Research
Could Britain collaborate with Australia on a Galileo alternative?
24 May 2018
Space News
Sophia Besch, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform here, says that, by aiming to solidify the UK’s place at the forefront of European space developments, the UK Defence Space Strategy will “help to make the case to the EU that letting Brexit get in the way of cooperation would be a loss for both sides.”
CER podcast: NATO and the transatlantic defence relationship
23 May 2018
Recorded at the Daimler US-European Forum: Sophia Besch talks to Constanze Stelzenmüller and Camille Grand about changes in the relationship between the US and its European NATO allies.
How Britain’s departure from the EU stretches to mid-2020s
23 May 2018
Financial Times
“Everybody knows the transition [until the end of 2020] will not be long enough to both negotiate and implement the future trade agreement,” said Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform.
Italy's new government will challenge the EU at its heart
23 May 2018
The New York Times
“The new Italian government will give Germany every excuse not to do what Macron would like and it will destabilize the markets,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a research institution. “It will increase the risk of another eurozone banking crisis, not reduce it.”
Brussels breaking Brexit bill promises by freezing UK out of Galileo satellite programme
22 May 2018
The Telegraph
Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, agreed that the UK should not necessarily expect to win the argument with Brussels, even if that meant the EU taking a financial hit through the UK being excluded. "It is true that Germany takes a slightly more pragmatic line than France on Galileo, but ultimately [Angela] Merkel does not appear to care enough to over-rule the French and risk fracturing EU unity,” he said after a recent trip to Berlin.
TRT World: How far will Italy’s populism spread?
22 May 2018
Luigi Scazzieri a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform speaks to TRT World roundtable to discuss the Italian elections (from 17.10 mins).
Theresa May’s Brexit landing zone has come into view
21 May 2018
Financial Times
The Centre for European Reform’s Sam Lowe has been one of the few to make clear that whatever goes into the Irish backstop provisions in the withdrawal agreement is the most likely scenario for arrangements after the Brexit transition.
Theresa May's Cabinet customs row is irrelevant, it's the Brexit backstop that really matters
17 May 2018
Business Insider
Theresa May and her Cabinet are currently embroiled in a heated and public debate over potential post-Brexit customs arrangements.
Theresa May's new customs gamble
17 May 2018
The Financial Times
Samuel Lowe of the Centre for European Reform is not convinced that the EU will go for a whole UK backstop. He argues that the sensible thing for the UK would be to accept something closer to Mr Barnier’s original proposal for a special status for Northern Ireland.Mr Lowe says: “If a border does go up between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, there is much greater scope for the use of technology and ‘innovative’ solutions, since, unlike on the land border, the infrastructure already exists at the ports and airports … The DUP might not like it, but they may be forced to live with it.”
Time to suck up the backstop
16 May 2018
Financial Times
Samuel Lowe at the Centre for European Reform tells the Brits it’s finally time to swallow the EU’s “special status” for Northern Ireland and accept a border in the Irish Sea: A serious British response to the commission, focused on improving the backstop rather than rejecting it out of hand, will move the Brexit negotiations forward. More importantly, it will help to ensure that no matter what happens with Brexit, the UK’s departure from the EU does not make the Irish border a focus of conflict again.
If you want to have a real conversation about customs, talk about the backstop
16 May 2018
Politics.co.uk
The two most interesting pieces this week on involving the backstop are from Sam Lowe, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, and Tony Connelly, Europe editor at Irish broadcaster RTE. They tell you far more than any number of news reports on Theresa May's 'war Cabinet'.
'Rules of origin' risk tripping up trade post-Brexit
16 May 2018
The Wall Street Journal
Rules of origin have been a feature of free-trade accords for decades. The goal, according to Sam Lowe, a trade policy expert at the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank focused on EU policy, is to prevent one party to a trade agreement passing off cheap imports as homemade, in order to qualify for preferential access to another party’s market.
Allies at cross-purposes: Trump puts Europe into damage-control mode
15 May 2018
The New York Times
Ian Bond, foreign policy analyst with the Centre for European Reform, argued that “Europeans and Atlanticist Americans must preserve what they can of the trans-Atlantic partnership” while Mr Trump is in office.“But he is doing a lot of damage in the meantime — not just hurting allies, but actively helping potential adversaries,” he said, pointing to the Iran deal pullout, the Jerusalem embassy and unilateral tariffs on steel that harm Europe.
EEA back in spotlight
14 May 2018
Financial Times
John Springford of the Centre for European Reform also doubts whether EEA is the way forward.“I’ve always been of the view that EEA is the best outcome economically, but a non-starter politically,” he says. He adds: “You are in the single market, but you are essentially a rule-taker. And for a country with a big financial services sector, it is unlikely that we would put up with that. I could see the EEA as a sensible and perhaps elongated transition period, but not a solution for the long term.”
New leader's election leaves Catalan crisis unresolved
14 May 2018
EU Observer
"We'll have another crisis," said Camino Mortera-Martinez, from the Brussels-based Centre for European Reform think-tank. She noted that both Torra and Rajoy had the choice between two bad options.
UK asks businesses to map their Brexit-impacted supply chains
11 May 2018
The Irish Times
“The only way you avoid the costs of rules of origin entirely is to remain in a customs union with the EU, but even then you might have some problems in relation to trade agreements with third countries,” Sam Lowe, a trade researcher at the Centre for European Reform, said in a phone interview. “Absent the UK remaining in a customs union with the EU, it’s very difficult to see how in the long run, complex manufacturing in the UK remains viable.”
Trump nominates US ambassador to EU: What you need to know
11 May 2018
Euronews
“Above all, the US ambassador to the EU is the primary point of contact for trade policy issue,” said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform think-tank to Euronews, as that is an exclusive competence of the bloc and not individual member states. “There is also some coordination on foreign policy issues,” Bond added. Such was the case for the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) deal with Iran, with was negotiated by the EU’s top diplomat, first Catherine Ashton and then Federica Mogherini.
'Impossible position': Brexit is going nowhere fast
11 May 2018
CNN Money
"We are in a period in paralysis," said John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform. "The reason for that is all of the various bits of Brexit that are hardest to deal with are coming together at once."
Fox can still sign trade deals with one hand tied behind his back
11 May 2018
The Times
Sam Lowe, a trade wonk at the Centre for European Reform, has suggested that Britain could take a prominent role in driving forward the Trade in Services Agreement, a stalled deal between 23 WTO members, including the EU, to liberalise trade in sectors such as transport and telecommunications.
Brexit could bring back bad old days of 'Costa del Crime', warns MEP
10 May 2018
The Guardian
Camino Mortera-Martinez, a specialist on EU home affairs at the Centre for European Reform, said the UK risked going over a cliff edge on aspects of EU police co-operation, including the European arrest warrant, crime-fighting databases and membership of the EU police agency, Europol.