Press
‘It will be a very big moment’: can Labour revisit Brexit – and heal bitter divisions with Europe?
23 June 2024
The Observer
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, who talks to European governments regularly, says the EU will extract its price for rebuilding links beyond security and defence cooperation. “EU leaders will tell him [Starmer] that if he wants things out of the EU – such as a deal on veterinary standards to reduce border checks on food, animals and plants – he will have to accept some of their asks. For example, the EU wants a deal on youth mobility, to make it easier for young people in the EU and the UK to spend more time on the other side of the Channel.
Why don’t our leaders want to talk about Brexit?
22 June 2024
The Times
The Trade and Co-operation Agreement, signed on December 30, 2020, which governs UK-EU trade relations, is due to be revisited in 2025 but even Charles Grant, the Europhile head of the Centre for European Reform, says it will be “very difficult” to make progress.
Defence commissioner role needs industrial policy focus - analysts
21 June 2024
Euronews
Christina Kessler, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform (CER), agrees that a defence industry commissioner would be appropriate in the next mandate, "not just because there is obviously work to be done in this area, but also because it would signal that the EU is taking this seriously and is willing to step up its game".
Has the EU turned to the right?
21 June 2024
British Foreign Policy Group
For the first time, the European Parliament elections have taken place without the United Kingdom. From 6th– 9th June, citizens from across the EU went to the polls. But what is next for the bloc – and what do these results mean?
The man who saved the euro aims to take on China — and the US
21 June 2024
Politico
“He will have to convince Europe’s heads of state and heads of government by force of argument,” said Sander Tordoir, who is chief economist at the Centre for European Reform and previously worked at the ECB during Draghi’s tenure as its head. “I think that’s fundamentally the reason he was asked.”
Single market - Look to the cities
20 June 2024
Politico
The EU should rethink cohesion policy that focuses on developing remote or disadvantaged regions and target second-tier big cities that have substantial growth potential in services, argued the authors of a report from the Centre for European Reform.All about services: John Springford, Sander Tordoir and Lucas Resende Carvalho pointed to services exports within the single market as a big growth area that’s got more potential, especially for tech or finance.
EU should reform its regional spending
20 June 2024
Bloomberg
The EU should reform its regional spending — known as ‘cohesion policy’ — to tackle the divergences that services trade promotes, according to a report from the Centre of European Reform. Given that living standards in newer member states are converging with those in western European, “more regional funds should be directed towards city-regions with high growth potential, complementing existing allocations based on relative poverty,’’ researchers John Springford, Sander Tordoir and Lucas Resende Carvalho said.
Labour’s EU plan will have ‘minimal’ impact on cost of Brexit
18 June 2024
Financial Times
John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said Labour’s decision to rebuff a youth mobility deal — one of the few concrete proposals from the European Commission so far — also sat uneasily with its demand for a deal on service professionals.
L’Europe a le choix entre multiculturalisme et stagnation
18 June 2024
Les Echos
Une société européenne multiethnique serait de nature à mieux préserver la prospérité de l'Europe, selon le think tank indépendant, Centre for European Reform.Selon le think tank britannique, Centre for European Reform (CER), il apparait de manière de plus en plus évidente que "de nombreux politiciens de centre-droit ont désormais choisi d'accepter les prémisses de cette rhétorique civilisationnelle, plutôt que de s'y confronter".
Germany’s defense engagement in the Indo-Pacific is a balancing act
15 June 2024
The Diplomat
Like the 2021 edition, Germany’s 2024 Indo-Pacific Deployment will signal Berlin’s commitment to the region – and the limits of its presence.
Bound by rules and economics, EU trails US on China tariffs
14 June 2024
Reuters
Aslak Berg, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the European Union was moving towards the U.S. position, but not to the same extent and that it was still using its traditional tools."It's more politically sensitive, but it's not legally different from cases of steel tariffs," he said, referring to Wednesday's action on EVs.
Election aftermath - MEPs to watch on economic and financial policy
14 June 2024
Euronews
“One key reason for Europe’s poor economic performance is low productivity, the lack of financing available for high-potential, high-risk businesses, and the barriers to innovative European firms building scale across the Union,” researchers from the think-tank Centre for European Reform (CER) wrote in a post-election analysis.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Winners, losers and implications of the European elections
12 June 2024
Christina Keßler, Luigi Scazzieri and Zselyke Csaky discuss the European election results.
EU tariffs on Chinese EVs popular with industry, but China’s trade chamber warns against implications
12 June 2024
EurActiv
Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, shared his view, saying: “We are responding. We are not the aggressor; we are merely levelling the playing field.” The problem of China’s government subsidies, he said, is exacerbated by low domestic consumption in the country, which makes its companies ever more dependent on exports.
Gulf money’s targeting of European telecoms raises hackles
11 June 2024
Politico
“Countries in the Middle East have such huge trade surpluses that they’re kind ofdesperate to find places to put dollars and euros. And I guess European telecomslooks pretty cheap at the moment,” said Zach Meyers of the Centre of EuropeanReform think-tank.
Europe's far right seeks policy influence to match seat gains
10 June 2024
Reuters
Luigi Scazzieri, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the centre-right EPP has already cooled on attempts to fold broader environmental policies into the Green Deal package. Scazzieri said he could also envisage a right-wing push to increase external processing of migrants and a tougher passage of reforms required to allow EU enlargement, such as reducing the need for unanimity in decisions.
Europe tilts right
10 June 2024
Ekathimerini
The votes are still being counted, but the European Parliament election results point to a surge of support for right-wing and far-right parties.
Can the EU hold back the great tech decoupling?
10 June 2024
Encompass
The US has been far more aggressive than the EU in constraining China. US leaders talk about having a “small yard with a high fence” with restrictions on trade and investment only in areas sensitive to national security.
Labour might be a racing certainty, but it faces some big hurdles in government
09 June 2024
The Observer
The Centre for European Reform has estimated that UK annual tax revenues would have been about £40bn higher if the country had not left the EU.
The EU's post-elections future
08 June 2024
Financial Times
The coming years will show whether the EU’s new asylum rules... will work. Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform think-tank is among those who doubt the measures will suffice.