Press
Rachel Reeves warned that more than warm words are needed to woo the EU
17 March 2026
Financial Times
Anton Spisak, a former UK government official now at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said that while it was helpful for Reeves to acknowledge the cost of Brexit, unless the Labour government softened its manifesto red lines, deeper economic integration was off the table, meaning the gains for the UK economy would be “relatively small”.
Monocle Radio - The Briefing: Trump delays talks with Xi as the Iran war rages on
17 March 2026
Armida van Rij joined aspoke to Monocle Radio's The Briefing to discuss the far right's wins and losses in the French municipal elections (from 11:40 mins).
Keep it secret: The dollar’s not safe
14 March 2026
EurActiv
Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, thinks that ...“The longer the war drags on, the higher the political cost for the president: rising petrol prices at the pump, financial market volatility, higher US borrowing costs, and damage to US allies in the Gulf,” Tordoir said. “Trump needs an off-ramp, and he needs it fast.”
The Iran war is dashing Europe’s growth ambitions
13 March 2026
Politico
A “full-blown energy shock” from a lengthy Iran conflict could “choke all the long-term competitiveness debates,” said Sander Tordoir, the chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. “The European Council, European leaders, the [European] Commission, will just be scrambling and in an immediate crisis mode.”
Rachel Reeves to make new push for greater single-market access
13 March 2026
Financial Times
“When I speak to people in Paris and Berlin, there’s not much enthusiasm,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, an independent think-tank. “It feels like it’s cherry picking.”
Experten: Europas upprustning hotas av ekonomin
12 March 2026
Dagens PS
Europeiska länder behöver lägga stora pengar på försvaret kommande år – en utmaning om man inte har allmänheten bakom sig, menar forskaren Armida van Rij.Europa står inför ett trippelhot: Rysslands imperialistiska ambitioner, Kinas ekonomiska påtryckningar och USA:s svåra inställning – försvaret behöver rustas upp men finansieringen kan visa sig vara en svår nöt att knäcka, menar forskaren Armida van Rij i en rapport för tankesmedjan Centre for European Reform (CER).
Europe's green energy dream is being quietly dismantled — and investors are missing the real trade
12 March 2026
CTOL digital
The Carnegie Endowment and Centre for European Reform have both documented how "greenlash" — once a fringe talking point — has now entered mainstream bargaining. The default setting in Brussels has quietly shifted: simplify first, justify later.
Europas upprustning hotar att falla på finansieringen
11 March 2026
YLE
Europa behöver rustas upp, men satsningarna hotas av allvarliga finansieringsproblem och växande motstånd bland väljarna. Det varnar forskaren Armida van Rij i en rapport för tankesmedjan Centre for European Reform (CER).
« Le fossé demeure » : après le rapport Draghi sur la compétitivité, l’Europe a-t-elle engagé le sursaut attendu ?
07 March 2026
Challenges Fr
« La Commission a inscrit la compétitivité à son agenda avec plus de sérieux, car le rapport a montré le coût de l’immobilisme, tempère Anton Spisak, chercheur au Center for European Reform. Mais entre le diagnostic de Draghi et ce qui a été effectivement mis en route depuis, le fossé demeure. »
Militares y diplomáticos aliados advierten de que Trump "no se queda quieto" y que la actitud de Sánchez "tendrá consecuencias"
07 March 2026
El Espanol
"España dice que cumple su objetivo del 2%, pero es el segundo país por la cola en la lista de la OTAN", incide Ian Bond, diplomático británico con 28 años de servicio, exembajador de Reino Unido en Letonia y hoy vicedirector del Centre for European Reform (CER).
Trump finds he needs Europe now that he's waging war in Iran
05 March 2026
Bloomberg
"It's becoming harder for Europe to say 'Yes' to Trump,” Charles Grant, director at the Centre for European Reform, told Bloomberg. “Greenland was a very important dividing point and made Europe realize that it cannot trust America to behave reasonably in relation to European security.”
EU and UK urged to step up “re-set” efforts
04 March 2026
Brussels Morning
Ajoint paper by the Centre for European Reform and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung UK and Ireland asks: “EU-UK relations: Will 2026 be the year to reset the reset?” It concludes by saying the EU and UK need a “fundamental rethink of how they can enhance their security and prosperity.”
Iran war revives spectre of energy crisis in Europe, fuelling economic anxiety
04 March 2026
Euronews
"The closure of Qatari LNG facilities and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz are affecting a large chunk of global LNG supply," said Elisabetta Cornago, an assistant director at the Centre for European Reform (CER).
"Asia is more dependent on this region's LNG supply than Europe as a whole, but if Europe won't feel the impact in terms of immediate gas shortage, we are heading into storage refilling season, so high prices will raise the cost of those operations."
"Asia is more dependent on this region's LNG supply than Europe as a whole, but if Europe won't feel the impact in terms of immediate gas shortage, we are heading into storage refilling season, so high prices will raise the cost of those operations."
Orbán usa a Ucrania y Bruselas como armas ante el riesgo de perder las elecciones en Hungría
02 March 2026
El Diario
La posibilidad de cambio en Hungría es real. Zselyke Csaky, investigadora especialista en elecciones y democracia del Centre for European Reform, añade que “después de más de 15 años, será la primera vez que el primer ministro Orbán enfrente a un oponente fuerte y pueda perder el poder.
Hungary plays the spoiler in Europe, as Orban seeks votes at home
27 February 2026
The New York Times
“He [Orban] has always played this game, using his veto as a kind of threat, essentially as a bargaining chip,” said Zselyke Csaky, a senior research fellow at the Center for European Reform in Brussels. “It is more driven by domestic politics right now because Hungary will have elections in two months and Fidesz is not doing well at all.”
Four years on, what should Britain do to expedite a Ukrainian victory?
27 February 2026
Britain's World
Britain and its allies and partners must treat Ukraine’s security as their own: if Ukraine loses, Putin will target another state, perhaps a NATO ally. They should step up sanctions, including by seizing ‘shadow fleet’ tankers transporting Russian oil.
Trump’s push to Make America Great Again is falling apart
25 February 2026
The Telegraph
“The Supreme Court ruling means allies will now refuse to ratify his one-sided trade deals or will slow-walk the implementation,” says John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform.
Could Viktor Orbán Lose in April?
25 February 2026
Project Syndicate
Before Donald Trump arrived on the scene in the United States, Viktor Orbán’s Hungary had already heralded the rise of populist illiberalism and the new far right.
Wie Deutschland die Liebe zu China verlor
24 February 2026
The European
Merz hat seine eigene Position nicht klar formuliert. Daher, so Sander Tordoir vom Centre for European Reform, einem Thinktank, „ist Deutschlands Chinapolitik weder Fisch noch Fleisch“.
Four years in, Ukraine's war grinds on with no end in sight
24 February 2026
Courthouse News Service
Ukraine has suffered an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 troops killed, wounded or missing, according to the Centre for European Reform — a pace Ukraine, with a fraction of Russia’s population, cannot keep up indefinitely.