Research
The next steps for the UK-EU reset
19 June 2025
The UK-EU summit last month was an important step towards closer co-operation and a strategic partnership. Both sides now need to turn that ambition into detailed sectoral negotiations with a clear timescale.
Reconciling UK migration policy with the energy transition
18 June 2025
Many foreign workers that are needed to deliver the British government's net zero mission will not meet its higher salary and skills thresholds for visas.
Elections in Poland and Romania: What do the results mean for Europe?
13 June 2025
Both elections tested democratic resilience and, while confirming the status quo on most EU policies, showed that anti-establishment sentiment is here to stay.
The case for using the Anti-Coercion Instrument against Russia
05 June 2025
The EU sanctions regime against Russia is threatened by a Hungarian veto. The Anti-Coercion Instrument would allow the EU to bypass Budapest.
NATO summit 2025: Time to build a proper European pillar?
02 June 2025
Neither an ‘EU-plus’ nor a ‘NATO-minus’ could fill all the gaps that would be left in European security if the US radically reduced its commitment to NATO.
A perfect storm: Britain's trade malaise, weak growth and a new geopolitical moment
21 May 2025
The UK is facing its most severe trade challenge in decades – and at the worst possible time.
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.
Articles
Taking the Pulse: Should the EU bite the 10 per cent tariff bullet with the United States?
10 July 2025
Carnegie Endowment
If the EU wanted a shot at pushing tariffs below 10 per cent, it would have had to retaliate forcefully alongside China after Liberation Day, on April 2, 2025. But a 10 per cent tariff is manageable for EU exports and was priced in by Wall Street.
"La Hongrie de Viktor Orban est devenue un régime hybride entre la démocratie et la dictature"
28 June 2025
Franceinfo
Selon le Parlement européen, la Hongrie ne peut plus être considérée comme une démocratie. Car depuis 2010, le Premier ministre Viktor Orban a "façonné les institutions démocratiques pour lui conférer un pouvoir quasi illimité", explique la chercheuse Zselyke Csaky à franceinfo.
How to survive a trade war: A case for EU burden-sharing
27 June 2025
The Parliament Magazine
President Donald Trump’s tariff pause is a chance for the EU to get its house in order and figure out a measured response to the US trade threats.
Lessons in power from the Brexit wars
21 June 2025
Encompass
Britain’s electricity industry is congratulating itself on the outcome of the UK-EU summit last month, with good reason.
Deutschland muss grünes Wachstum schaffen
10 June 2025
Die Zeit
Deutschland ist Europas stärkster Standort für grüne Technologien. Doch die schwarz-rote Regierung verspielt diese Chance mit falscher Deregulierung.
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.
Press
Why Europe will make a trade deal with Trump
09 July 2025
The National Interest
According to a study conducted by the Centre for European Reform, Germany, a country with a major automotive industry, was slow to recognize that China’s new automotive industrial base directly competes with its own manufacturing. This has led to China’s export growth cutting into Germany’s European and global export markets. The report’s authors, Sander Tordoir and Brad Setser, note: “Cars represent the tip of the spear.
Europe’s dilemma: Build a military industry or keep relying on the US
06 July 2025
The New York Times
There are essentially two schools of thought as Europe embarks on a military spending binge, said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a think tank focused on the European Union.
La OCDE recomienda trasladar a España parte de la industria intensiva europea
06 July 2025
EL Confidencial
Por ejemplo, Sander Tordoir, economista jefe del Centre For European Reform, sostuvo en la red social X que España es un destino “prometedor” para la migración de industrias europeas de alto consumo energético y sugirió que “Alemania debería permitir la migración de parte de su industria siderúrgica y química”. La alternativa, considera, es “subvencionar posiblemente a perpetuidad”.
Angela Rayner attacks Nigel Farage’s Brexit promises
02 July 2025
The London Economic
John Springford, an associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform, has now confirmed this was correct. He told the Times that a “large chunk” of these tax rises would not have been required had the UK remained in the EU or even “chosen a softer form of Brexit.”And it doesn’t seem like the pain is over yet, with the OBR saying it would take 15 years for the full impact of Brexit to be felt, predicting a 15% drop in trade volumes compared to if the UK had stayed in Europe.
Guerre commerciale: face à l’administration Trump, l’UE partagée entre fermeté et renoncement
02 July 2025
Le Moci
« C’est vraiment ironique, commente Sander Tordoir, l’économiste en chef du Centre for European Reform. D’un côté, Trump utilise les droits de douane pour relancer l’industrie manufacturière américaine. De l’autre, il milite pour faciliter la délocalisation des bénéfices des multinationales américaines, allant même jusqu’à soutenir des incitations fiscales susceptibles de les encourager à produire à l’étranger. L’accord mondial sur l’impôt minimum que le G7 et l’OCDE étaient sur le point de conclure est clairement dans l’intérêt des contribuables américains ».
Switzerland stirs Brexit ghosts in push for EU access
01 July 2025
Financial Times
“The EU’s public position has long been that the Swiss and UK negotiations are separate, but in practice EU negotiators were keen to avoid setting precedents in one negotiation that might affect the other,” said Anton Spisak, an associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform. He added it was “no surprise” the same EU officials were involved in the Swiss negotiations and the recent UK-EU reset.
Sous la pression de Trump, l’UE tentée de capituler sur les droits de douane
01 July 2025
Alternatives Economiques
Selon Sander Tordoir, « l’équipe Trump voudra prouver que le 9 juillet n’était pas qu’un pétard mouillé, explique-t-il. Elle va donc certainement rétablir des droits de douane élevés et réciproques sur au moins un pays afin de faire un exemple. »
Buy European»: Die EU schottet sich ab
30 June 2025
Republik
«Vor allem seit der Eurokrise ist Europa sehr abhängig von externer Nachfrage», sagt Sander Tordoir, Chefökonom des Centre for European Reform, der Republik. ...«Wir haben die heimische Nachfrage mehr oder weniger abgewürgt», so Tordoir.
UK to focus new trade strategy on boosting services exports
25 June 2025
Financial Times
Real-terms UK trade volumes have grown by just 1 per cent since 2019, while both the EU and G7 have enjoyed an 8 per cent growth, the Centre for European Reform said last month.
Predictions of £40bn hit to public finances from Brexit ‘correct’
23 June 2025
The Times
On the ninth anniversary of the leave vote, the OBR’s estimate of a 4 per cent loss in the UK’s long-run productivity has been borne out by declining investment and trade volumes, according to John Springford, an associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
Podcasts
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Immigration reform in the UK
09 July 2025
John Springford and Madeleine Sumption discuss the British government's white paper on immigration.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The 2025 NATO summit
01 July 2025
Charles Grant and Luigi Scazzieri discuss the recent NATO summit of 25-26 June.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The geopolitics of the war in the Middle East
25 June 2025
Charles Grant and Gideon Rachman discuss the geopolitics of the war in the Middle East.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Britain's trade stagnation
04 June 2025
Elisabetta Cornago and Anton Spisak discuss what has contributed to the stagnation of Britain’s trade since 2020.
CER podcast: Unpacking Europe: Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine
22 May 2025
Ian Bond, Mykola Bielieskov and Olesya Khromeychuk discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Events
CER/KAS hybrid discussion on 'How will EU enlargement shape the EU-UK relationship?'
08 July 2025
Hybrid London/Zoom
With Amelia Hadfield and Luigi Scazzieri
Discussion on 'China in Central Asia: Making a reality of the Silk Road Economic Belt?'
10 July 2025
London
With Zhang Xiaotong, Professor of Political Science & International Relations & Director, China & Central Asia Studies Center, KIMEP University
Hybrid discussion on 'The Liberal Democrat approach to the UK-EU reset' with Daisy Cooper, Deputy Leader, Liberal Democrats & Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Treasury
14 July 2025
Hybrid London/Zoom
Please email conference@cer.eu for further information, including how to register.
Hybrid launch of 'The Routledge Guide to the European Union (2nd edition)' with Ian Bond, Mark Leonard and Armida van Rij
22 July 2025
Hybrid London/Zoom
Please email reception@cer.eu for further information, including how to register.
Dinner on 'The future of British trade policy'
10 June 2025
London
With Douglas Alexander, Minister of State (Minister for Trade Policy & Economic Security), Department for Business & Trade & Minister of State, Cabinet Office, UK