Research
RTS: Grande-Bretagne: Les anti-Brexit demandent un nouveau référendum
24 August 2018
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform spoke to the RTS about the call for a second referendum (from 1:25 mins).
Greece warns 'no-deal' Brexit would plunge country into 'financial and political instability'
17 August 2018
The Telegraph
“The EU-27 believe that the costs of conceding to the UK and giving it a sweetheart deal would be of greater danger to the single market and to the European project than the gap in the EU budget itself,” said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, a senior fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
EU rejects claim Genoa bridge collapse linked to its spending rules
16 August 2018
The Guardian
Luigi Scazzieri, a specialist in EU-Italy relations at the Centre for European Reform, said Salvini’s remarks were clearly “trying to deflect all kinds of responsibility”, but may strike a chord with Italian voters weary of austerity. “The commission is approaching this as a technicality. Salvini is making a broader political point, which will resonate much more with Italians,” Scazzieri said.
How can we stop the M20 from turning into a lorry park?
15 August 2018
Prospect
To avoid disruption to just-in-time production, and safeguard British manufacturing’s position, Theresa May wants the UK to remain within the EU’s regulatory union for goods, alongside a customs union.
Brexit: EU leaders consider 'Jersey model'
10 August 2018
Jersey Evening Post
Supporters of the Jersey model, which was proposed by the Centre for European Reform think-tank earlier this year, say that it would mean border checks would not need to be applied to the land border with Ireland – a key Brexit issue.
European leaders mulling Jersey compromise, defying Michel Barnier's line
09 August 2018
The Telegraph
European leaders would not want Britain to benefit overall by leaving their club –and the price they want it to pay is becoming clear. The Centre for European Reform's trade wonk Sam Lowe tells me that the White Paper (which fleshed out Mrs May’s Chequers plan) "almost gets to Jersey", but that Mrs May would be expected to "accept that potential future divergence is not on the table" over goods.
Vice News: Theresa May heads to France as Brexit talks go south
09 August 2018
“Michel Barnier has had a very tough line and he's taking his directions from France and Germany, and Theresa May's plan is to try and undercut the European Commission,” says John Springford, a Brexit expert at the Centre of European Reform.
How no-deal Brexit chatter could be helping UK's Theresa May
07 August 2018
Bloomberg
“The government forcing people to think about it now ultimately strengthens their hands,” said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London. “It means thought is put into why pursuing such an outcome is foolhardy.”
Jeremy Corbyn ditches consensus to reject EU trade deals
04 August 2018
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, another think-tank, said such efforts had yet to bear fruit. “We know very well what Corbyn is against on trade but not much about what he has to replace it with,” he added.
Brexit deal off the menu at May-Macron summit
03 August 2018
Politico
“The Commission is taking a hard line not because it wants to but because it’s got instructions from France and Germany to do so,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think tank in London. “The British should not assume that just by talking to Merkel and Macron things will get easier.”
'End of the fairy tale': Summer of discontent hits Macron's reputation
02 August 2018
The Local
"He [Macron] hasn't convinced enough people that what he's doing is not just franco-francais, that he's not just pursuing a French agenda and dressing it up in European clothing," said Charles Grant, director of the London-based Centre for European Reform.
The dangerous delusion of no-deal Brexit
02 August 2018
The Economist
Brexiteers may call this Project Fear 2.0, but the evidence is against them. Market confidence would suffer. John Springford of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, says a no-deal Brexit would trigger both a recession and a run on the pound. No deal is not a serious option, even if today’s febrile politics pretends it is.
The Spectator podcast: China's new diplomacy
02 August 2018
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, spoke to The Spectator Podcast about the 'WTO option' and the likelihood of a no deal (from 16:45mins).
“I think the chances of no deal are higher than they were. I still think it is more likely than not that there will be...
“I think the chances of no deal are higher than they were. I still think it is more likely than not that there will be...
Has the EU-US trade war really been cancelled?
02 August 2018
Moneyweek
Last week, Donald Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker surprised many people when they announced an agreement to seemingly avert the trade war that many people had been expecting. While Trump has hyped this as a major breakthrough, many people have been more sceptical. John Springford, the deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, kindly agreed to discuss the implications for the deal with us.
The success of the deal “is yet to be seen”, says Springford. After all, “it’s not an agreement in itself, just an agreement to start talking about talks”.
The success of the deal “is yet to be seen”, says Springford. After all, “it’s not an agreement in itself, just an agreement to start talking about talks”.
Germany's military is struggling amid rising tensions with Trump and Russia
01 August 2018
Business Insider UK
"What we've seen in the last few years — really the sort of tragic and kind of embarrassing stories about the state of the Bundeswehr — that is certainly sinking in, and Germans are now supporting more defense spending than they have in the past," Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said on a recent edition of the Center for a New American Security's Brussels Sprouts podcast.
CER podcast: What is the cost of Brexit?
01 August 2018
The UK economy is around 2 per cent smaller as a result of the vote to leave the EU. John Springford speaks to Sophia Besch about his analysis, his modelling method and the implications of the result.
Theresa May to plead with Emmanuel Macron to ease Brexit stance
01 August 2018
The Times
Charles Grant, from the Centre for European Reform, said: “The French have been the toughest on Brexit on a range of issues, including financial services and Galileo (the satellite-navigation system being created by the EU). They are doing this both to grab business and because they genuinely fear how well the Eurosceptic movement will do in the European elections next May, when the National Front could conceivably win more votes. So I think France needs to demonstrate that Brexit doesn’t pay.”
UK second thoughts unlikely to change Brexit strategy
31 July 2018
EUobserver
"The Tory party is fundamentally a eurosceptic party, and any Tory leader who would talk about a referendum would be killed [politically], because that would possibly lead to Brexit not happening," noted Charles Grant, from the Centre for European Reform, a London think tank.
He told EUobserver that the debate was happening now "because there is much more uncertainty on what will happen" at the end of the negotiations with the EU.
"But chances of a vote are extremely small," he said.
He told EUobserver that the debate was happening now "because there is much more uncertainty on what will happen" at the end of the negotiations with the EU.
"But chances of a vote are extremely small," he said.
A humiliating Brexit deal risks a descent into Weimar Britain
27 July 2018
The Guardian
But I am struck by how some of the best informed, most pro-European British experts, such as Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, have begun to argue that the EU 27 side is being too rigid, too exacting, too punitive in its approach.
'Conjoined twins': How Brexit's Irish backstop conundrum could be solved
25 July 2018
The Telegraph
Sam Lowe, the trade and Brexit specialist at the Centre for European Reform is among the experts who have also lent credence to the idea. “You would create a Northern Ireland-specific backstop written into the Withdrawal Agreement which is unconditional,” he suggests, “and then combine it with an agreement for a potential all-UK Customs Union that supplements the Irish backstop, but remains conditional on a future agreement.”