Research

With Emmanuel Macron’s caustic comments likely to dominate the Nato gathering, Ian Bond at the Centre for European Reform argues that reports of the Nato’s “brain death” are still exaggerated: “Even if Nato can get through the London meeting unscathed, its leaders should not just breathe a sigh of relief and hope that Trump will be out of office by the time of the next summit (expected in 2021). In reality, Trump, Erdogan and Macron all have some valid criticisms of Nato. The solutions they pursue are likely to do more harm than good to security in Europe; but the correct course is to look for better solutions, not to ignore the problems.”

Ian Bond, director de política exterior del Centro para la Reforma Europea, fue un diplomático británico que en el pasado trabajó en Washington. Bond dice que en circunstancias normales, todos los que tratan con Estados Unidos sobre el caso de Ucrania sabrían quiénes eran sus interlocutores en la embajada, el Departamento de Estado y el Consejo de Seguridad Nacional. Nadie habría buscado al abogado personal del presidente o al embajador de Estados Unidos en la Unión Europea.

As the economist Christian Odendahl puts it, Esken and NoWaBo are by international comparison about as hard-left as the IMF, in that they want more of Germany’s vast surplus to be spent on wide-eyed priorities like school, digital and rail improvements. Their proposed minimum wage increase to €12 an hour, below the level currently being proposed in Britain by renowned hardline socialist Boris Johnson, would inject some much-needed demand into the slowing eurozone economy.

Johnson’s government has refused to publish an impact assessment of its plans. But research by think tank the Centre for European Reform suggests that in financial services alone, under this scenario UK businesses – which currently export £23.6bn (US$30.5bn) to the EU – could see their export revenues fall by 59%.