Research
The Ukraine Reparations Loan: How to fix Europe's financial plumbing
18 December 2025
As US support for Ukraine vanishes, Europe must overcome Belgian opposition and improvise fiscally to provide Kyiv with €210 billion.
Fixing the EU's broken Israel-Palestine policy
17 December 2025
The EU’s efforts to forge a common approach that promotes peace and human rights in the Israel-Palestine conflict have failed. As the EU rethinks its broader Middle East policy, a new approach cannot wait.
The paradox of French power
10 December 2025
France has a very weak government with an uncertain future, yet it remains a dominant force in EU policy-making. How does one explain this paradox?
Europe's clean tech industry between Trump's policies and Chinese pressure
09 December 2025
The EU needs a coherent clean tech strategy to fend off the US industrial & trade policy shock & Chinese market pressure.
Resilient growth: Aligning productivity and security
08 December 2025
The European Competitiveness Fund could be a powerful tool to improve the EU's economic security. But the proposal needs reform to avoid pitting security and growth against each other.
European security in a time of war: Standing with Ukraine, against Russia and without the US
02 December 2025
Russian aggression & US indifference threaten Europe. Europe must build security against Russia, without the US but with Ukraine.
The far right’s impact on the EU’s climate agenda
14 November 2025
The far right is stronger than ever in the European Parliament. And climate policy has become a testing ground for its influence.
Three hard lessons for European trade
10 November 2025
Global trade policy is now dominated by great power politics, putting Europe under pressure. The EU will have to accommodate the US, confront China and derisk from both.
What the Dutch elections mean for the Netherlands and for Europe
05 November 2025
Armida van Rij and Sander Tordoir decipher what the election results mean for The Netherlands and Europe more broadly.
The EU’s Defence Readiness 2030 Roadmap: Ambition and constraints
29 October 2025
The Defence Readiness 2030 Roadmap seeks to accelerate and inject coherence into the EU’s defence build-up. Its success depends on sustained funding and political will.
Articles
Taking the Pulse: What issue is Europe ignoring at its peril in 2026?
15 January 2026
Carnegie Europe
2026 has started in crisis, as the actions of unpredictable leaders shape an increasingly volatile global environment. To shift from crisis response to strategic foresight, what under-the-radar issues should the EU prepare for in the coming year?
Europe faces a pincer attack from White House ideologues backed by Silicon Valley and its far-right proxies
08 January 2026
The Guardian
US tech bosses are exerting leverage on EU regulators via Trump and Vance. But Europe isn’t powerless, and it isn’t alone.
Letters: Dealing with Chinese trade
18 December 2025
The Economist
The Economist recommended that Europe should not raise trade barriers in response to China’s ballooning exports of cars, machine-tools and other manufactured goods (”From customer to killer”, November 22nd).
The unshared futures of the United States and Europe
16 December 2025
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
America and Europe have been bound together for more than 250 years. Whose ideology will define their future?
Europe needs to get real about China
20 November 2025
Encompass
For some years, European governments and the EU have had China policies designed to reflect a balanced approach to Beijing – neither too confrontational nor too deferential.
Wie der Autoindustrie wirklich geholfen werden kann
27 October 2025
Die Zeit
Lucas Guttenberg, Nils Redeker und Sander Tordoir forschen bei der Bertelsmann-Stiftung, dem Jaques Delors Zentrum und dem Centre for European Reform zur Zukunft Europas. Hier schreiben sie über ihre gemeinsame Vision für die europäische Autoindustrie.
Press
Russia warns Europe of nuclear punishment, expels UK diplomat in escalating crisis
15 January 2026
International Business Times
Experts caution that the erosion of diplomatic ties could leave fewer avenues for de-escalation. 'When diplomats are expelled, dialogue suffers. That increases the risk of miscalculation,' said Ian Bond of the Centre for European Reform.
Der China-Schock trifft Deutschland mit voller Wucht
14 January 2026
Handelsblatt
Der erste „China-Schock“ zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts, als das Land der Welthandelsorganisation (WTO) beitrat, deindustrialisierte vor allem den Nordosten und mittleren Westen der USA. Der zweite „China-Schock“ jetzt trifft die EU – und ganz besonders Deutschland. „Für deutsche Hersteller, die der Logik des Kapitalismus unterliegen, Gewinne erwirtschaften und Erträge für Innovationen erzielen müssen, ist es nahezu unmöglich, mit den staatlich unterstützten, preislich konkurrenzlosen Exporten Chinas mitzuhalten“, sagt Sander Tordoir.
Trumps krav på Grönland hotar Nato i grunden, säger expert inför avgörande möte
13 January 2026
YLE
Danmarks statsminister Mette Frederiksen varnar för att ett övertagande av det autonoma öriket kan innebära slutet för Nato. Forskaren Armida van Rij vid tankesmedjan Centre for European Reform håller med.– Om en allierad bryter mot en annan allierads suveränitet utan rättslig grund är det slutet för alliansen, säger van Rij.
European firms hit hiring brakes over AI and slowing growth
12 January 2026
Deutsche Welle
"A lot of drudge tasks can be pushed to AI to free up human labor," John Springford, a labor market expert at the Centre for European Reform, told DW. "But there's a good reason to believe that professional, knowledge work won't shrink."
La UE se pliega ante Trump
11 January 2026
El Correo
En un momento en el que la geopolítica se ha vuelto más importante que nunca, el subdirector del 'think tank' Centre for European Reform (CER), Ian Bond, apunta que «Europa no está a la altura y no está pensando geopolíticamente. Si no trabaja en su área de influencia, podría acabar bajo el área de influencia de otro».
EU faces defining six months as Trump doctrine, trade tensions test strategic autonomy
07 January 2026
Courthouse News Service
“Europe will probably continue to be reactive,” Ian Bond, deputy director at the London-based Centre for European Reform, told Courthouse News. “It is hard to break their defense dependency on the US, so they won’t want to take precipitate steps.”
Starmer's biggest rival is auditioning for his job
03 January 2026
Bloomberg
Another pro-Brussels think tank, the Centre for European Reform, takes a more hardheaded view. The economic boost only comes if Britain aligns its regulations with its neighbors and the EU lets it access its single market.
That deal is not on the table. Even piecemeal single-market access would mean making hefty payments to Brussels. “The more barriers to trade you want to remove the more you have to offer on alignment, money and movement (on immigration controls),” the CER wrote.
That deal is not on the table. Even piecemeal single-market access would mean making hefty payments to Brussels. “The more barriers to trade you want to remove the more you have to offer on alignment, money and movement (on immigration controls),” the CER wrote.
It’s time to rethink Britain’s relationship with the EU
30 December 2025
The Economist
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, believes the French want to exclude Britain from SAFE.
China’s trade juggernaut won’t stop just to appease the West
15 December 2025
The Times
Germany was relatively sheltered from the first China shock, when Europe was flooded with consumer goods such as electronics and furniture. Now, China is competing and winning in advanced industrial manufacturing — traditionally, a German strength — according to Brad Setser and Sander Tordoir, writing for the Centre for European Reform.
Podcasts
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Greenland and the NATO alliance
14 January 2026
Armida van Rij and Sten Rynning discuss how the Greenland crisis may become a turning point for the NATO alliance's future direction.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The EU in 2025
19 December 2025
Six of our researchers reflect on the past year and look ahead to 2026.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The far right and democratic backsliding in Europe
03 December 2025
Armida van Rij, Zselyke Csaky and Catherine E. De Vries discuss the far right and the state of democracy in Europe.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The instability of Macron’s France
19 November 2025
Charles Grant and Sophie Pedder discuss France and Macron's immediate problems.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The causes of the rise of populism
05 November 2025
Ben Ansell, Zselyke Csaky and John Springford discuss the causes and consequences of right-wing populism.
Events
CER/Swedish Enterprise discussion on 'Resilient growth: Aligning productivity and security'
10 December 2025
Brussels
With Aslak Berg, Zach Meyers, Lotta Nymann-Lindegren, Maive Rute and Anna Stellinger
Conference on 'Europe's precarious bid for third pole economic power'
21 November 2025 to 22 November 2025
Ditchley Park, UK
Speakers included: Elga Bartsch, Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, David Claydon, Arnab Das, Barry Eichengreen, Ole Funke, Francesca Ghiretti, Dirk Klaasen, Silvia Merler, Wolfgang Münchau, Erik Nielsen, Alexander Plekhanov, Hélène Rey, Elina Ribakova, Dorothée Rouzet, Moritz Schularick, Brad Setser, John Springford, Ángel Ubide and Maarten Verwey
Panel discussion and private viewing of 'Come with Us! - Democratic Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989'
11 November 2025
London
With Václav Bartuška, Ferenc Kumin, Laura Popescu, Asta Radikaitė and Pedro Serrano
Hybrid discussion on 'Scenarios for the future of Russia's war against Ukraine'
20 October 2025
Hybrid London/Zoom
With Lawrence Freedman, Iuliia Osmolovska and Oleg Synianskyi
CER/Kreab breakfast on 'How Europe can navigate geopolitical turbulence'
16 October 2025
Brussels
With Olof Skoog, Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs, European External Action Service