Research
EU climate and energy policy after the energy crunch
05 December 2023
After the energy crunch, EU member-states should roll back ‘unlimited’ energy subsidies, further co-ordinate their energy policy – for example, to expand power grids – and accelerate the implementation of climate policy.
Europe should boost the Bretton Woods institutions
01 December 2023
The EU should reinforce the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to stave off a destabilising financing crunch for many emerging and developing economies.
Ukraine fatigue: Bad for Kyiv, bad for the West
21 November 2023
Some Western leaders are expressing ‘Ukraine fatigue’ – a luxury Ukrainians do not have. But the cost to Europe of Ukraine failing would be higher than that of helping it to win.
Europe and the Gaza conflict
20 October 2023
Europe is divided on the Israel-Hamas conflict and has few good options to deal with it. But Europeans won’t be able to escape the conflict’s consequences.
Can the European Political Community survive?
17 October 2023
The European Political Community (EPC) summit in Granada may have been labelled a disappointment. But it is too early to write off the EPC.
Europe and a new Middle East
05 October 2023
A new Middle East may be emerging as tensions thaw and US influence wanes. Europe needs different policies to deal with a changing region.
Does Europe's payments strategy add up?
03 October 2023
The EU institutions are pushing multiple European payments champions to compete with Visa and Mastercard. But focusing on 'sovereignty' at all costs is no strategy for success.
Has the IMF’s lending become too expensive for its own good? The case for a lending rate cap
29 September 2023
The IMF risks losing relevance as multilateral provider of bailouts to countries in debt distress.
A European strategy for Labour
27 September 2023
Keir Starmer will find it hard to improve the Tory Brexit deal – which most EU leaders like. But if he is willing to offer something in return, they may give him a better deal.
State of the Union: From Putin's war to a trade war?
26 September 2023
If she wants the EU to be greener, fairer, and more resilient, Ursula von der Leyen, or whoever comes next, should stay away from trade spats and support a more ambitious industrial policy instead.
Articles
The EU's reform challenge
29 November 2023
TEPSA: European Council experts' debrief
An enlarged EU will be more populous, more Eastern, and - if Ukraine joins - with more military power, agricultural land and heavy industry. But enlargement also poses difficult questions in terms of the EU’s internal functioning.
Opgepast: focus op nationale emissies dreigt Nederland in een wegkijkeconomie te veranderen
21 November 2023
de Volkskrant
Het maatschappelijk klimaat keert zich deze verkiezingscampagne tegen ‘vieze’ bedrijven als Tata en Chemours, zien Sander Tordoir en Jesse Hettema.
Dutch elections: The end of the EU's pragmatic dealmaker?
20 November 2023
Bertelsmann Stiftung
This week, the Netherlands heads to the polls. For the first time in 13 years, outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte is not on the ballot.
West underestimated importance of rule of law in Russia - former British ambassador to Latvia
09 November 2023
The Baltic Times
In the 1990s, the West missed several opportunities to push Russia in a different direction, primarily by focusing too much on Russia's economic transformation and underestimating the importance of the rule of law.
Judy Asks: Is the two-state solution feasible?
09 November 2023
Carnegie Europe
The war between Israel and Hamas makes the two-state solution less viable than ever before. Achieving peace requires political will, compromise, and initiative from the international community.
L’Europa e il conflitto di Gaza: peso limitato, poche buone opzioni
22 October 2023
Aspenia Online
La risposta iniziale dell’UE al conflitto tra Israele e Hamas è stata caotica.
Press
Europe needs massive rearmament to outlast Putin in Ukraine
28 November 2023
The Telegraph
“These are dangerous times for Ukraine,” said Ian Bond, a former UK defence planner and ambassador to the Baltics. “It is increasingly clear that Ukraine cannot achieve a quick victory. But is it at risk of a quick defeat?” he asked in a lacerating report for the Centre for European Reform.
El gran melón europeo: por qué reformar los Tratados de la Unión Europea es tan difícil
28 November 2023
EL Confidencial
"En Polonia están obsesionados con la idea de que si se abren los Tratados, tendremos una Europa a dos velocidades y ellos se quedarán atrás. Para ellos, es impensable", explica Camino Mortera, jefa de la oficina de Bruselas del Centre for European Reform (CER).
UK's flagship post-Brexit trade deal worth even less than previously thought, OBR says
26 November 2023
The Observer
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said there was almost no prospect of a trade deal with the US. “There is no chance of one at the moment because Joe Biden does not like trade deals. And there is no chance of one if Trump were to return to the White House because he likes them even less than Biden.
« Un cauchemar » : pourquoi la victoire de Geert Wilders aux Pays-Bas donne des sueurs froides à Bruxelles
23 November 2023
Le Parisien
« Sa victoire est si large qu’il va être politiquement difficile pour les autres partis de l’ignorer pour la formation d’un gouvernement », explique Sander Tordoir, chercheur néerlandais du Centre for European Reform.
How Big Tech learned to love Britain’s libertarians
23 November 2023
Politico
For Zach Meyers, who specializes in competition law at think-tank the Centre for European Reform, the alignment is a “very pragmatic and opportunistic alliance,” rather than a meeting of minds.“The Big Tech firms have found an opening,” he said.
La victoire de l’extrême-droite aux Pays-Bas assombrit les perspectives de l’UE
23 November 2023
L'Agefi
Geert Wilders dispose à n’en pas douter de vraies chances de décrocher la tête de l’exécutif, conviennent les différents experts. «Sa victoire est si large qu’il va être politiquement difficile pour les autres partis de l’ignorer pour la formation d’un gouvernement », explique Sander Tordoir, chercheur néerlandais du Center for European Reform.
Aux Pays-Bas, une élection à haut risque pour l’Europe
22 November 2023
Le Parisien
S’il est difficile d’imaginer les Pays-Bas mettre en œuvre une telle disposition, les perspectives qu’offre le scrutin sont, plus globalement, loin d’être très réjouissantes du point de vue européen, selon Sander Tordoir, chercheur du Centre for European Reform.
To EU’s leaders, poison released by David Cameron’s Brexit blunder has lost its sting
19 November 2023
The Sunday Times
Aspects of Britain’s relationship with the EU, including co-operation on justice and policing and the Good Friday agreement on Northern Ireland, are predicated on British membership of the convention, said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform. “It’s not just an emotional thing, it really matters to the EU,” he said.
Europe trudges ahead with beefing up its security and defence order
18 November 2023
Financial Times
But these efforts do not rise to the scale of the challenge Europe faces, fears Luigi Scazzeri of the Centre for European Reform. He argues that it will be difficult for governments to sustain the kind of increase in defence spending seen in recent years, given competing spending pressures and the rising cost of raw materials needed for weapons systems.
Britain's top court sinks Rwanda migrant deal
16 November 2023
Voice of America
Attitudes on migration are hardening in the bloc, said Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels office of the Centre for European Reform.“The political consensus has been for a long time on the issues of increasing returns [of failed asylum-seekers] — which is one of the most tricky parts of any migration policy, and also border controls and the fight against irregular migration — ironically enough, the kinds of things that the U.K. government had been asking for for a long time when it was inside of the European Union,” she told VOA.
Podcasts
CER Podcast: Will Wilders’ Dutch election win weaken the EU?
28 November 2023
Caroline de Gruyter and Sander Tordoir discuss the Dutch election outcome.
CER Podcast: What does AI mean for Europe?
24 November 2023
Zach Meyers and Kai Zenner discuss Artificial Intelligence.
CER Podcast: Where is Europe in the Israel Hamas conflict?
07 November 2023
Camino Mortera-Martinez, Luigi Scazzieri and Nathalie Tocci discuss Europe's role in the Israel Hamas conflict.
CER Podcast: EU enlargement and reform, migration and the EPC summit
16 October 2023
Camino Mortera-Martinez and Luigi Scazzieri discuss EU enlargement and reform, migration and the EPC summit.
CER Podcast: A European strategy for Labour
27 September 2023
Charles Grant and Neil Kinnock discuss a European strategy for Labour.
Events
CER/Kreab breakfast on 'How should the EU balance fiscal discipline and the need for higher public investment?'
05 December 2023
Brussels
With Maarten Verwey, Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
CER/Clifford Chance hybrid discussion on 'The Polish elections and the future of the EU's rule of law'
29 November 2023
Hybrid Brussels/Zoom
with Joanna Bekker, Alvaro de Elera and Janusz Lewandowski
Hybrid discussion on 'Is the European power grid ready for the energy transition?'
22 November 2023
Hybrid Brussels/Zoom
With Timothée Decroix, Robert Kuik, Yannick Phulpin and Rebecca Sedler
Hybrid discussion on 'War, peace and the future of Ukraine'
24 November 2023
Hybrid London/Zoom
With Iuliia Osmolovska, Head of Kyiv Office, GLOBSEC
25th birthday party, London
14 November 2023
London
With a keynote speech by the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP