Research
EU-UK relations: Will 2026 be the year to reset the reset?
03 February 2026
A lot has changed in the world since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016. In response, the UK and EU need to be more willing to change fundamental aspects of their post-Brexit relationship.
Can Hungary's opposition win and restore democracy?
21 January 2026
After 15 years, Viktor Orbán could lose power. But the opposition’s path is fraught with obstacles, from a lopsided electoral system to the extraordinary difficulty of restoring democracy even if they win.
The Ukraine Reparations Loan: How to fix Europe's financial plumbing
18 December 2025
As US support for Ukraine vanishes, Europe must overcome Belgian opposition and improvise fiscally to provide Kyiv with €210 billion.
Fixing the EU's broken Israel-Palestine policy
17 December 2025
The EU’s efforts to forge a common approach that promotes peace and human rights in the Israel-Palestine conflict have failed. As the EU rethinks its broader Middle East policy, a new approach cannot wait.
The paradox of French power
10 December 2025
France has a very weak government with an uncertain future, yet it remains a dominant force in EU policy-making. How does one explain this paradox?
Europe's clean tech industry between Trump's policies and Chinese pressure
09 December 2025
The EU needs a coherent clean tech strategy to fend off the US industrial & trade policy shock & Chinese market pressure.
Resilient growth: Aligning productivity and security
08 December 2025
The European Competitiveness Fund could be a powerful tool to improve the EU's economic security. But the proposal needs reform to avoid pitting security and growth against each other.
European security in a time of war: Standing with Ukraine, against Russia and without the US
02 December 2025
Russian aggression & US indifference threaten Europe. Europe must build security against Russia, without the US but with Ukraine.
The far right’s impact on the EU’s climate agenda
14 November 2025
The far right is stronger than ever in the European Parliament. And climate policy has become a testing ground for its influence.
Three hard lessons for European trade
10 November 2025
Global trade policy is now dominated by great power politics, putting Europe under pressure. The EU will have to accommodate the US, confront China and derisk from both.
Articles
Briti teadur Kaja Kallasest: ta on aus, teised juhid käituvad vahel nii nagu võiksime lihtsalt teeselda, et Trump juhib vaba maailma
23 January 2026
Postimees
«Ma tean, et ta ei ole Brüsselis universaalselt populaarne,» ütleb Briti mõttekoja CER vanemanalüütik, kunagine Ühendkuningriigi suursaadik Lätis Ian Bond Kaja Kallase esimest aastat Euroopa Liidu kõrge välisesindajana kokku võttes.
‘We moeten onze defensie-industrie opschalen, dat kan niet door Amerikaanse wapens te blijven kopen’
20 January 2026
NRC Handelsblad
Europa kende crisis na crisis -financiële crisis, corona, invasie van Rusland. Dus er is niet veel capaciteit om vooruit te denken, ziet Armida van Rij. Toch is dat noodzakelijk, om afbrokkeling van de EU en NAVO te voorkomen.
Taking the Pulse: What issue is Europe ignoring at its peril in 2026?
15 January 2026
Carnegie Europe
2026 has started in crisis, as the actions of unpredictable leaders shape an increasingly volatile global environment. To shift from crisis response to strategic foresight, what under-the-radar issues should the EU prepare for in the coming year?
Europe faces a pincer attack from White House ideologues backed by Silicon Valley and its far-right proxies
08 January 2026
The Guardian
US tech bosses are exerting leverage on EU regulators via Trump and Vance. But Europe isn’t powerless, and it isn’t alone.
Letters: Dealing with Chinese trade
18 December 2025
The Economist
The Economist recommended that Europe should not raise trade barriers in response to China’s ballooning exports of cars, machine-tools and other manufactured goods (”From customer to killer”, November 22nd).
The unshared futures of the United States and Europe
16 December 2025
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
America and Europe have been bound together for more than 250 years. Whose ideology will define their future?
Press
Trump dwingt Britten en Europeanen samen, maar echte toenadering blijft lastig
08 February 2026
Het Financieele Dagblad
‘Hoewel er enige vooruitgang is geboekt, is het momentum verloren gegaan’, oordeelde Ian Bond van het Centre for European Reform over de reset.
French paradox
07 February 2026
Financial Times
The tussle over Buy European is emblematic of what Charles Grant describes as the “paradox of French power”. French ideas, whether on industrial policy or defence, are in the ascendant or even dominant in EU policy-making, just at the moment when France’s president and government have never seemed weaker.
Exception not the rule
07 February 2026
Financial Times
As Sander Tordoir and Brad Setser pointed out in this piece, France has adopted EV subsidy rules that penalise long-distance, high-polluting transportation as well as production using electricity from coal, in effect excluding Chinese cars. The rest of the EU should follow France’s example, they said.
Europe threatens to shun British goods just as Starmer embraces Brussels
06 February 2026
The Telegraph
Ian Bond, of the Centre for European Reform, says France’s lingering Brexit resentment is not shared in other capitals such as Berlin, Rome and Brussels.“I have heard EU officials who are quite frustrated by the fact that some of the member state officials that they have to deal with are still relitigating hurts from 10 years ago, rather than looking to the future,” he says.
Rachel Reeves takes aim at Donald Trump in call for UK and EU to speak with one voice on trade
02 February 2026
Financial Times
John Springford, trade economist at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, noted that the promised additional growth amounted to just 0.3 per cent of UK GDP.
‘Gezamenlijk lenen’ is bezig aan een stille opmars, of Nederland dat wil of niet. In Luxemburg zien ze: Europese autonomie begint met gezamenlijke schulden
30 January 2026
NRC Handelsblad
Desondanks is er nu geen serieuze rivaal voor de macht van de dollar, zegt hoofdeconoom Sander Tordoir van het Centre for European Reform, telefonisch. Niet zolang beleggers vastzitten aan die Amerikaanse obligaties. „Duitse, Nederlandse en andere Europese kredietwaardige staatsobligaties zijn populair, maar ze zijn schaars. Niemand komt in de buurt van de schaal van de Amerikaanse obligatiemarkt (die met een marktomvang van zo’n 25.000 miljard euro bijna twintig keer zo groot is als alle eurobonds bij elkaar opgeteld).
EU dynamo is consumers, not trade deals or tariffs
29 January 2026
Reuters
EU consumers could be predictably stirred with the kind of “Buy European” subsidies as proposed by economists such as Sander Tordoir at the Centre for European Reform.
Six ans après, le Brexit n’a pas tenu sa promesse et provoqué un impact majeur sur l’économie britannique
29 January 2026
Le Temps
John Springford, un économiste et chercheur au Centre for European Reform, estime que cet écart de PIB représente une perte de revenus équivalente à 2000 livres (2100 francs suisses) par habitant et un manque à gagner en recettes fiscales de 40 à 80 milliards de livres (42 à 84 francs suisses).
You want proof that Brexit was a disaster? Go to an airport
27 January 2026
iNews
The Centre for European Reform estimated that UK GDP per capita was 6-8 per cent lower, investment 12-18 per cent lower and productivity down 3-4 per cent, leaving the country poorer than it would otherwise have been.
Programme militaire européen SAFE : vers une volte-face du Royaume-Uni ?
27 January 2026
Capital
Charles Grant, directeur du Centre for European Reforme, explique dans une récente analyse que «certains fonctionnaires de la Commission étaient plutôt embarrassés. Ils ont évoqué les pressions considérables exercées par la France. (...) Un fonctionnaire français – travaillant pour une institution de l'UE et non pour la France – a estimé que la France avait 'intimidé' la Commission».
Podcasts
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The trade implications of ruptures in transatlantic relations
02 February 2026
Elisabetta Cornago discussed the trade implications of ruptures in EU-US relations with Anton Spisak and John Springford.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Greenland and the NATO alliance
14 January 2026
Armida van Rij and Sten Rynning discuss how the Greenland crisis may become a turning point for the NATO alliance's future direction.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The EU in 2025
19 December 2025
Six of our researchers reflect on the past year and look ahead to 2026.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The far right and democratic backsliding in Europe
03 December 2025
Armida van Rij, Zselyke Csaky and Catherine E. De Vries discuss the far right and the state of democracy in Europe.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The instability of Macron’s France
19 November 2025
Charles Grant and Sophie Pedder discuss France and Macron's immediate problems.
Events
CER/KAS hybrid launch of 'EU-UK relations: Will 2026 be the year to reset the reset?'
04 February 2026
Hybrid London/Zoom
With Ian Bond, Jannike Wachowiak and Kai Whittaker
CER/Swedish Enterprise discussion on 'Resilient growth: Aligning productivity and security'
10 December 2025
Brussels
With Aslak Berg, Zach Meyers, Lotta Nymann-Lindegren, Maive Rute and Anna Stellinger
Conference on 'Europe's precarious bid for third pole economic power'
21 November 2025 to 22 November 2025
Ditchley Park, UK
Speakers included: Elga Bartsch, Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, David Claydon, Arnab Das, Barry Eichengreen, Ole Funke, Francesca Ghiretti, Dirk Klaasen, Silvia Merler, Wolfgang Münchau, Erik Nielsen, Alexander Plekhanov, Hélène Rey, Elina Ribakova, Dorothée Rouzet, Moritz Schularick, Brad Setser, John Springford, Ángel Ubide and Maarten Verwey
Panel discussion and private viewing of 'Come with Us! - Democratic Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989'
11 November 2025
London
With Václav Bartuška, Ferenc Kumin, Laura Popescu, Asta Radikaitė and Pedro Serrano
Hybrid discussion on 'Scenarios for the future of Russia's war against Ukraine'
20 October 2025
Hybrid London/Zoom
With Lawrence Freedman, Iuliia Osmolovska and Oleg Synianskyi