Research
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.
Policy to accommodate populist voters won't work
28 October 2025
There is an expansive literature on the causes of the rise of populism. Its lesson? Policies designed to appease populism are unlikely to be effective. That battle can only be won through argument.
How buy-European rules can help save Europe's car industry
23 October 2025
Europe's car industry faces an acute demand shock from Chinese overcapacity & US tariffs. Instead of bailouts & regulatory rollbacks, member-states should co-ordinate buy-European EV subsidies & revive internal demand.
A reform agenda for the single market
16 October 2025
Last year, the Draghi report laid bare the need for reform to drive growth. Practical steps on energy, services, competition, finance and simplification can operationalise this agenda into meaningful change.
China and Europe: Can the EU and the UK find a shared strategy?
14 October 2025
China’s trade and industrial policy, its monopoly on many critical technologies and its geopolitical ambitions make it a genuinely systemic rival to the EU and the UK. They need to work together to defend their interests.
CER quick reaction: The Czech elections
06 October 2025
Czechia’s elections mark a populist shift, but Babiš faces a hard path to form a government. The further he’s pulled to the right, the greater the risk of EU fragmentation.
Can Europe save Ukraine – and itself – from Putin and Trump?
11 September 2025
Trump is not on Ukraine’s side, or Europe’s, but he cannot deliver peace on Putin’s terms. Rather than taking their lead from Trump, European leaders should act urgently to stop Russia’s advances and guarantee Ukraine’s security.
Tough love: How the EU should tackle corruption and the rule of law in Ukraine
09 September 2025
War has not made Ukraine’s problems with corruption and the rule of law vanish.
Making the EU's digital regulatory reset count: Four recommendations
02 September 2025
The EU digital rulebook has grown rapidly in recent years, becoming cumbersome and sometimes hampering trade. The forthcoming digital regulatory package is an opportunity to simplify the rules.
In defence of a bad deal
07 August 2025
The EU-US deal will hurt their economies, raise tariffs and weaken the global legal order. But despite it all, the EU was right to accept.
Articles
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.
Europe’s climate future calls for smart enlargement
13 October 2025
Encompass
As it prepares for another wave of enlargement, bringing in candidate countries from the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe, Brussels faces a critical challenge: how to expand while maintaining its climate ambitions.
Taking the Pulse: Does France's political crisis weaken Europe's geopolitical hand?
09 October 2025
Carnegie Endowment
France's political permacrisis is bad news for European rearmament efforts. As long as there is political instability, discussions on the country's budget, including defense allocations, will continue to be held hostage.
Der zweite China-Schock: Wogegen sich Deutschland und Europa wappnen müssen
24 July 2025
Die Politische Meinung
Die deutsche Industrie gerät unter Druck – nicht durch Innovationsrückstände, sondern durch eine strukturelle globale Verschiebung: China produziert am Bedarf vorbei, die USA schotten sich ab, und Deutschland verliert Teile seiner traditionellen Exportmärkte.
For European economic policy, the new world has yet to be born
23 July 2025
Intereconomics
As Europe revisits its economic strategy – spurred by calls to “make Europe competitive again” – it must move beyond stylised contrasts and ask what it takes to build and scale technological capacity today.
Trump grozi wysokimi cłami Unii Europejskiej. Ekspert: „Eskalacja będzie trudna do uniknięcia”
18 July 2025
„Najnowsza groźba Trumpa uczyniłaby eksport UE nieopłacalnym. W takim przypadku Unia nie ma wiele do stracenia, odpowiadając ostro” – mówi nam ekonomista Sander Tordoir
Press
Liberal leader poised to become next Dutch prime minister
30 October 2025
Financial Times
“There is a real risk of coalition gridlock between two pathways — D66’s preferred broad alliance and the VVD’s push to include the small hard-right JA21,” said Sander Tordoir, a researcher with the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
Europe’s MAGA takeover gets a Dutch reality check
30 October 2025
Bloomberg
“(Wilders’) influence on policy is alive and well,” says Armida van Rij, of the Centre for European Reform. The symbolism of D66 leader Jetten’s big convention speech in front of a huge image of the Dutch flag shows the effort to reclaim the nationalist narrative from what he dubbed the “politics of negativity.”
Netherlands election 2025: Rob Jetten could become youngest leader after close tie with Geert Wilders
30 October 2025
The Independent
The election is "unlikely to mark the end of populism in the Netherlands", said Armida van Rij, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
Why the far right is expected to win Dutch elections but not to govern
29 October 2025
Financial Times - Europe Express
“This is the Netherlands’ opportunity to bring back stability to the country,” said Armida van Rij, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, adding that the previous government had failed to address pressing issues such as housing shortages.
Dutch election stuns in night full of surprises: What you need to know
30 October 2025
Euronews
Armida van Rij, senior research fellow at think tank Centre for European Reform (CER) said: "The election results won't mark the end of populism in the Netherlands. While the PVV may have lost seats, the far-right vote has not disappeared, it has splintered. About 30% of PVV voters in 2023 now vote for JA21.”
Centrist party expected to take most seats in Dutch election as voters 'reject politics of hate'
29 October 2025
The Daily Mail
The chief economist at the Centre for European Reform think tank, Sander Tordoir, said that 'Europe cannot afford another Dutch government that drifts and is absent in the European debate'.Tordoir noted that the Netherlands is one of the biggest and better performing eurozone economies and that if it 'remains missing in action, Europe's single market, defense effort and economic security will suffer.'
Centrist D66 party expected to win most seats in Netherlands election – as it happened
29 October 2025
The Guardian
Armida van Rij, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, has this take on today’s election: “Two years after the last election and a highly unstable coalition, this is the Netherlands’ opportunity to bring back stability to the country. It faces a number of pressuring policy issues:housing shortages, maintaining affordable care and, increasingly, concerns about rule of law in the country.
Come funziona l'allargamento dell'Unione europea e può riprendere slancio?
29 October 2025
Euronews
Zselyke Csaky, ricercatore senior presso il Centro per le riforme europee, ritiene che "l'allargamento debba provenire da entrambe le parti". Molti vedono l'allargamento come una decisione puramente politica, afferma, ma "c'è molto lavoro tecnico da fare".
EV come, EV go
28 October 2025
Financial Times - Trade secrets
Assuming that using widescale intervention to build the car industry is a desirable goal (I have doubts), is a pan-EU industrial policy for EVs possible? Well, here’s one intriguing plan, from Sander Tordoir, Nils Redeker and Lucas Guttenberg, published by the Jacques Delors Centre think-tank.
Caught between China and the US, Europe stumbles towards its independence day
28 October 2025
South China Morning Post
“Europe works poorly in slow-burn crises,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform (CER), an independent think tank.“The co-ordination between member-states is always hard, and it works best under acute pressure when minds are focused. In slow-burn crises, the narcissism of small differences wins out,” he said.
Podcasts
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Russia's negotiating tactics & Ukraine's negotiating objectives
21 October 2025
Ian Bond, Donald Jensen & Iuliia Osmolovska discuss Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The economic future of EU tech regulation
17 October 2025
Zach Meyers and Sander Tordoir discuss tech and tech regulation.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: EU trade policy after Trump
01 October 2025
Aslak Berg and Agathe Demarais discuss EU trade policy after Trump.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: One year after the Draghi report
19 September 2025
Aslak Berg, Elisabetta Cornago and Sander Tordoir discuss where the EU stands one year after the landmark Draghi report.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Latest developments in Russia's war on Ukraine
27 August 2025
Ian Bond and Hanna Shelest discuss the latest developments in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Events
CER/Kreab breakfast on 'The European agrifood sector: Sustainability, competitiveness and global trade'
29 September 2025
Brussels
With Christophe Hansen, European Commissioner for Agriculture & Food
CER/Kreab breakfast on 'The future of better regulation in Europe'
16 September 2025
Brussels
With Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity; Implementation and Simplification
Liberal Democrat party conference fringe event on ‘Building resilient and inclusive societies: security, growth and migration'
22 September 2025
Bournemouth
With Malik Azmani, Wendy Chamberlain, Richard Foord and Pedro Serrano.
Labour party conference fringe event on ‘Facing global challenges and engaging with the rest of the world’
30 September 2025
Liverpool
With Douglas Alexander, Stella Creasy, Pedro Serrano and Emily Thornberry.
Conservative party conference fringe event on ‘Rebuilding European security’
07 October 2025
Manchester
With Kitty Donaldson, George Freeman, Bernard Jenkin and Pedro Serrano.