Press
French budget dispute unlikely to trigger Greece-style economic collapse
03 December 2024
EurActiv
“Down the line you may end up in a situation where markets get more nervous, so I think [Barnier] is right to be concerned,” Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, told Euractiv. “But to draw a really gloomy apocalyptic scenario – [that’s] just a political tool to remind all the parties in France that they need to find a solution.”
What Britain can learn from France about growth
01 December 2024
Financial Times
Planning reform by itself is not enough to supercharge the UK economy
La situación política y económica de Alemania desata las alarmas en Bruselas
01 December 2024
Diariosur
«Es necesario que haya una expansión de las inversiones públicas. El presupuesto alemán tiene mucho margen, porque su deuda es muy baja», señala Sander Tordoir, que teme que la reforma de este mecanismo sea «muy limitada».
Europe's far right feels emboldened by Trump's win but it could be short-lived
01 December 2024
CNN
According to analysis from the Centre for European Reform, a London-based thinktank focused on European integration, Trump will strengthen Europe’s far-right by “normalizing and amplifying” their ideas. Trump himself has employed controversial rhetoric while vocalizing his hardline views on immigration, calling the US a “garbage can for the world.”
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Labour's plan for the EU
28 November 2024
Charles Grant and Stella Creasy discuss Labour's plan for forging closer ties with the EU.
New EU commission to get all clear as daunting task awaits
27 November 2024
France 24
The former German defence minister has significantly "strengthened her power and her profile as a political actor" over the past five years, said Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
‘Ik vrees dat veel landen Duitsland achternagaan’: donkere wolken boven Europa
27 November 2024
De Morgen
“Rond elektrische wagens heeft China Duitsland al lang ingehaald”, zegt Zach Meyers, adjunct-directeur van het Centre for European Reform. “Duitsland importeert nu technologie uit China, twintig jaar geleden was het omgekeerd.”
Tackling scams requires a team effort – but the EU is on track to create a blame game
27 November 2024
Finextra
As EU law-makers update Europe’s payments laws, they want to tackle the bloc’s growing number of impersonation, romance and investment scams.
Dette : Bruxelles veut croire aux efforts de la France
26 November 2024
Le Parisien
« Je ne parierais pas sur une véritable panique des marchés, abonde Sander Tordoir, chercheur néerlandais du Centre for European reform. Mais, bien sûr, cela dépendra si une solution politique alternative se présentait ou si la situation budgétaire de la France partait totalement à la dérive… ».
Big countries nearly always get EU’s prized single market job
25 November 2024
Politico
“Generally, what you see is that larger member states with more power more consistently get the files they care about,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.
That’s the result of France and Germany’s power in the EU, as well as a “long tradition, an intellectual history really, of French thinking about industry and building a single market,” argued Tordoir. The EU's largest economy, Germany, has been more focused on trade with the rest of the world, he added.
That’s the result of France and Germany’s power in the EU, as well as a “long tradition, an intellectual history really, of French thinking about industry and building a single market,” argued Tordoir. The EU's largest economy, Germany, has been more focused on trade with the rest of the world, he added.
Taiwan’s future in the shadow of a changing America
24 November 2024
International Policy Digest
Ian Bond, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, believes Europe could benefit from US-China decoupling. He argues that sectors like green technology and high-quality machinery may gain market share as trade dynamics shift. However, Bond also highlights the EU’s reluctance to engage directly on sensitive issues like Taiwan, preferring to focus on its economic priorities.
Germany is ‘kaput’: Why the economic model no longer works in the proud country of automobiles
23 November 2024
El Pais
Industrial production in Germany began to fall earlier and faster than in other eurozone countries, says Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank, who points out to EL PAÍS the shock that the war in Ukraine has had on the country’s economy: “The German model was based on energy from Russia and on export-driven growth thanks to demand from the United States and China. These pillars have been deeply shaken.”
The UK’s high-wire act between the US and Europe
22 November 2024
Financial Times
Walking a line between being both pro-European and Atlanticist will be difficult when it comes down to matters of substance, warns Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform in London.
"It seems clear that the UK government will look to walk a tightrope with the Americans; collaborating with the US on defence and lining up with the EU on trade and climate issues,” he says. But, he adds, “the danger is we don’t keep anyone happy: we do just enough with the US to create doubts in European minds that we’re not trustworthy.”
"It seems clear that the UK government will look to walk a tightrope with the Americans; collaborating with the US on defence and lining up with the EU on trade and climate issues,” he says. But, he adds, “the danger is we don’t keep anyone happy: we do just enough with the US to create doubts in European minds that we’re not trustworthy.”
Once dominant, Germany is now desperate
20 November 2024
The Economist
One crucial development, according to Sander Tordoir of the Centre for European Reform (CER) , a think-tank, is the changing relationship with China. In the 2000s and 2010s Germany was perfectly placed to satisfy Chinese appetites for its cars, chemicals and precision-engineered widgets: goods exports to China rose by 34% between 2015 and 2020, even as those to other countries fell. As recently as 2020 China was a net importer of cars but last year it became the world’s largest exporter.
EU to demand technology transfers from Chinese companies
19 November 2024
Financial Times
Elisabetta Cornago, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said that the Commission was “trying to find plenty of ideas” to shore up its trade defences “against a possible flood or redirection of Chinese trade flows towards Europe”.
EU targets Chinese firms with new trade rules for clean technology
19 November 2024
EU Today
Elisabetta Cornago, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, stated that the EU is actively seeking solutions to enhance trade defences, anticipating a possible increase in redirected Chinese exports. However, she also cautioned that stricter restrictions on Chinese technology imports could potentially disrupt the EU’s transition to greener technologies. By enforcing stringent trade measures in the name of innovation support, the EU risks raising prices, which may slow down consumer adoption of electric vehicles and other clean technologies.
The seven ways Europe could step up to help Zelensky
18 November 2024
iNews
“The first thing to say is that Europe needs to deliver more to Ukraine,” says Ian Bond, the deputy director of the Centre for European Reform. Ukraine has so far relied heavily on European-supplied weapons, such as German Leopard tanks. “Europeans just have to step up. There is still a lot of military material sitting in European warehouses and stockpiles being held back for a rainy day. Spain, for example, is still holding on to most of its Patriot systems. Are they expecting an attack from Portugal?”
Mercosur : la tentation européenne, les réticences françaises
17 November 2024
L'Agefi
«Le Mercosur est un vaste marché de 300 millions de personnes avec un fort potentiel de croissance, et qui a toujours été protégé de hautes barrières douanières. C’est l’un des derniers accords de ce type susceptible d’avoir un effet significatif sur la croissance européenne», résume Aslak Berg, expert de politique commerciale au Centre for European Reform. Le coup de pouce pour le PIB de l’Union est estimé entre 0,1% et 0,3%.
« Ras le bol de l’attitude de Paris » : sur l’accord UE-Mercosur, l’opposition de la France exaspère ses voisins
17 November 2024
Le Parisien
La France bénéficiera-t-elle alors d’un droit de veto ? Sur le papier, non. La pratique établie voulait certes jusqu’ici qu’on n’outrepasse pas l’opposition d’un grand pays, tel que l’Hexagone, mais les plus fervents soutiens du texte, dont la Commission, Berlin et Madrid, estiment que Paris ne leur laisse pas le choix « Même la France, aussi importante soit-elle, ne peut pas toujours s’attendre à avoir gain de cause », juge Aslak Berg, expert de politique commerciale du Centre for European Reform.
Second Trump reign could make life ‘a lot harder’ for EU’s far-right leaders
17 November 2024
The Guardian
Certainly, there may be some political upside to basking in reflected Trumpian glory. “The coming Trump presidency will most probably embolden Europe’s far right and illiberal actors,” concluded experts at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.