Press
Brussels briefing: Around Europe
02 September 2020
Financial Times
Camino Mortera-Martinez at the Centre for European Reform thinks the EU’s chaotic border closings induced by the pandemic will damage but not ultimately kill off the Schengen passport-free area.
ECB on cusp of history if only its next top recruit is a woman
01 September 2020
Bloomberg Quint
“If she wants to, Lagarde has the standing to put a lot of pressure on governments to find a woman for the job, which would force them to look at their hiring practices,” said Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in Berlin.
IIEA: What next for Belarus?
31 August 2020
In his webinar presentation to the IIEA, Charles Grant, director of the CER reflects on the widespread demonstrations and strike actions across Belarus which have greeted Alexander Lukashenko’s contested re-election as President, an office he has held since 1994.
Donald Trump How should Europe respond now its American ally has turned hostile?
30 August 2020
The Guardian
As Sophia Besch of the Centre for European Reform argued recently, Europe must be able to defend its geopolitical interests. Call it “strategic autonomy”. Or simply call it survival. In a world where once trusted friends join the ranks of the predators, soft power is not enough.
Belarus opposition leader ‘a pawn of the West’, Mick Wallace suggests
28 August 2020
The Times
Charles Grant, director at the Centre for European Reform and an expert on Russian and European foreign policy, criticised Mr Wallace and said Ms Tikhanovskaya was not a pawn of western neoliberalism.He told The Times: “I suggest Mick Wallace goes to Belarus to talk to the people there. The overwhelming majority want the regime of Lukashenko to step aside and allow free elections. In contrast to Ukraine in 2014, this is not a ‘geopolitical’ popular movement.
The Eastern Mediterranean heats up
26 August 2020
Encompass
Summer may be drawing to a close but tensions are still heating up in the Eastern Mediterranean. A succession of dangerous military incidents between Turkey, France and Greece has raised the risk of conflict in the region.
German town fears ruin by US effort to stop Russian pipeline
25 August 2020
The New York Times
Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in Berlin, said the United States, given the power of the dollar, “always had this power but never used it so openly, brutally and clumsily,” especially on allies and Europeans. “With brute force, you can have some impact, but you do long-term damage to US interests in Europe,” he said.
Wer kommt besser durch die Corona-Krise, Europa oder die USA?
24 August 2020
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Die Arbeitslosigkeit in den USA steigt wieder, nachdem viele US-Staaten vorzeitig die Restriktionen des öffentlichen Lebens zurück genommen hatten und es dadurch zu einem Anstieg der COVID-19-Infektionen kam.
Europe tried to limit mass layoffs, but the cuts are coming anyway
24 August 2020
The New York Times
“The programs in Europe are more generous than in the United States, but they won’t last forever,” said Simon Tilford, an author of a Centre for European Reform report on the economic risks of the pandemic. “Lots of companies will lay off workers irrespective of whether they can continue to access wage subsidy schemes because they can’t see demand recovering anytime soon,” he said.
Just how much political capital can Johnson risk on an EU trade deal?
23 August 2020
The Telegraph
All the same, it’s hard to disagree with Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, who in a recent blog argued that something must be better than nothing. A bare bones FTA may not make much difference in overall economic terms, but aggregates are often misleading and to certain industries, particularly auto and agricultural produce, tariff-free trade remains of the utmost importance. For some communities, it is a make-or-break matter.
Judy asks: What is Europe’s best way forward for Belarus?
20 August 2020
Carnegie Europe
The EU should start with some humility. It holds few effective levers for influencing Belarus. It gives the government in Minsk only insignificant amounts of aid—though it is now, rightly, stepping up support for civil society.
Brexit shock: Boris Johnson’s trade deal shares major similarity with no-deal Brexit
20 August 2020
The Express
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said “From a business preparedness point of view, for many companies there is little difference between preparing to exit the transition period with or without a free-trade agreement in place."
TRT World Newsmaker: Belarus' opposition uprising
20 August 2020
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform spoke to TRT about the current situation in Belarus.
EU reacts to Belarus situation
19 August 2020
The World
Leaders of the European Union held an emergency teleconference today to discuss the unfolding situation in Belarus. The EU says it does not recognise the results of the presidential election on August 9th and is poised to roll out sanctions on a number of Belarusian officials. Host Marco Werman speaks to Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform.
Covid-19 makes reform of the EU’s approach towards its southern neighbours more urgent than ever
18 August 2020
LSE blog
The EU has a stated goal of promoting prosperity and stability in the Middle East and North Africa. However, its efforts to secure Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements with its southern neighbours have so far had limited success.
Between Patel’s gunboat diplomacy and Paris’s tough talk, the entente cordiale is all at sea
16 August 2020
The Sunday Times
Yet, according to Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, Macron seems convinced he can still take a tough line at the post-Brexit trade talks. “The French want to have their cake and eat it,” said Grant.
De volgende opgave voor EU-leiders: wat te doen met de 'lastige landen'?
16 August 2020
Het Financieele Dagblad
Volgens Scazzieri groeit het besef dat er iets gedaan moet worden, hoewel hij niet verwacht dat dit op korte termijn zal leiden tot bijvoorbeeld economische sancties of het stopzetten van het kandidaat-lidmaatschap van Turkije, zoals Frankrijk heeft gesuggereerd.
Cheese proves to be biggest stumbling block in UK-Japan trade negotiations
15 August 2020
The Telegraph
For Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, the anticlimax was merely part of the “theatre” of negotiations. “From a UK perspective, there’s a need to be seen to be putting up a good fight – to be getting something the EU didn’t to show the UK can do trade agreements by itself,” he says.
Europe tests the waters for a stronger defence policy: EU leaders must agree on where threats to the continent originate
13 August 2020
Financial Times
For the past four years, the EU has trumpeted its plans to invest in defence. This summer’s budget negotiations were a test of its ambitions. Now that the dust is settling, where is EU defence headed?
As Britain Climbs Out of an Economic Pit, Tough Questions Loom
13 August 2020
The New York Times
“If you have a massive outbreak, people are going to respond by being cautious and it will take a while for confidence to return,” said John Springford, the deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, a research institute. “It makes sense that London is going to be among the hardest hit places.”