Research
On Europe, Labour should reconsider its 'red chains'
16 May 2025
Labour’s reset with the EU will fail to deliver a significant boost to economic growth. A fundamental refashioning of the EU-UK relationship would require Labour to think again about freedom of movement.
Not a summit of ambition
12 May 2025
The EU-UK summit should enable leaders to respond to the threatening global situation by putting past differences behind them. However, backward-looking dogma and unnecessary red lines may result in the summit under-achieving.
Does EU enlargement require voting reform?
09 May 2025
Moving away from unanimity is complex and faces much resistance. But it is a question that EU leaders will not be able to avoid in the long run.
Ditchley conference report: A European path to higher economic growth
07 May 2025
In November 2024, at its annual Ditchley economics conference, the CER gathered leading politicians, officials, academics, journalists and thinkers to discuss the causes of Europe’s slow economic growth and what the continent should do about them.
Power losses: What's holding back European electricity trade?
29 April 2025
The EU is falling behind in its push to create a European power market. This analysis sets out a five-point plan for the EU and national governments to hasten integration.
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.
Articles
Political bans may be legal, but they are unlikely to save democracy
12 May 2025
Encompass
In recent months, several far-right politicians have been banned from political competition. The courts in Romania banned two extremist candidates from running in presidential elections.
The Iberian grid meltdown imperils electricity trade
03 May 2025
EurActiv
Linking up electricity grids exposes European countries to each other's energy policy decisions. But the meltdown of Spain and Portugal's grids on Tuesday, which spread to France, will lead to renewed scrutiny on interconnectors being a potential way for troubles in one country to spread to another.
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.
Press
EU offers Britain truce in ‘sausage war’ – but it comes at a cost
14 May 2025
The Telegraph
Aslak Berg, a trade expert for the Centre for European Reform think-tank, warned the deal would mean Brussels demanding further alignment in the future.He said: “Once you say we are going to do dynamic alignment, we’re going to accept oversight in some form by the European court, that obviously raises the question ‘why not do this for other sectors?’“Maybe there are other sectors, maybe energy, electricity, where the same exception could be made.”
How Putin could humiliate NATO and send 600,000 troops to attack alliance's northern flank in lightning offensive
14 May 2025
The Daily Mail
Ian Bond, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, told the BBC that even if a full ceasefire is agreed in Ukraine, it is unlikely Putin's aggression would be abated.'Nobody in their right mind wants to think that a European war is around the corner again. But the reality is an increasing number of European intelligence officials have been telling us that,' he said.'Whether this is coming in three years or five years or ten years, what they are saying is the idea that peace in Europe is going to last forever is now a thing of the past.'
The EU’s mysterious Russian gas plan — and what it means for US LNG exports
13 May 2025
Financial Times
“The legally most rock-solid way to ban Russia’s remaining energy imports would be sanctions, but that route is barred due to it requiring unanimous approval by all EU governments,” Elisabetta Cornago, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told Energy Source, noting that the pro-Russian governments Hungary and Slovakia would block any sanctions.
Already underwhelmed
13 May 2025
Politico Brussels Playbook
“Backward-looking dogma and unnecessary red lines may result in the summit underachieving,” warn Aslak Berg, Ian Bond and Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
Keir Starmer faces business backlash over UK migration curbs
12 May 2025
Financial Times
John Springford, an economist at the Centre for European Reform, said Starmer’s suggestion that high levels of migration had contributed to stagnating output was “flat wrong”, noting that growth had been held back by high energy costs and Brexit. “The majority of economists think migration has a positive impact on GDP per capita,” he said.
How should the EU interpret the trade agreement between the US and the UK?
12 May 2025
Euronews
"I think it [a US trade deal with the UK],will cause a certain amount of irritation in Brussels. And it's not because there's a direct conflict between the EU and the UK. It won't jeopardise the relationship between the EU and the UK. But it does set a bad precedent," says Aslak Berg, a researcher at the Centre for European Reform.
Forget the United States and India – the deal that Sir Keir needs is with Europe
11 May 2025
The Observer
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, argues in a forthcoming paper that the Starmer government’s “ambitions are limited, which gave the EU an excuse to lower its own ambitions”.
In Europe, Xi Jinping’s Russia trip casts a shadow over China’s charm offensive
09 May 2025
South China Morning Post
“The fact that Xi Jinping is snubbing Europe to attend a military parade in Moscow is a clear signal that a trade detente – let alone a European pivot from the US to China – is largely a dead end,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.
Germany may have chosen a leader but its economy still faces disaster
07 May 2025
The Telegraph
“There is a real risk to the government’s ability to pass difficult economic reforms, and make those really big investments in defence and infrastructure,” says Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.Tordoir suggested that MPs who voted against Merz may have been trying to signal their unhappiness with his “impulsive” leadership style.
EU sets 2027 as deadline to phase out all Russian energy, including LNG
06 May 2025
Euronews
The most bulletproof method to invoke force majeure and defy lawsuits at court would be the approval of sanctions at the EU level, says Elisabetta Cornago, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER), who admitted the positions by Hungary and Slovakia make it virtually impossible."This new roadmap the Commission is putting forward today acknowledges that difficulty but tries to find new pathways to technically deliver a phase-out of Russian fossil fuel imports, such as providing paths out of contracts to European companies," Cornago told Euronews.
Podcasts
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Will the UK-EU summit reset relations?
08 May 2025
Charles Grant and Sophia Gaston discuss the UK-EU summit.
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.
Events
CER/Clifford Chance hybrid discussion on 'Can the EU reconcile regulation and growth?' with Mirzha De Manuel Aramandia, Daniel Friedlaender and Ursula Woodburn
21 May 2025
Hybrid Brussels
Please email brussels@cer.eu for further information, including how to register.
Discussion on 'What future for the transatlantic relationship?'
08 May 2025
London
With Kim Darroch and Rachel Ellehuus
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.