Britain & EU member-states
Annual report 2014
02 February 2015
Charles Grant discusses three challenges facing the EU in 2015: the combined problems of Russia and Ukraine; the continuing fragility of the eurozone; and the growing risk of Brexit.
Genetically modified crops: Time to move on from theological dispute
30 January 2015
GMOs should not be supported or opposed as a single technology. The compromise that the Juncker Commission has negotiated must now be implemented.
The implications of Syriza’s victory
26 January 2015
Greece is not at imminent risk of leaving the euro. But the negotiations will be difficult and uncertainties over Greece's membership will persist.
Germany and the eurozone: The view from Paris
16 December 2014
The French are gloomy about their relationship with the Germans and the chances of economic growth. But they are working on new ideas for eurozone governance.
Cameron's migration speech and EU law: Can he change the status quo?
04 December 2014
The reforms to the benefits system proposed by Cameron will be difficult to negotiate and may require treaty change. Reforms should not lead to a Brexit.
The ECB is not the German central bank
02 December 2014
The ECB should stop waiting for German approval of more aggressive monetary policy, and Germany should back the ECB more openly.
Hungary and the West: We need to talk about Viktor
26 November 2014
Hungary under Viktor Orban is backsliding on democratic values. Member-states need to look for ways to bring Orban back into liberal European mainstream.
Does a eurozone slump make Brexit more likely?
10 November 2014
Eurozone stagnation will encourage migration to Britain, boost its EU budget contributions, and rebalance its trade towards non-EU markets. This will embolden eurosceptics.
The eurozone’s German problem
20 October 2014
Germany’s uncompromising stance is short-sighted, and poses a greater risk to its economic and political interests than a ‘grand bargain’ with the French and Italians.
Would Britain’s trade be freer outside the EU?
16 October 2014
A post-‘Brexit’ Britain would struggle to make up for foregone trade opportunities with the EU by signing trade agreements with non-European countries.
Why devaluing the euro is not mercantilism
02 October 2014
The ECB needs to be more innovative and drastic to weaken the euro. This would help the eurozone without hurting the world economy.
Juncker and his college: The unexpected reformer?
26 September 2014
Few believed that Juncker would champion changes in the way the EU does things.
Issue 98 - 2014
26 September 2014
- Juncker and his college: The unexpected reformer?, Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
- How to pull the eurozone out of the mire, Christian Odendahl, John Springford
- No easy choices: Realpolitik in Mesopotamia, Rem Korteweg
How Brussels' medicine is killing the 'French patient'
24 September 2014
France is not yet the 'sick man of Europe', but it is ailing thanks to swallowing too much bad medicine prescribed by Brussels and Berlin.
A UK without Scotland
12 September 2014
If the Scots vote to leave the United Kingdom, what is left of it will be more likely to leave the EU.
Boris Johnson, Gerard Lyons and policy-based evidence making
11 August 2014
Conservatives say that leaving the EU would be better than the status quo, but where is the evidence?
EU enlargement
31 July 2014
A number of member-states are unenthusiastic about further EU enlargement, but has the EU grown as much as it is going to?
An open letter to David Cameron
29 July 2014
David Cameron will have to work hard to detoxify the British brand, if he wants to persuade other member-states to help him reform the EU.
Issue 97 - 2014
29 July 2014
- An open letter to David Cameron, Charles Grant
- Three things for NATO to think about, Ian Bond
- The banking union alone cannot bring recovery, Christian Odendahl
The EU and an independent Scotland
23 July 2014
John Kerr explains why breaking up is hard to do, and why no-one knows how exactly to reconnect an independent Scotland with the EU.