Research
The Telegraph: Sophia Besch on Merkel and the Berlin terror attack
21 December 2016
German political expert Sophia Besch says Angela Merkel's facing tough questions over her asylum policy following the Berlin attack (15:54 pm).
CER podcast: CER researchers review the year 2016
21 December 2016
Charles Grant, Simon Tilford and Ian Bond review the political themes and events that shaped 2016.
The Briefing, Monocle: Ian Bond on the shooting in Turkey
20 December 2016
Ian Bond on the shooting in Russia, and how this will affect Russia Turkey relations.
Russia Today: Charles Grant warns that Nicola Sturgeon's single market plans are 'unrealistic'
20 December 2016
Charles Grant says independence is the more realistic way for Scotland to stay in the single market.
BBC Radio 4: World at One talks to Charles Grant
20 December 2016
Charles Grant talks to the World at One about Nicola Sturgeon's announcement on Scotland staying in the single market (22:42).
Share Radio: Ian Bond on the Berlin attacks
20 December 2016
Ian Bond is director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, and joined Share Radio's Juliette Foster on the line for more on these stories.
Berlin truck terror attack puts pressure on Merkel's re-election hopes
20 December 2016
CNBC
Via emailed comments to CNBC, Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform said that it was still too early to tell how much this will impact Merkel's electoral chances.
"There are still months to go before the elections, and she has plenty of time to show that the government is on top of the terrorist threat," Bond explained.
"But if there are more attacks, especially if they involve asylum seekers, then that is likely to increase the vote for the anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany," he added.
"There are still months to go before the elections, and she has plenty of time to show that the government is on top of the terrorist threat," Bond explained.
"But if there are more attacks, especially if they involve asylum seekers, then that is likely to increase the vote for the anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany," he added.
'Brutal' Commission insider deliberately derailing Brexit with 'ridiculous' €60 billion demand
19 December 2016
Breitbart News Network
Charles Grant, the director of the pro-EU Centre for European Reform think-tank, said if that was the kind of deal the government wanted, a showdown with hard-line Brexiteers was necessary. “There will have to be a transitional period in which we stay in the single market and the customs union, pay into the EU budget, accept ECJ rulings and, probably, accept free movement,” he said.
Nicola Sturgeon Brexit adviser pours cold water on her single market plans hours before they are unveiled
19 December 2016
The Telegraph
Charles Grant said it was “extremely difficult” to see how her plans were legally, politically or technically feasible.
Sturgeon lays out Scotland plan to stay in single market after Brexit
19 December 2016
Financial Times
Charles Grant, a member of the Scottish government’s advisory Standing Council on Europe, said a special deal would be “extremely difficult” given the legal complexity and lack of support from the UK government. “It would be legally possible for Scotland to have control over immigration that would allow freedom of movement, but politically Mrs May would be highly unlikely to go for it,” said Mr Grant, the director of the CER.
Brexit Bulletin: Turkey for Brexit?
19 December 2016
Bloomberg
"Given the political difficulties, custom union membership seems an unlikely outcome in the long term," John Springford, director of research at the Centre for European Reform, said in a report last week. "But it would be a sensible arrangement for a transitional deal."
Brexit briefing: Business leaders want a Brexit plan
16 December 2016
Financial Times
John Springford, director of research at the Centre for European Reform, writes that while remaining in the customs union may appear to the best way to minimise the economic costs of Brexit while ‘taking back control’, the customs union and the single market are not easy to disentangle, and the EU-27 would demand a high price for an arrangement that eliminates costly customs charges and checks.
Swiss and Danish travails show way ahead for Brexit talks
16 December 2016
Financial Times
“The Danish deal is not a model for the Brits,” said Camino Mortera-Martinez, an expert on EU justice and home affairs policy at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
I Rusland kalder de det ’Aleppos befrielse’
16 December 2016
Information
Mens vestlige medier har forsøgt at sondre mellem etablerede terrorgrupper som Islamisk Stat eller det tidligere Jabhat al-Nusra, der har direkte links til al-Qaeda, og Syriens mange andre oprørsgrupper som Den Frie Syriske Hær, har russiske medier haft en tendens til at dele borgerkrigen op i to grupper: én for og én imod Assad-regeringen, siger Ruslandsekspert Ian Bond, udenrigsdirektør i tænketanken Centre for European Reform i London. »Det folkelige narrativ er, at det er en kamp imod terrorisme, og alle, der kæmper imod Assad, beskrives som terrorister,« siger han.
Eurointelligence newsbriefing
15 December 2016
Eurointelligence
Sophia Besch has an excellent analysis on the state of European defence and foreign policy coordination. Besch writes that the Europeans are underestimating the potential impact of Donald Trump, who has severely damaged the EU’s security by questioning Nato's security guarantee. And with Brexit the EU will lose one of its strongest European militaries, as well as a country in favour of more competition in defence procurement.
EU leaders hoping 2017 will offer respite should look away now
15 December 2016
Bloomberg
“2016 has been a shock with Brexit, Trump, the Turkish coup and terrorist attacks,” said Camino Mortera-Martinez, a Brussels-based research fellow of the Centre for European Reform. “But 2017 will be the year when we start seeing what these shocks mean for Europe and the world.”
CER podcast series: The economics of populism, episode five
15 December 2016
In this episode, Martin Sandbu and Christian Dustmann discuss 'How should governments respond to migration fears?'
Judy Asks: Is the EU's architecture collapsing?
14 December 2016
Carnegie Europe
A selection of experts answer a new question from Judy Dempsey on the foreign and security policy challenges shaping Europe’s role in the world.
Who benefits? Not Britain
14 December 2016
Financial Times
The Brexit vote did not have much to do with globalisation, argued economists attending a conference at the Centre for European Reform. Fascinating summary here. "The participants largely agreed that globalisation had not been the driving force behind the Brexit vote. Rising inequality and economic insecurity had been factors, but reflected the deregulation of labour and financial markets, technological change and tax and housing policies, more than globalisation itself."
European anxiety deepens over 'disruptive' Trump presidency
13 December 2016
Reuters
"The Europeans are in a state of shock," said Charles Grant, director of the CER, who was in Washington last week with Perthes to discuss a Trump presidency with US officials."If Trump were to support Marine Le Pen like he supported Farage that would be a revolutionary event in transatlantic relations".