Press
Encompass Podcast: Geopolitics in 2021
07 January 2021
Charles Grant spoke to Paul Adamson about likely trends in geopolitics in 2021.
Pan-EU food supply chains hit by Brexit trade deal
06 January 2021
Financial Times
Ms Jerzewska said that Brussels could address the problem by issuing a derogation, or waiver, a view supported by Sam Lowe, trade specialist at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “If the EU wants to resolve the issue, it could do so pretty easily with an extra clarification,” he said.
Could the military solve Europe’s Covid-19 vaccine woes?
06 January 2021
New Statesman
“There is a healthy scepticism towards using the German Bundeswehr for tasks that police could do, though under [the current German defence minister] Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and [the former German defence minister] Ursula von der Leyen before her, there have been attempts to rehabilitate the standing of the army in society,” Sophia Besch, a defence fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, told me.
That’s why we left! EU punishes Ireland supply chains in bid to exert full Brexit pressure
06 January 2021
Express
Sam Lowe, trade specialist at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “If the EU wants to resolve the issue, it could do so pretty easily with an extra clarification to the UK and Irish markets.”
Brexit trade deal ‘very unstable’ and can easily be brought crashing down, legal expert warns MPs
06 January 2021
Independent
Sam Lowe, of the Centre for European Reform, warned of a difficult task ahead for the UK to achieve its aims, now it was “a third country”.
“It's not very nice negotiating with the EU from the outside, even if you're nearby – just look at Switzerland, just look at Turkey's experience.
“It's going to be rough for the UK in terms of its relationship with the EU, although I do agree with Catherine that it will evolve over time as it should.”
“It's not very nice negotiating with the EU from the outside, even if you're nearby – just look at Switzerland, just look at Turkey's experience.
“It's going to be rough for the UK in terms of its relationship with the EU, although I do agree with Catherine that it will evolve over time as it should.”
Parliament: Future Relationship with the European Union Committee
06 January 2021
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform gave evidence on the progress of the negotiations on the UK's future relationship with the EU.
Brexit could start 'rebellion against Germany' within EU as bloc warned of divide
05 January 2021
Express
Charles Grant, founder the Centre for European Reform, predicted without the UK's influence, Germany will gain yet more power in the bloc. Mr Grant said in 2016: "The Germans themselves are particularly unhappy about Brexit, and not only because they worry that other EU countries – now even more anxious about German dominance – may be tempted to form an alliance against them.
Brexit treaty offers no easy path to EU defence research funding for UK
05 January 2021
Science Business
“These provisions are not dissimilar to US controls on defence technology, which force UK companies with operations in the US to create elaborate firewalls to ensure that UK personnel do not acquire sensitive US information or US-generated intellectual property,” said Ian Bond, former British diplomat and director of foreign affairs at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank.
Trade Talks: What’s in the new EU-UK trade deal? Brexperts explain
03 January 2021
The EU and UK announce their long-awaited trade agreement formalizing Brexit. What is covered, and what is still to be negotiated. Featuring Alan Beattie (Financial Times), Emily Rees and David Henig (European Centre for International Political Economy), Sam Lowe (Centre for European Reform), Anna Jerzewska (TradeandBorders.com), and Anand Menon (UK in a Changing Europe).
British firms mull relocating to 'other side of Brexit curtain'
01 January 2021
Voice of America
“Manufacturers and farmers will face irksome checks at borders for things like customs, VAT (value added tax), safety and security, plant and animal health, and much more. Services companies will lose access to the single market unless they set up subsidiaries within it,” notes Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform [CER], a London-based research organization.
Cambridge Radio: Roundabout with Tony Barnfield
31 December 2020
Chris Bradbury talks to Tony Barnfield about his Fenland Symphony, while Selwyn College alumnus Charles Grant, Director of the Centre for European Reform, talks about the Brexit deal and the UK’s future relationship with our continental neighbours.
Euronews: Brexit foreign policy
30 December 2020
Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the CER spoke to Euronews about UK-EU alignment and potential divergence on foreign policy after Brexit.
Bloomberg: Brexit marks rupture but issues won't disappear: Lowe
30 December 2020
In this week's episode of The Brussels Edition we look into the details of the Brexit trade deal after a last minute accord avoided a hard exit. While the deal does mark a point of rupture, it leaves details hanging that could cloud the City of London's outlook and keep both sides locked in talks for years to come as the deal gets implemented. That's according to Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. He spoke to Bloomberg's Maria Tadeo in Brussels.
MPs back Brexit deal with huge majority
30 December 2020
The Times
“The can has been kicked,” said Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. “In the absence of an adequacy decision it would mean that it would become more difficult to store the data of private EU citizens on UK-based servers.” This could force businesses to pay to change where their data is held.
Sovereignty First : 10 points sur le Brexit
30 December 2020
Le Grand Continent
Un commentaire que j’ai régulièrement entendu au cours des négociations sur le Brexit est resté gravé dans ma mémoire.
UK quietly shifts away from promise of 'deep' foreign and security links with EU
28 December 2020
The Guardian
Ian Bond, at the Centre for European Reform, can see three ways in which the UK and the EU might formally collaborate: on the exchange and protection of classified information, the participation of UK personnel in defence missions and operations, and UK participation in defence industrial co-operation through the European Defence Agency.
We’ll make City best for business post-Brexit, vows Rishi Sunak
28 December 2020
The Times
Sam Lowe, a trade policy expert at the Centre for European Reform, warned that even if equivalence was granted “we should not assume it will be permanent”. Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, said that the deal was “very thin” on financial services and that the government “needs to act speedily to sort that out”.
Committees, visas and climate change: Brexit experts' verdicts on the deal details
28 December 2020
The Guardian
Beyond tariffs, quotas and fish, the TCA contains a variety of provisions. Among those with implications for everyone engaged in business travel are the rules governing what Britons entering the EU are, and are not, allowed to do from 2021 onwards.
France and Germany retake reins as Britain leaves EU's economic orbit
27 December 2020
The Wall Street Journal
“On European defense, it is coming out in a very French way,” said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform. “Strategic autonomy would not have got as far as it has done had the British still been at the table.”
Brexit: fishing chiefs cry ‘betrayal’ as MPs fear rush to ratify deal
27 December 2020
The Guardian
Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, described this kind of arrangement in a trade deal as “unusual”. MPs are also concerned about the potential of the EU to impose tariffs on other types of exports, including cars, if UK-based manufacturers do not comply with Brussels’ rules on the origins of components used in production.