Research
France and Romania: Should far-right candidates be banned from running for the presidency?
25 April 2025
Excluding candidates from standing in elections may be a legally sound option to protect democracy from anti-democratic forces.
Will EU enlargement create new models for the EU-UK relationship?
15 April 2025
Enlargement is pushing the EU to think creatively about how to work more closely with candidate countries before accession. The consequences for EU-UK relations could be significant.
Access denied: The EU's discriminatory visa regime is undermining its reputation in Africa
02 April 2025
EU leaders claim people-to-people links between Europe and Africa are a strength, but the EU’s visa policy tells a different story.
Donald Trump's return to office: Ten consequences
28 March 2025
Donald Trump’s second presidency is shaking up the geopolitical landscape. Most of the consequences are harmful, but some are beneficial.
One step forward for Europe's defence
26 March 2025
In an effort to adjust to the new strategic reality, the EU is trying to make it easier for member-states to strengthen Europe’s defences. Success or failure depends on them.
The EU budget in a larger Union: Key issues and open questions
25 March 2025
EU enlargement does not need to bust the EU’s budget. But the distributional effects of enlargement need to be addressed to ensure it has broad-based political support.
UK-EU relations: Time to raise the level of ambition
21 March 2025
Geopolitical turbulence has put UK-EU differences in perspective. Britain and the EU need much closer ties.
The new EU-Swiss deal: What it means and the lessons it holds for the UK-EU 'reset'
17 March 2025
The recent political agreement between the European Commission and the Swiss government promises to stabilise their long-troubled economic relationship. The British government should pay close attention.
How the UK and the EU can deepen defence co-operation
07 March 2025
The UK and the EU face daunting common security challenges. Linking Britain more closely to EU defence tools would strengthen Europe's security.
Freezing EU funds: An effective tool to enforce the rule of law?
27 February 2025
The EU cannot operate unless member-states respect the rule of law. Withholding EU funds is a powerful tool to enforce compliance, but it has yet to show its teeth.
Articles
Taking the Pulse: In light of Trump’s tariffs, should Europe get closer to China?
17 April 2025
Carnegie Europe
The EU and China are both trade-surplus blocs: They rely on external demand and need buyers, not sellers, as the United States reduces its demand.
Econoom Sander Tordoir over de Trump-tarieven: “Xi Jinping zal zich in de handen wrijven om dit geschenk”
04 April 2025
De Standaard
Na Vietnam en Mexico zijn de VS het grootste slachtoffer van de handelstarieven van Donald Trump, zegt econoom Sander Tordoir.
Wcale nie Trump. Głównym przeciwnikiem gospodarczym UE są Chiny
28 March 2025
Oko Press
„Chiny są egzystencjalnym zagrożeniem dla europejskiej branży motoryzacyjnej” – mówi nam holenderski ekonomista Sander Tordoir.
Experts: What do Trump’s tariffs mean for global climate action?
27 March 2025
Carbon Brief
The Trump administration is walking back on US climate commitments, both domestically by threatening to cut back Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) support for clean-tech industries and internationally, [by] withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.
How should Britain step up to enhance European security?
21 March 2025
Britain's World
Seen from Rome, the UK is an essential partner and pillar of European security. The UK’s contribution to a stronger European security posture can be both political and practical.
Een Duitse begrotingsimpuls biedt de EU hoop
12 March 2025
NRC Handelsblad
Duitsland kan door het loslaten van de rem op staatsschulden investeren in defensie. De EU versterkt zo zijn strategische positie, stelt Sander Tordoir.
Press
EU tries to steer through latest Trump turbulence
26 April 2025
International Policy Digest
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, placed Trump’s second presidency among seismic historical events, comparing it to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 9/11 attacks. He warned that tariffs increase inflation, restrict trade, hinder growth, and introduce significant uncertainty into the global economy. Yet he also identified unexpected benefits: Trump’s tariffs are inadvertently strengthening European unity, restoring Germany’s leadership role within the EU, and nudging post-Brexit Britain closer to the European continent.
Donald Trump’s antics mean new boldness is needed in UK-EU links
24 April 2025
The Economist
But Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, says France is losing this argument, because Germany, Italy and most eastern EU members think building stronger European defence without Britain would make no sense. The new deal will instead allow any country that signs a security-and-defence agreement with the EU, and is willing to pay its share, to draw on EU funds.
Why China's Xi is watching the Trump-Powell clash
23 April 2025
Politico
“The [European Central Bank] has the most ironclad independence of any central bank in the world,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform and a former ECB staffer. “So if you’re worried about central bank independence, I think most investors will probably just have a bit more exposure to Europe and a little bit less to the US.”
Rachel Reeves softens stance over youth mobility scheme with EU
22 April 2025
The Times
But analysis by the Centre for European Reform, a think tank, found a youth mobility scheme could lead to a rise in GDP of between 0.4 to 0.45 per cent in ten years.
Germany's neighbours eye share of Friedrich Merz's big spending plans
21 April 2025
Financial Times
Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, said German support for its industry will create downstream demand for suppliers in other European countries that are reeling from Chinese competition and the threat of US tariffs.
Could Canada join the EU? Unlikely … but not impossible
21 April 2025
Politico
Ian Bond, deputy director at the Center for European Reform, believes “it would be extremely difficult to make the case that Canada is a European country” for several reasons.Even if it were to pass the test of so-called Europeanness, “practical economics” would get in the way, he said.
Hard-right friendships tested as Italy's Giorgia Meloni seeks a break on trade from Trump
17 April 2025
NBC News
“Everybody hopes that, but nobody knows what she’s going to be able to achieve,” said Charles Grant, founding director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. Despite her rapport with Trump, Meloni’s Italy is to some extent also “in the doghouse” with Trump's team, Grant said, because of its low defense spending and trade deficit with Washington — two of Trump’s biggest bugbears.
Europe helped teach China to make cars. Now the tables are turning
17 April 2025
Financial Times
“It’s a change in the sense that it welcomes investment from abroad in a sector that has been one of the prides of European industrial development,” says Elisabetta Cornago, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
“It’s also an acknowledgment that there is a gap between the European homegrown knowhow and what is available externally.”
“It’s also an acknowledgment that there is a gap between the European homegrown knowhow and what is available externally.”
Trade War: Views from the trenches
16 April 2025
EU Today
As Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform points out, Donald Trump’s second presidency is certainly shaking up the geopolitical landscape. But he says most of the consequences are “harmful, but some are beneficial.”
Donald Trump will den Dollar schwächen – aber keine Dollar-Schwäche
16 April 2025
Capital
„Es ist sehr auffällig, dass in einem Moment der Belastung die Bundesanleihen als sicherer Hafen fungieren, anstatt die US-Staatsanleihen“, sagte Sander Tordoir, Chefökonom am Centre for European Reform.
Podcasts
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The implications of Trump's tariffs
16 April 2025
Aslak Berg and Meredith Crowley discuss President Trump's tariffs.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The future of EU-India relations
02 April 2025
Anunita Chandrasekar, Tara Varma and Amaia Sánchez-Cacicedo consider the trajectory of EU-India relations.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Can Europe still rely on the United States?
11 March 2025
Charles Grant and Kori Schake discuss what America’s hostility to the rules-based international order means for transatlantic relations.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: A snapshot of the war in Ukraine
21 February 2025
Ian Bond and Iuliia Osmolovska discuss the war in Ukraine.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: How can Europe survive Trump's tariffs and a second China shock?
05 February 2025
Sander Tordoir and Zselyke Csaky discuss Trump's tariffs and the second China shock.
Events
CER/HSF hybrid discussion on 'The Weimar Triangle and Weimar Plus'
03 April 2025
Hybrid London/Zoom
With Michał Kamiński, Joséphine Staron, Nicolai von Ondarza and Peter Watkins. Watch the video of the event here.
CER/Delegation of the EU to the UK discussion on 'Can Europe become a tech power house?'
17 March 2025
London
with Priit Alamäe, Katherine Bennett, Gaelle Drory-Liaudet and Roberto Viola
27th birthday party, London
26 February 2025
London
With a keynote speech by the Rt Hon David Lidington CBE, former Minister for the Cabinet Office & Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster & Chair, RUSI. Listen to the audio of the speeches here.
Hosted by Inigo Lambertini, Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom.
Hosted by Inigo Lambertini, Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom.
CER/HSF hybrid discussion on 'Implications of the German election for the UK'
24 February 2025
Hybrid London/Zoom
With Markus Ferber, Christine Heuer, Marion Messmer and Christoph Meyer. Watch the video of the event here.
Hybrid discussion on 'What future for Ukraine?'
19 February 2025
London
With Iuliia Osmolovska and Richard Shirreff. Watch the video of the event here.