British exit from the EU?

Five years since the referendum: A short reflection, and some highlights of the CER's Brexit coverage

23 June 2021
Five years have passed since the British voted to leave the EU. Since then the CER has published 174 papers on Brexit.

Objection! Why the EU opposes the UK's plans for cross-Channel litigation

Zach Meyers, Camino Mortera-Martinez
18 June 2021
Brexit has made cross-border litigation harder. While bigger companies will cope, EU and UK citizens and small businesses will suffer.

The cost of Brexit: April 2021

14 June 2021
We estimate that leaving the single market and customs union had reduced UK trade by 11 per cent in April 2021. That is on top of our previous finding of a 10 per cent hit to trade between the referendum and leaving the single market.

The cost of Brexit: March 2021

12 May 2021
We estimate that leaving the single market and customs union had reduced UK trade by 11 per cent in March 2021. That is on top of a 10 per cent hit to trade between the referendum and leaving the single market.

The US and the Northern Ireland Protocol: Time to walk the walk

Sam Lowe
07 May 2021
The US wants the UK to diverge from EU food hygiene rules and to prioritise political and economic stability in Northern Ireland. But what if the UK can’t do both?

The cost of Brexit: February 2021

13 April 2021
We estimate that leaving the single market and customs union had reduced UK trade by 5 per cent by February 2021. That is on top of a 10 per cent hit to trade between the referendum and leaving the single market.

Why Europe should spend big like Biden

Christian Odendahl, John Springford
29 March 2021
The scale of Biden’s spending plans means the US economy will recover much faster than Europe’s. Yet in many ways it is the European economy that is in greater need of stimulus.

Post-Brexit data transfers are not a done deal

Sam Lowe, Camino Mortera-Martinez
29 March 2021
Data transfers are essential for both trade and security co-operation. The EU and the UK should not let minor differences obscure the fact that they have more in common than divides them. 

Bulletin issue 137 - April/May 2021

Sam Lowe, Camino Mortera-Martinez, Christian Odendahl, Katherine Pye, John Springford
29 March 2021

The cost of Brexit, January 2021: The end of transition edition

12 March 2021
The first of a new CER series provides estimates for the effect of Brexit on UK trade – both before and after the end of the transition period.

Keeping up appearances: What now for UK services trade?

Sam Lowe
22 February 2021
Rather than obsessing about services exports, UK policy-makers should focus on investment and ensuring the UK remains an attractive destination for multinational services firms to operate out of.

It takes two to tango: The EU and the UK need to work together to make the Northern Ireland protocol work

Sam Lowe
02 February 2021
The European Commission’s aborted attempt to restrict vaccines moving from the EU to Northern Ireland risked undermining years of hard work.

Ditchley conference report: COVID-19, the global economy and the return of power politics

John Springford, Christian Odendahl, Sam Lowe, Sophia Besch, Katherine Pye
22 January 2021
At the CER's Ditchley economics conference, participants discussed the global role of the EU in the aftermath of the pandemic, with faltering trade and investment and growing strategic competition between the US and China.

The EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement: A platform on which to build?

Sam Lowe
12 January 2021
The new trade deal between the EU and the UK could be improved upon over time, but that is not a given. It could also crumble away.

Ten reflections on a sovereignty-first Brexit

28 December 2020
The UK-EU trade deal prioritises sovereignty over economics. Politicians will soon be talking about how to improve the deal. Very little about the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU has been settled.

Navigating accidental illegality

Sam Lowe
30 November 2020
Next year many companies selling goods or services between the UK and EU will inadvertently break some rule or other. But the immediate consequences of their inevitable infractions remain uncertain.

Post-Brexit foreign, security and defence co-operation: We don't want to talk about it

26 November 2020
The UK is wrong to reject an institutional foreign policy relationship with the EU, but the EU should improve its ineffective external security co-operation with third countries, including the UK.

Brexit and police and judicial co-operation: Too little, too late?

Camino Mortera-Martinez
09 November 2020
The EU and the UK will find an agreement on extradition and Europol. But both parties are further apart on data protection than it may seem. Data transfers will be a problem in the future relationship.