Research
Judy Asks: Are France and Germany wavering on Russia?
08 December 2022
Carnegie Europe
It would be wrong to say that France and Germany are wavering on Russia; the problem is that while they condemn Russian aggression and offer support to Ukraine, they struggle to see Putin’s regime as it really is.
No es el momento de que Ucrania negocie
07 December 2022
ES Global
Varias personalidades occidentales están animando a Ucrania a entablar negociaciones de paz con Rusia. Pero, en estos momentos, un alto el fuego dejaría al país vulnerable frente a un nuevo ataque ruso. Kiev necesita armas, no titubeos.
The EU accession dream in the Western Balkans
06 December 2022
The Week
Luigi Scazzieri, a researcher at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank based in London, told the news site that each country still had “substantial hurdles” to overcome in order to meet the Copenhagen criteria, “which define the EU’s standards on strong democratic institutions, a functioning market economy and the ability to take on the obligations of membership”.
Enlargement back on EU’s agenda at Western Balkans summit
05 December 2022
Associated Press
“None is close to joining the EU,” said Luigi Scazzieri, a researcher at the Centre for European Reform, a think tank based in London. “They must all overcome substantial hurdles to meet the Copenhagen criteria, which define the EU’s standards on strong democratic institutions, a functioning market economy and the ability to take on the obligations of membership.”
Does Britain have a problem with R&D spending?
01 December 2022
The Economist
According to the Centre for European Reform (CER), a think-tank, the uncertainty over British participation in Horizon has already hit EU funding for British academic science by around 2.5% relative to the 2004-16 trend. Although the money can be replaced, the opportunities for collaboration that Horizon offers cannot.
CER podcast: Will the EU unblock Hungary's funds?
30 November 2022
Camino Mortera-Martínez and Sander Tordoir discuss the dispute between Hungary and the EU.
Der Austritt hatte vorhersehbare okonomische Folgen
29 November 2022
Die Presse
Die britische Wirtschaft geht auf Talfahrt, immer mehr Briten halten den Brexit für einen Fehler, und die Regierung erwägt offenbar eine Annäherung an die EU. Ein Gespräch mit dem Brexit-Experten John Springford vom Centre for European Reform.
Brexit is hurting UK innovation
28 November 2022
Times Higher Education
German-style political stability and long-term science funding could help mitigate the damage, say Zach Meyers and John Springford.
Euronews: Brussels my love: Hungary's stalled EU funding and 70 years of EU Parliament
26 November 2022
Camino Mortera-Martinez said she had an issue with the European Parliament claiming that it's the only democratically elected institution in the European Union.
“We have to think of the Council as an association of governments who are very much elected in the member-states. And I think if you are going to...
“We have to think of the Council as an association of governments who are very much elected in the member-states. And I think if you are going to...
Fortress Europe
25 November 2022
Financial Times
As long as they can’t agree on how to distribute migrants internally, EU capitals will continue to focus on striking deals with countries to take back rejected asylum seekers and beefing up border security, writes Luigi Scazzieri at the Centre for European Reform.
Musk: Twitter will relaunch premium service after initial issues
25 November 2022
Al Jazeera
Zach Meyers, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said giving blanket amnesty based on an online poll is an “arbitrary approach” that’s “hard to reconcile with the Digital Services Act”, a new European Union law that will start applying to the biggest online platforms by mid-2023.
EU trade ministers try to avert the subsidy race
24 November 2022
EurActiv
In this 20-minute podcast, Sander Tordoir of the Centre for European Reform gives a very good explanation of the Commission’s recently announced plan on how it wants to reform the EU’s infamous fiscal rules.
Royaume Uni: Le soutien au brexit atteint son plus bas niveau
22 November 2022
BFM Business
Cette séquence "est intéressante car elle semble montrer que Rishi Sunak et Jeremy Hunt (...) admettent que le TCA (l'accord de commerce et de coopération signé entre l'UE et le Royaume-Uni) est mauvais pour l'économie. Mais le tollé et le démenti montrent à quel point il sera difficile pour un gouvernement conservateur d'admettre" cela, estime John Springford, chercheur au Centre for European reform, et opposé au Brexit.
Swiss-style EU deal not on the table during Brexit negotiations, EU officials say
21 November 2022
iNews
John Springford, the deputy director of the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank, says Brussels has also grown frustrated with the Swiss system of translating EU legislation into its rulebook through and torturous parliamentary process that can end up changing the laws to bypass regulations. “This is very finicky and slow. And it runs up against the EU’s problem of cherry picking: they don’t want to give the UK partial access to the single market or part of partial participation in the single market,” he said.
CER podcast: Will the Commission's fiscal rules plan work?
18 November 2022
In this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, John Springford, our deputy director, and Sander Tordoir, senior economist at the CER, discuss the EU’s fiscal rules.
Brussels just got a Hungarian think tank. Here's why it matters.
18 November 2022
Euronews
Neither is better than the other and both are needed but "the most important thing for think-tanks, in general, is to be transparent in the way they are financed and the way they are affiliated," Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels Office of the Centre for European Reform (CER), another (private) think tank, told Euronews.
Energy carrots and sticks
18 November 2022
Financial Times
To meet EU-wide emergency targets for the reduction of electricity and gas demand, more actionable information campaigns are needed, writes the Centre for European Reform. Governments should also encourage utilities to set up incentive schemes to reward energy savings.
Derrière la récession britannique, l’effritement provoqué par le Brexit
18 November 2022
Le Monde
« Ce n’est effectivement pas le Brexit qui provoque la récession, qui est due à la guerre en Ukraine et à la hausse des prix, comme partout ailleurs, mais le Brexit a réduit la vitesse de croisière de l’économie britannique », explique John Springford, du Centre for European Reform, un groupe de réflexion.
As Ukraine war hits pocketbooks, European discontent grows
17 November 2022
Voice of America
"People are pretty angry right now across Europe," said John Springford, deputy director of the London-based Center for European Reform, a policy institute. "There’s a general understanding I think that the high inflation we have been seeing is down to the war in Ukraine."
UK autumn statement: How much is Brexit to blame for the budget 'black hole'?
17 November 2022
Euronews
"Around half of the fiscal hole, and the political instability that comes with that, is down to Brexit," John Springford of the Centre for European Reform said on Twitter in October, in an exchange on the relationship of the UK's EU membership to its economic performance.In a CER report in June, he commented on a £29 billion (€33.2 billion) package of tax rises announced earlier in the year by Rishi Sunak, then finance minister -- up "to their highest share of GDP since the 1960s", he said.