Research

Learning from CBAM's transitional phase: Early impacts on trade and climate efforts

Learning from CBAM's transitional phase: Early impacts on trade and climate efforts

03 December 2024
The EU should use CBAM revenues to fund support for clean industrial investments in least developed and developing countries.
French lessons for Britain's economy

French lessons for Britain's economy

01 December 2024
Since 2008, the UK has had weak productivity growth compared to the US and France. But France's high-investment model offers more lessons for a smaller, more open economy like Britain.
Enlargement and the rule of law: Diverging realities

Enlargement and the rule of law: Diverging realities

27 November 2024
While EU leaders insist that enlargement is a priority, lack of progress on the rule of law is undermining the process.
Is investing in public health a no-brainer?

Is investing in public health a no-brainer?

21 November 2024
The EU should prioritise public health investment under its new fiscal rules and post-2027 budget to secure the productivity of its shrinking workforce and sustain economic growth.  
Can Europe navigate Trump 2?

Can Europe navigate Trump 2?

08 November 2024
Donald Trump will be the next US president. Europe’s leaders need to accept this reality and protect European interests.
European common debt: Is defence different?

European common debt: Is defence different?

05 November 2024
European defence bonds could help strengthen Europe's defences, but they face significant obstacles.
The EU's drive on China: What EV tariffs mean for Europe

The EU's drive on China: What EV tariffs mean for Europe

31 October 2024
The EU has imposed fresh tariffs on Chinese EVs. It has good reason to worry about Chinese subsidies, but it is unclear that the tariffs are the right answer to Europe’s lagging competitiveness.
Competition policy must reflect Europe's reality, not its aspirations

Competition policy must reflect Europe's reality, not its aspirations

23 October 2024
The European Commission is under pressure to tweak competition laws to promote European innovation.
The EU and Türkiye: A relationship adrift

The EU and Türkiye: A relationship adrift

21 October 2024
A plethora of disagreements haunt EU-Türkiye relations. Without a positive vision, things may only get worse.
Georgia and Moldova: Putin's dominoes?

Georgia and Moldova: Putin's dominoes?

17 October 2024
Georgia and Moldova are EU candidate countries facing elections this month. Both risk coming under increased Russian influence, but for very different reasons. The EU should invest in keeping them in its camp. 

Articles

What Britain can learn from France about growth

What Britain can learn from France about growth

01 December 2024
Financial Times
Planning reform by itself is not enough to supercharge the UK economy
Tackling scams requires a team effort – but the EU is on track to create a blame game

Tackling scams requires a team effort – but the EU is on track to create a blame game

27 November 2024
Finextra
As EU law-makers update Europe’s payments laws, they want to tackle the bloc’s growing number of impersonation, romance and investment scams.
Is the EU taking the right approach to APP fraud?

Is the EU taking the right approach to APP fraud?

12 November 2024
CCIA Europe
The EU law-making institutions are currently discussing updates to the EU’s current payment laws. One of the issues they want to tackle is the growing number of payment scams in Europe.

Draghi and Letta’s proposals to reform competition policy: A step backwards for European innovation

14 November 2024
Encompass
Two former Italian prime ministers, Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi, have recently published reports painting a dire picture of the EU’s economic prospects. Europe’s workforce is aging faster than the US’s.
EU's rule of law crisis shows no signs of abating

EU's rule of law crisis shows no signs of abating

12 November 2024
European Democracy Hub
While the European Parliament has been holding confirmation hearings for the incoming European Commission the EU’s rule-of-law crisis shows no signs of abating.
The road to Europe for Georgia and Moldova: No diversion via Moscow

The road to Europe for Georgia and Moldova: No diversion via Moscow

24 October 2024
Encompass
Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine spent decades trying to persuade the EU to offer them the prospect of membership. It took Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 for them to get the EU to agree.

Press

French budget dispute unlikely to trigger Greece-style economic collapse

03 December 2024
EurActiv
“Down the line you may end up in a situation where markets get more nervous, so I think [Barnier] is right to be concerned,” Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, told Euractiv. “But to draw a really gloomy apocalyptic scenario – [that’s] just a political tool to remind all the parties in France that they need to find a solution.”

Europe's far right feels emboldened by Trump's win but it could be short-lived

01 December 2024
CNN
According to analysis from the Centre for European Reform, a London-based thinktank focused on European integration, Trump will strengthen Europe’s far-right by “normalizing and amplifying” their ideas. Trump himself has employed controversial rhetoric while vocalizing his hardline views on immigration, calling the US a “garbage can for the world.”

La situación política y económica de Alemania desata las alarmas en Bruselas

01 December 2024
Diariosur
«Es necesario que haya una expansión de las inversiones públicas. El presupuesto alemán tiene mucho margen, porque su deuda es muy baja», señala Sander Tordoir, que teme que la reforma de este mecanismo sea «muy limitada».
 
 

‘Ik vrees dat veel landen Duitsland achternagaan’: donkere wolken boven Europa

27 November 2024
De Morgen
“Rond elektrische wagens heeft China Duitsland al lang ingehaald”, zegt Zach Meyers, adjunct-directeur van het Centre for European Reform. “Duitsland importeert nu technologie uit China, twintig jaar geleden was het omgekeerd.”

New EU commission to get all clear as daunting task awaits

27 November 2024
France 24
The former German defence minister has significantly "strengthened her power and her profile as a political actor" over the past five years, said Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform think-tank.

Dette : Bruxelles veut croire aux efforts de la France

26 November 2024
Le Parisien
« Je ne parierais pas sur une véritable panique des marchés, abonde Sander Tordoir, chercheur néerlandais du Centre for European reform. Mais, bien sûr, cela dépendra si une solution politique alternative se présentait ou si la situation budgétaire de la France partait totalement à la dérive… ».

Big countries nearly always get EU’s prized single market job

25 November 2024
Politico
“Generally, what you see is that larger member states with more power more consistently get the files they care about,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.
That’s the result of France and Germany’s power in the EU, as well as a “long tradition, an intellectual history really, of French thinking about industry and building a single market,” argued Tordoir. The EU's largest economy, Germany, has been more focused on trade with the rest of the world, he added.

Taiwan’s future in the shadow of a changing America

24 November 2024
International Policy Digest
Ian Bond, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, believes Europe could benefit from US-China decoupling. He argues that sectors like green technology and high-quality machinery may gain market share as trade dynamics shift. However, Bond also highlights the EU’s reluctance to engage directly on sensitive issues like Taiwan, preferring to focus on its economic priorities.

Germany is ‘kaput’: Why the economic model no longer works in the proud country of automobiles

23 November 2024
El Pais
Industrial production in Germany began to fall earlier and faster than in other eurozone countries, says Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank, who points out to EL PAÍS the shock that the war in Ukraine has had on the country’s economy: “The German model was based on energy from Russia and on export-driven growth thanks to demand from the United States and China. These pillars have been deeply shaken.”

The UK’s high-wire act between the US and Europe

22 November 2024
Financial Times
Walking a line between being both pro-European and Atlanticist will be difficult when it comes down to matters of substance, warns Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform in London.
"It seems clear that the UK government will look to walk a tightrope with the Americans; collaborating with the US on defence and lining up with the EU on trade and climate issues,” he says. But, he adds, “the danger is we don’t keep anyone happy: we do just enough with the US to create doubts in European minds that we’re not trustworthy.”

Podcasts

CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Labour's plan for the EU

Charles Grant, Stella Creasy
28 November 2024
Charles Grant and Stella Creasy discuss Labour's plan for forging closer ties with the EU.

CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: What does Trump mean for European security?

Ian Bond, Luigi Scazzieri, Sophia Besch
12 November 2024
Luigi Scazzieri, Ian Bond and Sophia Besch discuss the impact of Trump on European security.

CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Moldova and Georgia: In Brussels' orbit, or Moscow's?

31 October 2024
Ian Bond and Zselyke Csaky discuss the elections in Georgia and Moldova.

CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Europe and the Middle East – just a bystander?

14 October 2024
Anunita Chandrasekar and Luigi Scazzieri discuss Europe's role in the Middle East conflict.

CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: What does the US presidential election mean for Europe’s economy?

Aslak Berg, Zach Meyers, Alan Beattie
03 October 2024
Alan Beattie, Aslak Berg and Zach Meyers discuss the transatlantic economic relationship.

Events

Discussion on 'Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and long-term prospects for European security'

08 October 2024
London
With Daniel Fried, Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council

CER/Delegation of the EU to the UK Conservative party conference fringe event on 'Working together to support Ukraine'

01 October 2024
Hall 8a, The ICC, Birmingham
With George Freeman, Bernard Jenkin, Alicia Kearns, Isabell Poppelbaum and Valerii Zaluzhnyi

CER/Delegation of the EU to the UK discussion on 'The soft power of languages'

26 September 2024
London
With Alison Graves, Bernardette Holmes and Dominic Schroeder. Listen to the opening remarks here.

CER/Delegation of the EU to the UK Labour party conference fringe event on 'Working together for European security'

23 September 2024
Auditorium 1C, ACC, Liverpool
With Stella Creasy, Kitty Donaldson, Stephen Doughty and Pedro Serrano

CER/Delegation of the EU to the UK Liberal Democrat party conference fringe event on 'Working together towards an inclusive world order'

16 September 2024
Empress Room, The Grand, Brighton
With Yevheniia Kravchuk, Layla Moran, Pedro Serrano and Julie Smith