Research
A no-deal Brexit is less inevitable than it looks
09 August 2019
Prospect
Boris Johnson says he won’t talk to the EU unless it agrees to scrap the Irish backstop.
Boris Johnson eyes election in 'days after' Brexit
08 August 2019
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, a senior Brexit research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said that while the “full consequences of no-deal will take a while to settle in”, he predicted that “issues will begin to emerge from day one”. He added: “Holding a general election days after seems remarkably reckless in that the management of no-deal will require a focused government committed to the task at hand, with ministers ready to take decisions, not half the cabinet on a battle bus in Devon and the civil service constrained by purdah.”
No-deal Brexit spells trouble for British expats in Europe
08 August 2019
The Telegraph
If you’re heading over to the continent for your holidays (or there already) and find yourself wincing at the Brexit-weakened exchange rate as you cough up for your cerveza, please spare a thought for the 1.3 million Britons who live in the EU.
The rise of anti-Semitism in Europe
07 August 2019
The Telegraph
Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said the fact that both the migrant and Eurozone crises have now been contained provides grounds for cautious optimism that the rise in far-Right ideology and anti-semitism will not become the 'new normal' for Europe."The results of last May's EU elections from across almost all of Europe suggested that the far-Right populist surge has peaked in the majority of EU countries," he added.
Eine EU-Mission ist illusorisch
06 August 2019
Taz
Deutschland kritisiert gern vom Spielfeldrand, statt eigene Vorschläge zu machen.
BBC News: UK heading for no-deal Brexit
06 August 2019
UK appears to be heading for a no-deal Brexit, Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform tells BBC News with Boris Johnson making Theresa May's red lines redder and harder to cross. “The way out of it is for Boris Johnson to reconsider those red lines, but at the moment that’s not the position he’s in”.
Gulf tension making it harder for EU to save Iran deal
02 August 2019
EU Observer
Tensions between Europe and Iran are rising after Iran's seizure of a British-flagged tanker transiting through the Persian Gulf in mid-July.
Trump, Kushner and Netanyahu are hellbent on destroying the two-state solution – the EU must not let them
02 August 2019
The Independent
In typical Trump style, Kushner is pushing a $50bn Middle East ‘deal of the century’ to solve the Israel-Palestinian question. It won’t work and so the European Union should step in.
The Spectator Podcast: Will the EU compromise for Boris?
02 August 2019
As the UK government ramps up its no deal Brexit planning, is there any chance of a compromise with the EU on a deal? In this week’s magazine, James Forsyth looks at how seriously Brussels is taking Boris Johnson’s threats. He suggests that until parliament signals it can pass a deal, the EU...
Boris Johnson's Brexit plans draw backlash outside England, threatening unity of the UK
02 August 2019
The Japan Times
“It was perfectly foreseeable that the hardest of hard Brexit would put huge strains on the union,” the Centre for European Reform’s deputy director John Springford said.“It’s clear that Brexit, which is an English nationalist project, really … matters much more to him than the future of the union,” Springford said.
New British trade pact with US unlikely anytime soon, experts say
02 August 2019
Yahoo News
"An offsetting trade deal with the US will not make up for the loss of trade to the EU," said John Springford, deputy director of the think tank Centre for European Reform and an expert on global trade.
Sky News: New Prime Minister
01 August 2019
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska argued that a threat to withdraw 39 billion euro was not a wise negotiating strategy. She pointed out that it would also undermine the UK’s credibility in the eyes of other global powers who the UK wants to strike free deals with.
Voice of America: As Brexit storm gathers, Britain looks to Trump for hope
01 August 2019
In the US, the Democrats control the House of Representatives and have vowed to uphold the Good Friday Agreement that ended the conflict in Northern Ireland — something imperiled by Brexit, said John Springford of the CER.
Preparing for no deal is a paradoxical process
01 August 2019
The Economist
While the government will determine the route Britain takes out of the EU, it is businesses that will feel the effects, and that must take action to mitigate them. But “businesses do not want to,” says Sam Lowe, a researcher at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
CER podcast: The EU's Security Union
31 July 2019
Beth Oppenheim asks Camino Mortera-Martinez to review the record of the EU's Security Union.
No-deal Brexit: How prepared are the EU and the UK?
31 July 2019
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said companies had failed to prepare because they did not believe a crash exit was realistic.“So far the whole strategy required companies to sign up to things and engage, but they haven’t been doing it enough,” he added.
Central Bank: Irish growth could be wiped out by hard Brexit
31 July 2019
The Times
One estimate from the Centre for European Reform [a London-based think tank], shows that by the end of 2018, the UK economy was 2.5 per cent smaller than it would have been had the UK voted to remain in the EU.”
UK reliance on EU market highlighted by new services data read
31 July 2019
Bloomberg
Research from the Centre for European Reform shows that even if the UK manages to strike a new free-trade agreement with the EU - a prospect that looks increasingly unlikely under Prime Minister Boris Johnson - there will be “big constraints” on services trade. There would also be an increase in British firms establishing a commercial presence in the EU, which would result in some well-paid jobs moving to the bloc, the think tank said.
Revealed: Real reason EU leaders won't budge on Boris Johnson's no deal Brexit threat
30 July 2019
The Express
European leaders are working on the assumption Boris Johnson is bluffing with his threat of a no deal Brexit scenario to push for a general election against Jeremy Corbyn after he is potentially stopped by both Brussels and MPs in Parliament, Charles Grant has claimed.Speaking to Channel 4 News, the director of the Centre for European Reform claimed European Union chiefs believe an early general election is likely and that Boris Johnson "wants to be stopped" in his bluff to take the UK out of the EU without an agreement.
With Boris Johnson in office, a Brexit standoff with Ireland solidifies
30 July 2019
The Wall Street Journal
“One of the consequences of Brexit that has not been much discussed is the growth of Irish nationalism,” said Charles Grant, the founder of the Centre for European Reform, a think tank.