Press

The EU needs a permanent recovery fund

02 December 2021
Encompass
In 2020, EU member-states took a huge step forward in European fiscal integration, with member-states agreeing to jointly borrow on financial markets to finance the new EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

New EU measures set to restrict asylum rights at the Belarus border

Camino Mortera-Martinez
01 December 2021
The New York Times
Camino Mortera-Martínez, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the new measures amounted to “rubber-stamping the behavior” of Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. “Especially Poland, which has been breaking all asylum laws possible,” she said.

A geopolítica está a levar a Alemanha a tornar-se mais pragmática na frente orçamental

Christian Odendahl
27 November 2021
Publico
Christian Odendahl, do Centre for European Reform, diz que as questões orçamentais estão a passar para um plano secundário quando o ambiente passou a ser a questão prioritária na Alemanha.

Drame migratoire: Johnson appelle la France à reprendre les migrants qui traversent la Manche

26 November 2021
Le Point
"Ils vont devoir travailler ensemble. Mais peuvent-il y arriver quand les relations sont si mauvaises, avec toujours le risque que l'un dise que l'autre n'en fait pas assez ?", s'interroge John Springford, expert au Centre for European Reform (CER) à Londres.

CER podcast: Poland and Belarus: What can and should the EU do?

Charles Grant, Camino Mortera-Martinez, Katia Glod
25 November 2021
Charles Grant speaks to Camino Mortera-Martinez and Katia Glod about the latest developments in Belarus and Poland.

David Frost in bullish mood despite shortage of post-Brexit momentum

25 November 2021
Financial Times
One way of trying to screen out the effects of Covid-19 and other factors is to measure UK trade against a ‘doppelgänger’ UK that had not exited the EU, built around modelling the trade performance of other advanced economies such as the US, Germany, Greece, New Zealand and Sweden. This is what has generated the below chart from John Springford at the Centre for European Reform (CER) whose work was referenced by the OBR in its October update.

Franco-British feuding thwarts Channel migrant response

25 November 2021
France 24
"It's extremely serious. It's difficult to see how France and the UK can work together on issues of major importance when the relationship is so bad," said John Springford, an expert at the London-based Centre for European Reform think-tank.

CNBC: German coalition deal set to be announced as talks near completion

Christian Odendahl
23 November 2021
Having the fiscally conservative Christian Lindner as finance minister was one of the FDP's conditions. But the party knows Germany and Europe need investment, so Germany will try to circumvent its debt brake.

Europe's economic recovery in peril as fourth Covid wave sweeps the continent

Christian Odendahl
22 November 2021
The Telegraph
Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform says the “political calculus changes quite a bit” for state leaders facing election. He argues politicians dodged the Covid issue in German elections in September, making a backlash more likely at the ballot box in state votes next year.
But, adds Odendahl, Austria’s mandatory move “will set a precedent for Germany, because Germany and Austria follow each other's politics and country relatively closely”.

Amazon n’accepte plus les cartes Visa au Royaume-Uni. Et voilà les leçons que nous devrions retenir

19 November 2021
Atlantico
Amazon UK n'accepte plus les cartes de crédit Visa. Quelles sont les raisons de cette décision ? Amazon s'inquiète de l'augmentation par Visa des frais que les détaillants doivent payer pour accepter ce type de cartes de crédit. 

Why Poland needs to turn to Germany for support during border crisis

18 November 2021
The New European
Charles Grant, of the Centre for European Reform, suggests it is worse than that. “There is another reason why they are they refusing to allow NGOs and journalists to visit, why they don’t want Frontex. They don’t want people monitoring their behaviour on the frontline.” 
The government is using the border crisis for political advantage, Grant adds. Poland has refused to take in migrants under EU quota schemes devised after the great wave that arrived in Germany in 2015. It is the classic political wedge, to play up against a “soft” opposition. “Liberals are in a mess about it.”

Euronews Tonight: Russia-Ukraine border

17 November 2021
Ian Bond argues that he's sceptical that Putin actually wants to take over Belarus, because having a weak, dependent Lukashenka suits him better than having to assume full responsibility for a country whose economy is not in a good way.

Voice of America: COVID-19 surge, inflation fears overshadow Europe's economic rebound

17 November 2021
John Springford explains that global supply chains have struggled to cope with the pent-up consumer demand following the pandemic: something we will see for the coming months.

Poland's many problems – and how to solve them

Camino Mortera-Martinez
16 November 2021
Encompass
Just when Brussels was enjoying a much-needed break on its never-ending rule of law brouhaha with Poland, all began to go South in the Eastern front – again.

Europe tries to cut migrant air routes from Middle East to Belarus amid border crisis

Ian Bond, Camino Mortera-Martinez, Luigi Scazzieri
15 November 2021
Forbes
According to the Centre for European Reform think-tank, between early August and mid-October, there were more than 15,000 attempts to cross the border illegally.

Pandemic legacy set to hang heavily over EU budget numbers

12 November 2021
Today UK News
The Centre for European Reform is making the case for why the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery fund based on mutual debt should be a permanent EU outfit. One argument: if the bloc is serious about its climate ambitions, the current fund is nowhere near sufficient for the green transition investments needed.

Ask CER - Episode 2: Europe's climate challenges, the EU's recovery fund, and the latest on Nord Stream 2

12 November 2021
You asked, we answered: the second episode of our ‘Ask CER’ podcast series.

Permanent recovery fund

12 November 2021
Financial Times
The Centre for European Reform is making the case for why the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery fund based on mutual debt should be a permanent EU outfit. One argument: if the bloc is serious about its climate ambitions, the current fund is nowhere near sufficient for the green transition investments needed.

It may be time for businesses to dust off their no-deal Brexit plans

11 November 2021
The Times
An analysis by the Centre for European Reform suggests Brexit so far has reduced UK goods trade by 15.8 per cent compared with what might have been expected if Britain was still in the EU.

Unlike before, Poland gets support from Europe on tough borders

Camino Mortera-Martinez
10 November 2021
The New York Times
The European Union has offered Poland help with its own border guards, known as Frontex, significantly expanded since the 2015 crisis and based in Warsaw, said Camino Mortera-Martinez, a Brussels-based fellow of the Centre for European Reform.