Press

Global Business: Ambitious agenda for new Commission

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
03 December 2019
The new Commission comes to office with an ambitious agenda, from climate change to digitization & curbing the power of tech companies.

Komisja von der Leyen nie do końca legalna? Co o tym mówi prawo unijne?

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
03 December 2019
Gazeta Prawna
Rzeczywiście, służby prawne instytucji europejskich wskazywały na obawę, że decyzje podjęte przez kolegium, które nie odzwierciedla liczby państw członkowskich, mogą zostać zakwestionowane prawnie. Komisja Europejska rozpoczęła jednak procedurę naruszeniową wobec Wielkiej Brytanii – mówi z kolei Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska z think tanku Centre for European Reform. W ten sposób w jej ocenie nowa KE wyszła naprzeciw wyzwaniom prawnym związanym z decyzją Brytyjczyków o nienominowaniu komisarza.

Europa y la "política de favores" de Trump

03 December 2019
Deutsche Welle
Ian Bond, director de política exterior del Centro para la Reforma Europea, fue un diplomático británico que en el pasado trabajó en Washington. Bond dice que en circunstancias normales, todos los que tratan con Estados Unidos sobre el caso de Ucrania sabrían quiénes eran sus interlocutores en la embajada, el Departamento de Estado y el Consejo de Seguridad Nacional. Nadie habría buscado al abogado personal del presidente o al embajador de Estados Unidos en la Unión Europea.

Developing a home-grown European defence equipment market

Sophia Besch
02 December 2019
Encompass
President Emmanuel Macron’s man in the European Commission will struggle to make headway on developing a home-grown European defence equipment market.

Is a European Security Council a good idea?

02 December 2019
Encompass
The EU is a trade and regulatory superpower, but it has consistently punched below its weight in foreign and security policy.

Nato Leaders' Summit 2019: Treaty organisation faces deep divisions at 70

02 December 2019
The National
Former British ambassador Ian Bond told The National Mr Macron had caused problems within the alliance between Turkey and the US and provoked an “explosion” from Mr Erdogan. He said the French leader was also making increasingly worrying overtures to Russia. In reimagining a new foreign policy for Europe, Mr Macron has caused friction with Berlin and Washington, not least because of his calls for European “strategic autonomy” in defence and foreign policy.

Euronews: Future for NATO

02 December 2019
NATO needs to continue to defend itself from pressure from Russia, consider new challenges in cyberspace and space, and become more aware that China poses important challenges in terms of technological sophistication and military deployment, Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European reform  tells Euronews.

The SPD’s new left-wing leadership could prove just the jolt Germany needs

Christian Odendahl
01 December 2019
The New Statesman
As the economist Christian Odendahl puts it, Esken and NoWaBo are by international comparison about as hard-left as the IMF, in that they want more of Germany’s vast surplus to be spent on wide-eyed priorities like school, digital and rail improvements. Their proposed minimum wage increase to €12 an hour, below the level currently being proposed in Britain by renowned hardline socialist Boris Johnson, would inject some much-needed demand into the slowing eurozone economy.

Der Mann mit den großen Ohren

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
30 November 2019
Luxemburger Wort
„Wir neigendazu, uns zu sehr auf dieUnterschiede und Problemezu konzentrieren,obwohl es viele Punkte gab,in denen die Kommissionsich bemüht hat, den Zentral- undOsteuropäern entgegenzukommen“, sagt Agata Gostynska-Jakubowskader Denkfabrik „Centre for European Reform“.

BBC Today Programme: UK-US trade agreements

Sam Lowe
30 November 2019
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform spoke to the Today Programme to discuss how a possible FTA might take shape between the UK and the US (from 52 mins).

Boris Johnson backs looser state aid rules after Brexit

Sam Lowe
29 November 2019
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said: “The EU’s stated position is that even if the UK wants an agreement resembling Canada’s, they will ask for more from the UK on state aid than they did for Canada and Japan because the UK is geographically closer and big.” He added that the starting point of any negotiation with the EU would be a demand for dynamic alignment with Brussels’ state aid rules, something that was likely to be incompatible with the Conservatives’ new approach. 

Boris Johnson rose to power thanks to Theresa May’s Brexit errors; now he’s replicating them

Sam Lowe
29 November 2019
Global Government Forum
Johnson’s government has refused to publish an impact assessment of its plans. But research by think tank the Centre for European Reform suggests that in financial services alone, under this scenario UK businesses – which currently export £23.6bn (US$30.5bn) to the EU – could see their export revenues fall by 59%.

Johnson's future Brexit plan would be almost as disruptive as no deal

Sam Lowe
28 November 2019
Prospect
A "super Canada plus" agreement would still present businesses with a cliff edge.

Another Franco-German plan

28 November 2019
Financial Times
Luigi Scazzieri at the Centre for European Reform dissects how a Franco-German proposal for a “European Security Council” could end up backfiring: “A move to formalise co-operation between a select few member states in a grand-sounding European Security Council risks being highly divisive, as there is a risk that other member states may interpret it as a move to make Europe more independent of the US — especially in the context of Macron’s recent comments on the “brain death” of NATO.” 

What the four mentions of the NHS in Jeremy Corbyn’s dossier really mean

Sam Lowe
27 November 2019
The Sun
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told us: "What this boils down to is largely what we knew already - the US is asking us for things. "Will the US want to discuss medicine prices? Absolutely, they will."Will the UK concede to their demands? We don't know, but the Government is saying no. "This tells us what is being discussed, but not the outcome."

Boris Johnson's 'arbitrary' Brexit deadline will damage UK economy, say trade experts

Sam Lowe
27 November 2019
The Telegraph
Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform, who is among the signatories, has said that clinching such a deal is possible but only by accepting an "off the shelf" deal from Europe that for many businesses will mean the same paperwork and restrictions as a "no deal" Brexit.

Letters: Free trade future

Sam Lowe
27 November 2019
The Telegraph
SIR – Through Brexit and the election, trade has come to the forefront of the national conversation. As trade professionals we welcome public debate but fear the supplanting of fact with rhetoric.

Jeremy Corbyn claims dossier shows NHS at risk from US trade deal

Sam Lowe
27 November 2019
Financial Times
“The US clearly wants to discuss issues that are particularly controversial such as drug pricing,” said Sam Lowe, a trade specialist at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. “But the UK is not yet prepared to concede on these issues.”

'That's completely wrong': Michael Gove falsely claims EU has no single market for services

Sam Lowe
26 November 2019
The Independent
Sam Lowe, of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, echoed the verdict, saying: “The single market in services is not as developed as the single market in goods, but it very much does exist.”

New Brexit deadline: But but but …

Sam Lowe
25 November 2019
Politico London Playbook
Trade experts say that if Johnson sticks to his plan of a trade deal removing tariffs but little else, he may end up needing more time. “There will still need to be an extension of the status quo for a while longer, whether it’s called a transition extension or not, because otherwise when you move from status quo to free trade agreement, you create an overnight cliff-edge scenario similar to no deal,” the Centre for European Reform’s Sam Lowe tells Playbook.