Research

... more disappointing economic news emerges

02 May 2016
The Herald Scotland
David Bell also helpfully cites estimates (by the Centre for European Reform) of the UK and Scottish contributions to the EU Budget. The annual UK gross payment over the next few years is expected to be around £17 billion.

British companies avoid taking sides in the debate over an EU exit

Simon Tilford
01 May 2016
The New York Times
Yet so far, the voice of business has been less full-throated than many analysts expected. "Business does seem strangely muted on this," said Simon Tilford, the deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, a research institute in London. "It has been surprising that so few internationally active businesses are prepared to speak out."

If it ain't broke, don't Brexit

30 April 2016
The Economist
In fact, trade between Britain and the rest of the EU is larger than geography alone would predict, according to a recent analysis by the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. It calculates that the flow of goods and services across the Channel is 55% greater than distance and economic mass alone would imply.

How others see it: The European Union would suffer from Brexit

30 April 2016
The Economist
As the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank, notes in a new report, a British departure would leave the EU “less liberal, more suspicious of science and more protectionist”.

Seven reasons Brexiteers are wrong to think EU exit negotiations would be easy

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
29 April 2016
City A.M
Some eurosceptics think that Brexit negotiations would be a piece of cake. But if Britain decides to leave the EU, it will have no choice but to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

Brexit would be a victory for xenophobes, we must not turn back the clock

Simon Tilford
29 April 2016
The Telegraph
Britain's EU referendum will be a vote on immigration. The out camp know that voters are aware of the economic and political risks of Brexit, but hope that their resentment of "uncontrolled" immigration from the EU will trump these concerns.

This week's Brexit briefing

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
29 April 2016
The Wall Street Journal
Here for the pro-EU Centre for European Reform, Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska drills deeper into the questions that surround Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the clause that most likely would have to be used to negotiate the UK's departure.
Der "Gottvater" und der Brexit: Joschka Fischer geht auf die Knie

Der "Gottvater" und der Brexit: Joschka Fischer geht auf die Knie

28 April 2016
N-TV
Ex-Außenminister Joschka Fischer zeigt sich ungewohnt demütig. Vielleicht weil es um eine Herzensangelegenheit geht, um Europa. Dem Staatenverbund droht der Brexit. Es steht viel auf dem Spiel.
Es ist, als sei er nie weggewesen: Joschka Fischer, der "Gottvater", wie er auch im Auswärtigen Amt augenzwinkernd genannt wurde. Er ist zu...

Video of CER/DIW Berlin roundtable on 'Britain's role in Europe' with Josckha Fischer and David Lidington

28 April 2016
Josckha Fischer and David Lidington discuss the role of Britain in Europe at a CER/DIW roundtable held in Berlin.

For UK and EU, breaking up is legally hard to do

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
28 April 2016
The Wall Street Journal
Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska of the pro-EU Centre for European Reform says delaying for too long also "might be unacceptable for the EU partners," further eroding goodwill. The UK, by extending the agony, would be an unwanted participant in EU meetings. Meanwhile at home, the political pressure would mount from victorious Leave advocates to unshackle from the EU.

Duncan Smith's free movement fig-leaf

28 April 2016
Prospect
Brexiteers, after a difficult start to the campaign, are trying to push the EU debate onto immigration.

Judy Asks: Will TTIP happen?

Rem Korteweg, Timothy Adamson, Krzysztof Bledowski, Reinhard Bütikofer, Uri Dadush, Stefan Mair, Gianni Riotta, Marietje Schaake, Claudia Schmucker, Ashley Tellis
27 April 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.

Danske EU-politikere om Thulesens Brexit-plan: "Det rene, guddommelige vås" (in Danish)

Simon Tilford
26 April 2016
Politiken
Hvad er det for en mellemting?
Hos Centre for European Reform (CER) i London kan vicedirektør Simon Tilford se mindst to afgørende grunde til, at Kristian Thulesen Dahls analyse efter hans mening er forkert.
»For det første kan hverken Frankrigs præsident eller Tysklands forbundskansler holde til at give Storbritannien et totalt tag-selv-bord, hvis det bliver et nej. De føler, at de allerede har givet David Cameron store indrømmelser. Hvis de gik endnu videre, ville det få EU til at falde helt fra hinanden«, siger han.

Arguments for Brexit do not add up

26 April 2016
Financial Times
First, membership has brought few benefits. This is false. The Centre for European Reform estimates that it has raised trade with EU members by 55 per cent, increasing productivity and output.

UK after Brexit: Options for trade deals if voters elect to leave

22 April 2016
Financial Times
The Centre for European Reform points out that most EU states buy more from Britain than they sell to it and that while the EU buys half the UK’s exports, Britain buys a little over 10 per cent of exports from the rest of the EU.

Ex-PM Brown says Britain needs to hear passion for EU membership

22 April 2016
Reuters
"My message is be positive, be principled and be patriotic, and put the case with passion," Gordon Brown, said in a speech hosted by the Centre for European Reform in London. "It would be a tragedy if those people who say Britain should leave the European Union were identified as the patriotic group, and those who wanted to stay in were seen in some way as standing up for Europe against Britain."

Obama arrives in UK with royal lunch, Brexit on the menu

22 April 2016
Daily Mail
"Obama is not an instinctive pro-European," said Ian Bond of the London-based Centre for European Reform think-tank. "He opposes Brexit because it risks creating more problems for America in Europe." Polls put the pro-EU and Brexit camps neck-and-neck among those who express a preference to vote, although there is a large pool of people who remain undecided. Obama's "focus is on how Brexit would affect Europe's ability to help America tackle international problems," said Bond.

Brown is back on the warpath for the EU vote

22 April 2016
Evening Standard
The former Prime Minister, speaking at the evening at the Royal Society, organised by the Centre for European Reform, pointed out how important it was for Britain to be in the room for EU discussions. Among the guests and speakers were  J P Morgan's Stephanie Flanders, economist Vicky Pryce and George Osborne's former chief of staff Rupert Harrison. Brown recounted the negotiations in 1999 to ensure Britain and other EU countries not in the single currency were allowed into the group's financial discussions.  

Losing the UK wouldn't be so bad for Europe

22 April 2016
Bloomberg
The London-based Centre for European Reform, has just published a report identifying more specific effects that a British exit, or Brexit, might have on the EU. It didn't find too many of them. The UK's departure might actually be beneficial to the bloc's cohesion, though it'll lose an important voice on policy matters.

The Guardian view on a key week in the EU debate

22 April 2016
The Guardian
In the second half of the week, the focus has shifted to global stability. First, eight former US treasury secretaries weighed in to warn that Brexit represents a critical threat to the global economy. Plenty of home-grown economists [listen here to the CER's debate at their 'Economists on Brexit' conference] also agree.