Press
Netherlands election 2025: Rob Jetten could become youngest leader after close tie with Geert Wilders
30 October 2025
The Independent
The election is "unlikely to mark the end of populism in the Netherlands", said Armida van Rij, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
Liberal leader poised to become next Dutch prime minister
30 October 2025
Financial Times
“There is a real risk of coalition gridlock between two pathways — D66’s preferred broad alliance and the VVD’s push to include the small hard-right JA21,” said Sander Tordoir, a researcher with the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
Europe’s MAGA takeover gets a Dutch reality check
30 October 2025
Bloomberg
“(Wilders’) influence on policy is alive and well,” says Armida van Rij, of the Centre for European Reform. The symbolism of D66 leader Jetten’s big convention speech in front of a huge image of the Dutch flag shows the effort to reclaim the nationalist narrative from what he dubbed the “politics of negativity.”
Dutch election stuns in night full of surprises: What you need to know
30 October 2025
Euronews
Armida van Rij, senior research fellow at think tank Centre for European Reform (CER) said: "The election results won't mark the end of populism in the Netherlands. While the PVV may have lost seats, the far-right vote has not disappeared, it has splintered. About 30% of PVV voters in 2023 now vote for JA21.”
Come funziona l'allargamento dell'Unione europea e può riprendere slancio?
29 October 2025
Euronews
Zselyke Csaky, ricercatore senior presso il Centro per le riforme europee, ritiene che "l'allargamento debba provenire da entrambe le parti". Molti vedono l'allargamento come una decisione puramente politica, afferma, ma "c'è molto lavoro tecnico da fare".
Centrist D66 party expected to win most seats in Netherlands election – as it happened
29 October 2025
The Guardian
Armida van Rij, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, has this take on today’s election: “Two years after the last election and a highly unstable coalition, this is the Netherlands’ opportunity to bring back stability to the country. It faces a number of pressuring policy issues:housing shortages, maintaining affordable care and, increasingly, concerns about rule of law in the country.
Centrist party expected to take most seats in Dutch election as voters 'reject politics of hate'
29 October 2025
The Daily Mail
The chief economist at the Centre for European Reform think tank, Sander Tordoir, said that 'Europe cannot afford another Dutch government that drifts and is absent in the European debate'.Tordoir noted that the Netherlands is one of the biggest and better performing eurozone economies and that if it 'remains missing in action, Europe's single market, defense effort and economic security will suffer.'
Why the far right is expected to win Dutch elections but not to govern
29 October 2025
Financial Times - Europe Express
“This is the Netherlands’ opportunity to bring back stability to the country,” said Armida van Rij, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, adding that the previous government had failed to address pressing issues such as housing shortages.
EV come, EV go
28 October 2025
Financial Times - Trade secrets
Assuming that using widescale intervention to build the car industry is a desirable goal (I have doubts), is a pan-EU industrial policy for EVs possible? Well, here’s one intriguing plan, from Sander Tordoir, Nils Redeker and Lucas Guttenberg, published by the Jacques Delors Centre think-tank.
Caught between China and the US, Europe stumbles towards its independence day
28 October 2025
South China Morning Post
“Europe works poorly in slow-burn crises,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform (CER), an independent think tank.“The co-ordination between member-states is always hard, and it works best under acute pressure when minds are focused. In slow-burn crises, the narcissism of small differences wins out,” he said.
Wie der Autoindustrie wirklich geholfen werden kann
27 October 2025
Die Zeit
Lucas Guttenberg, Nils Redeker und Sander Tordoir forschen bei der Bertelsmann-Stiftung, dem Jaques Delors Zentrum und dem Centre for European Reform zur Zukunft Europas. Hier schreiben sie über ihre gemeinsame Vision für die europäische Autoindustrie.
Waar blijft de economische Aufschwung in Duitsland?
27 October 2025
NRC Handelsblad
De foute benadering, zeggen economen van denktank Centre for European Reform: het probleem is niet dat verbod over tien jaar, maar het feit dat er nú te weinig vraag naar Europese (inclusief Duitse) auto’s, terwijl de Chinese concurrentie moordend en oneerlijk is. En dus kan de EU beter de vraag naar Europese elektrische auto’s aanjagen met Buy European-regels.
China is an even bigger problem for the EU than Trump
27 October 2025
The Times
One such proposal, from the Centre for European Reform, is for governments to use existing national subsidies to drum up demand for European EVs, using green rules that discriminate against Chinese-made cars.
Nos Nieuwsuur: Klimaat tijdens de campagne
26 October 2025
Grote landen en ook de Europese Commissie roeien langzaam terug van vergaande klimaatmaatregelen. Waarom speelt het tijdens de verkiezingscampagne een ondergeschikte rol? We bespreken het met onze politiek duider Arjan Noorlander en met Sander Tordoir, hoofdeconoom bij het Centrum voor Europese Hervorming.
Would UK be better off without Brexit?
26 October 2025
The Sunday Times
John Springford at the Centre for European Reform think tank has nobly attempted to answer this [whether Britain’s economy could have grown by more] by making a “doppelganger” UK, made up of countries that grew at a similar rate to Britain between 2009 and 2016. This model version of Britain — 31 per cent America, plus some Germany, New Zealand, Australia and others — was 5 per cent richer than actual Britain by 2022.
Can Ukraine's Zelenskyy rely on Europe's 'Coalition of the Willing?'
26 October 2025
The Herald Scotland
In the wake of last August’s Paris summit the Centre for European Reform (CER) released a policy brief entitled: Can Europe Save Ukraine – and itself- from Putin and Trump?In the document Ian Bond, deputy director of the CER, said that Europeans need to face up to four key facts.The first is that Trump favours Putin over Zelenskyy and that the US is now doing relatively little to help Ukraine.The second is that the Russians will not agree to Ukraine having any effective protection against future attacks. The security guarantee for Ukraine allegedly accepted by Putin in his meeting with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff says Bond is a mirage, and the US is reluctant to provide an insurance policy for European forces in Ukraine.Thirdly, Putin remains determined to win, not compromise and his peace terms would reduce Ukraine to vassal status.
Is European €100 Billion, 6th-Gen fighter program doomed? Can FCAS survive France’s political meltdown?
26 October 2025
The EurAsian Times
According to Armida van Rij, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Reform, France’s political crisis is bad news for European rearmament efforts.“As long as there is political instability, discussions on the country’s budget, including defense allocations, will continue to be held hostage. The opposition parties have no incentive to work with any new government. They believe the prolonged instability increases their chances in the 2027 presidential elections”, she pointed out.
NPO Radio 1: Coalition of the Willing komt bijeen in Londen: wat ligt er op tafel?
24 October 2025
Armida van Rij, senior onderzoeker bij het Centre for European Reform, vertelt wat er vandaag op tafel ligt.
Schwarz-Rot will Kaufprämie für E-Autos wieder einführen
23 October 2025
Handelsblatt
Die Ökonomen Sander Tordoir vom Centre for European Reform, Lucas Guttenberg von der Bertelsmann-Stiftung und Nils Redeker vom Jacques Delors Centre befürworten eine Kaufprämie grundsätzlich – doch sie lehnen einen deutschen Alleingang ab. In einer Analyse, die dem Handelsblatt exklusiv vorliegt, warnen sie vor falsch eingesetzten Subventionen und einer Verschleppung des Strukturwandels.
EU leaders clash on 2035 engine ban, but experts warn subsidising demand is key
23 October 2025
EU Observer
In a report published ahead of the summit by various think-tanks, including the Centre for European Reform, Redeker and colleagues Sander Tordoir and Lucas Guttenberg point to a different set of problems EU leaders should be trying to solve."Chinese car exports are surging, European producers are being squeezed out of global markets, US tariffs are rising, and domestic demand remains 20 per cent below pre-pandemic levels," they write.










