Press
‘They can effectively blame Covid for everything’: What coronavirus means for Brexit talks
12 May 2020
The Independent
“We’re all doing it,” says Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow and trade expert at the Centre for European Reform. “We all know what the limitations are when it comes to teleconferencing. You lose all of the informal interaction. Just by personalities interacting you get a much better grasp of the person you’re talking to.
Covid-19 has completely sunk the chances of a swift EU trade deal
12 May 2020
The Telegraph
As Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, puts it, “Europe has lots of problems, but the idea that it’s institutions are about to fall apart is for the birds”.
Boris Johnson challenge: EU’s three conditions for post-Brexit trade deal revealed
12 May 2020
The Express
Charles Grant, from the Centre for European Reform, said: “I think the EU will set three conditions for this, which will be very very hard for Boris Johnson’s Government to comply with. “The first condition is a so-called level-playing field — the EU will insist that our rules on social and environmental standards, state aid, taxation are automatically updated to follow EU rules. “Because they’re very worried, genuinely worried, that we will turn into Singapore-on-Thames, kind of slash and burn, cut our regulations and steal lots of investment from them by being a deregulated economy.”
No triumph for Putin on Victory Day
11 May 2020
Encompass
A few weeks ago, Vladimir Putin was expecting Victory Day on May 9th to cap an excellent start to 2020.
CER podcast: Putin hits a bad patch
06 May 2020
As 2020 started, Vladimir Putin’s economic, political and diplomatic position looked strong. Now he faces recession, an exploding COVID-19 pandemic and declining domestic support. What does that mean for the West?
5 things to watch in UK-US trade talks
05 May 2020
Politico
But Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, noted that Britain would struggle to get anything significant from the US on financial services, as Washington does not historically address financial regulation in its trade agreements. However a deal could lead to closer working on financial services regulation in future, he added.
As EU negotiations stall, London opens talks on US trade pact
05 May 2020
EurActiv
“We are still seeing a divide in government between those who want to sign whatever the US puts in front of it,” Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform and a member of the UK government’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group, told EURACTIV. “The US, as with the EU, tends to get what it wants,” said Lowe.
The German radical right are not so hit by the virus: a reply to Hans-Georg Betz
05 May 2020
Open democracy
The EU has failed in its response as a solidarity community for a long a time now. This longstanding institutional decline began with the financial crisis in 2008, the ‘refugee crisis’ and now the Covid-19 crisis. Luigi Scazzieri from the Centre for European Reform writes:
As world starts reopening, borders remain firmly shut
01 May 2020
The Straits Times
"It's highly likely that international borders will remain partly closed until the pandemic is under control both in Europe and in the US, which is unlikely to happen at the same time," said Mr Luigi Scazzieri, an expert on migration and transatlantic relations at the Centre for European Reform in London.
Coronavirus tests state of the unions on both sides of Atlantic
29 April 2020
Bloomberg
“If the EU does not provide the solidarity and insurance in such a crisis, parts of the EU may then question what the EU is for,” said Christian Odendahl, Berlin-based chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. “That’s why countries like Germany have been willing to debate the matter of aid - and even transfers to the south.”
Why Keir Starmer must revamp Labour's trade strategy
28 April 2020
Prospect
The world is facing a combination of US-China trade wars and new export restrictions on essential supplies thanks to Covid-19. Added to that the British government is in the process of Brexit.
EU in crisis: Brussels now WEAKER warn EU nationals as coronavirus tearing block apart
28 April 2020
The Express
The Centre for European Reform said the EU’s slow response to Italy’s outbreak, the worst-hit in Europe, has led to a surge in euroscepticism in Italy including among pro-Europeans.
The research centre wrote on April 2: “After the migration and eurozone crises, the EU’s initially poor response has reinforced concerns that the bloc is unwilling to help when Italy is most in need.”
The research centre wrote on April 2: “After the migration and eurozone crises, the EU’s initially poor response has reinforced concerns that the bloc is unwilling to help when Italy is most in need.”
UK will need to extend Brexit transition, Merkel ally warns Britain
26 April 2020
The Observer
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, who is regularly in touch with diplomats in EU capitals, said: “It will be very hard for both sides to reach the outlines of a free trade agreement by autumn, or indeed by June, which is when the PM wants to take a decision on whether it is worth pursuing a free trade agreement.
Brexit talks resume: who is involved and what is being covered?
24 April 2020
The Guardian
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform thinktank, believes an extension is inevitable but Johnson has “no incentive” to seek one until June, the deadline for a one-off UK request.
“A free-trade agreement could still be agreed but it would be hard to implement. Even if we were coming to the end of this pandemic by then, businesses will be not be prepared,” said Lowe, who described himself as optimistic that a free-trade deal could be done by the end of the year, albeit a poor one.
“A free-trade agreement could still be agreed but it would be hard to implement. Even if we were coming to the end of this pandemic by then, businesses will be not be prepared,” said Lowe, who described himself as optimistic that a free-trade deal could be done by the end of the year, albeit a poor one.
Judy Asks: Should Europe have common debt?
23 April 2020
Carnegie Europe
How to deal with the economic costs of the coronavirus is dividing the eurozone countries once again.
How Germany was able to flatten the curve
23 April 2020
The New European
Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in Berlin, put it like this: The “Anglo-Saxon idolising of Merkel is a bit pathetic, but understandable,” Odendahl’s scathing comment on Twitter went: “The political leadership of both the US and the UK is a parody, and so you are naturally drawn to the polar opposite – which is Merkel.”
CER podcast: What does COVID-19 mean for the EU-UK trade talks?
22 April 2020
Charles Grant and Sam Lowe discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on the EU-UK trade talks, and whether the pandemic will lead to the transition period being extended, taking into account the arguments for and against.
Coronavirus: EU struggling to show solidarity in face of ‘existential’ crisis
21 April 2020
The Parliament Magazine
The EU’s response to COVID-19 has given plenty of ammunition to its opponents. Frontiers have been closed and supply chains broken as countries have put their own needs first.
10 things to change after corona
21 April 2020
The Chosunilbo
The corona crisis put the EU (European Union) vulnerable back into the test, after weakened by Brexit (the British withdrawal from the European Union). In particular, the imbalance in the EU is deepening as southern Europe, which has suffered economic crises such as Italy and Spain, has been hit harder by Corona. Southern Europe has already paralyzed the real economy from massive national debt. If any country in southern Europe collapses, it means a retreat in European integration.
The case for a Brextension
21 April 2020
Financial Times
EU and UK Brexit negotiators held their latest round of virtual talks on Monday. Samuel Lowe at the Centre for European Reform makes the case for both sides to agree a maximum two-year extension that can be ended early if a future relationship deal is agreed after the pandemic.