteweg, az Európai Reformközpont (CER) ¬londoni kutatóintézet szakértője. Szerinte könnyen előfordulhat, hogy az Európai Parlament megtagadja a jóváhagyást, és akkor Juncker ismét arra ¬kéri majd a tagországokat, hogy „találjanak" több nőt.

Britain's Canadian destiny

Clive Crook
07 July 2014
Bloomberg
So what are Britain's exit options? A good place to start in thinking about this is "The Economic Consequences of Leaving the EU," a study published last month by the committedly pro-EU Centre for European Reform.

Europe’s dowry is not weighed in pounds and pence

Wolfgang Munchau
06 July 2014
Financial Times
“The economic consequences of leaving the EU”, by the CER...debunk[s] various unsubstantiated populist arguments: the alleged abuse of the UK welfare state by foreign EU nationals; excessive regulation from Brussels.

From Google to Amazon: EU goes to war against power of US digital giants

06 July 2014
The Guardian
John Springford [at] the CER says Cameron signed up to the idea of a digital single market as long ago as 2011, but that while he supports the removal of barriers to trade, he may be reluctant to accept edicts from Brussels on copyright and spectrum sales.

La probabilité d’une sortie de l’Union du Royaume-Uni a augmenté

02 July 2014
Challenges Fr
Interview avec Charles Grant, directeur du think-tank Centre for european reform, estime que le Royaume-Uni pourrait quitter l'Union européenne.

Has the UK passed the point of no return?

01 July 2014
The Observer
"The Juncker affair makes a British exit more likely. Cameron's strategy for keeping the UK in the EU supposes that he can negotiate a new deal and then persuade the British to vote for staying in a reformed EU," writes Charles Grant.

David Cameron's isolated position in EU Juncker row

Simon Tilford
28 June 2014
BBC Radio 4
"It’s made it harder for other EU leaders to be seen supporting David Cameron. It’s made him rather toxic", said Simon Tilford on BBC Radio 4 Week in Westminster programme.

Ukraine and EU Trade deal, what does this mean for relations with Russia?

27 June 2014
BBC Radio - The World Tonight
Ian Bond talks to The World Tonight about Ukraine's relations with Russia after the signing of the EU Free Trade Agreement (30:47).

"Dann sieht man ziemlich dumm aus"

Simon Tilford
27 June 2014
Die Presse.com
"Er [Cameron] verstand offenbar nicht, dass sein Ton und seine Drohungen es den anderen EU-Führern viel schwerer gemacht haben, ihn zu unterstützen", meint Simon Tilford vom Londoner Centre for European Reform im Gespräch mit der 'Presse'.

Britain's Cameron isolated fighting his corner in search for new EU leader, push for reforms

Simon Tilford
26 June 2014
Associated Press
"The message to British politicians is that EU member states ...would rather risk pushing Britain out of the EU than cause some temporary problems for Merkel," said Simon Tilford at the CER.

Cameron is not the only leader who should fear a British exit

26 June 2014
Financial Times
The British leader has time to prevent a calamity of his own making. Unless David Cameron changes course, the prime minister’s plans to reform the EU and persuade the British to vote to stay in it seem likely to fail.

Cameron playing weakened hand after EU Juncker row

Simon Tilford
26 June 2014
Agence France Presse
"I think cool heads are required all round - Cameron needs to cool down and refrain from further threats, other leaders need to tone down the rhetoric on their side," said Simon Tilford, deputy director at the CER.

Splendid isolation?

John Springford, Richard Lambert
25 June 2014
Project Syndicate
Membership of the European Union has shackled Britain’s economy to a corpse. The United Kingdom has been bound by swaths of costly red tape to a bunch of moribund economies with no growth prospects. As a result, UK exporters have been held back from the fast-growing markets of the Commonwealth and the developing world.