Research

“They are both serious people who don’t grandstand, who don’t play for the gallery,” said Charles Grant, the director of the London-based Centre for European Reform.

The French, who are being tough on a British withdrawal and are deeply disconcerted by Mr Trump, see him as a bigger threat to European cohesion, said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform. “They see the three great world powers — Russia, China and now the US — wanting to destroy the EU,” he said. One impact of Mr Trump that Mr Tusk is clearly hoping for, Mr Grant said, is “to reinforce a feeling of solidarity among mainstream European politicians.”

On the whole, Europe has been "a lot more generous" than the United States in taking in refugees and migrants, said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform. "We've been more generous in the amount of money given to support refugees in the Middle East and also in the number of people entering Europe," he added. "So Europe still has some moral standing to say, 'We've done our best to cope with the refugee crisis in the Middle East.'"

As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform argued last week: "The more that British ministers cosy up to Trump and avoid criticising his worst excesses . . . the more alien the British appear to other Europeans, and the more their soft power erodes."

Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform puts it: "The British economy has not weathered the Brexit storm. It is just that the calm before the storm has lasted a bit longer than many had assumed. There is no reason to think Britain will escape serious and permanent damage to its foreign trade and investment and hence living standards."

"Juristisch wäre das Parlament nach der Entscheidung des Obersten Gerichts gar in der Lage, den Brexit zu stoppen", erklärt Sophia Besch vom Londoner Politikberatungsinstitut "Centre for European Reform". "Oder auch ganz stark Einfluss darauf zu nehmen, dass es nicht zu einem harten Brexit kommt, den Theresa May angekündigt hat. Also raus aus dem EU-Binnenmarkt, ohne Wenn und Aber, auch wenn es der Wirtschaft schaden dürfte. Dagegen anzugehen - diesen Mut haben viele Parlamentarier verloren. Weil die Bürger in ihren Wahlkreisen vielen Abgeordneten klar gemacht haben, dass sie den Brexit wollen. Aufhalten, verwässern, verzögern, all das wäre politischer Selbstmord."

“There’s a risk that if she goes too far down this route [of seeking trade deals] it just creates a toxic atmosphere,” said John Springford, director of research at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank that is pro-EU but advocates its reform.