Press
Brexit is a test of de-globalization in a world of Covid-19
29 June 2020
The Wall Street Journal
UK firms risk being cut out of EU supply chains, likely squeezing manufacturing output and investment. A fall in services trade, which made up 43% of U.K. exports to the EU in 2019, and the arrival of fewer migrants, will inflict the most damage on the economy, says John Springford, an economist at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank. The CER sees the value of UK financial services exports to the EU falling almost 60% under a trade deal and transport-service exports dropping 15%.
The EU must be prepared to be critical of China. It can start with Hong Kong’s security law
24 June 2020
Euronews
China’s plan to impose a new security law on Hong Kong shows that Beijing is tightening its grip on the former British colony.
Studio Berlin: Will Germany’s EU Council Presidency move Europe forward?
24 June 2020
Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet today are discussing what to do when Germany takes the helm of the EU Council on July 1.
The UK steers towards a no-deal Brexit in the middle of the pandemic
23 June 2020
Der Spiegel
"Britain is a highly regulated economy, you can't just quickly lower norms," says Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank.
After splurging on coronavirus, EU seeks state aid compromise with Britain
22 June 2020
Reuters
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the EU could assess whether UK rules, rather then being identical, achieved a similar effect to its own.“The EU would still have the possibility to guard itself by reinserting tariffs in future,” he said.
Johnson invokes Tim Tams as UK growth outlook appears less than sweet
19 June 2020
The Sydney Morning Herald
"The idea is we would still be in 15 years time richer than we are now, but poorer than had we remained in the EU," says Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform."There's no economic argument in favour of leaving the EU. And there's just no evidence to suggest free trade agreements can compensate from the fallout from Brexit. They may take the edge off very lightly but they're not going to compensate for the UK having decided to put up barriers to trade with its most important trading partner."
Remember Brexit? It’s still not over
18 June 2020
Vox
“They got stuck on some pretty big and basically political issues,” John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform in London, told me. “In order to unstick it, it’s going to require political intervention on both sides. That’s why nothing much has happened — and coronavirus matters. Because politicians aren’t going to put a lot of effort into this because they’re completely consumed with the pandemic.”
Progressive Governance: Economists leaders panel - Will austerity return? Economic policy post-Covid19
18 June 2020
Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform joined Megan Greene, and Adam Tooze to discuss economic policy post-COVID-19 at the Progressive Governance, digital summit 2020.
Parliament Live: Trade Bill Committee
18 June 2020
Sam Lowe, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Reform gave evidence on the trade bill via telephone to the Trade Bill Committee (from 12:10).
BBC News: French Resistance anniversary
18 June 2020
“We should remember that of the 27 member-states negotiating with Britain, the French are...the ones always pushing for a very hard line on Brexit...
Europe's longtime powers unite behind EU's COVID-19 rescue package
17 June 2020
Voice of America
John Springford, deputy director for the London-based Centre for European Reform policy institute, is similarly skeptical. “There’s a realization she’s nearing the end of her term and wants to have been a chancellor that has made Europe stronger,” Springford said of Merkel.
Don’t let UK-EU foreign policy co-operation be collateral damage of Brexit
17 June 2020
The Times
Six months has passed since Brexit, but there has been no significant progress in the negotiations to define the future UK-EU relationship.
The Barnier method: Lessons learned from the EU’s institutional approach to the Brexit negotiations
17 June 2020
European Policy Centre
The UK’s vote on 23 June 2016 to leave the EU sent shockwaves throughout the EU member-states.
CER podcast: Can the EU and the UK strike a deal on their future relationship?
17 June 2020
Following Monday’s meeting between Boris Johnson and the three Presidents of the EU, has a deal between the EU and UK become more or less likely? Charles Grant and Sam Lowe discuss.
BBC PM: The future of trade deals
17 June 2020
Sam Low a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform spoke to BBC PM about the UK’s trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand and its proposed accession to the CPTPP (from 07.55 mins).
Lighthizer: Unlikely US and UK will strike deal before November
17 June 2020
The Telegraph
Sam Lowe, a trade expert with the Centre for European Reform think-tank, tweeted: “The UK may not want food standards to be on the table in the trade talks with the US, but the UK isn’t the country laying the table.”
Europe must stand up to China before it’s too late
16 June 2020
Foreign Policy
Europe’s prosperity depends on an orderly system that ensures the global flow of goods, services, capital, and – however much populists object – labor. But 2020 is turning out to be a very bad year for the rules-based international order.
Europe must abandon muddled thinking about China
16 June 2020
Nikkei Asia Review
Up to 2018, Beijing claimed it had created 327,000 jobs, a number challenged by analysts. "A lot involves buying existing European companies," says Ian Bond of think tank the Centre for European Reform. "As far as one can tell, such investment may ensure that jobs are not lost, but it rarely seems to create much new employment."
The slow, rocky road to a modest EU-UK deal
16 June 2020
Financial Times
Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform think-tank puts it succinctly: “A free trade agreement does not negate the fact that the UK will be moving from a highly integrated relationship with the EU to one in which trading between the two becomes significantly more difficult.”
Brexit: Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen to hold 'high level' talks
15 June 2020
Euronews
"The best-case scenario would see the pair agree in general terms on a landing zone for the future relationship, giving the negotiations fresh impetus. The worst case would see Johnson collapse the talks in an attempt to distract from domestic criticism over his government's handling of COVID-19," Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said on Friday.