Press
Germany's Merkel faces political crisis over migrant policy
15 June 2018
NBC News
Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the CER think-tank, said Merkel has become more isolated on the European stage but her patience and experience could ensure her political survival. “She is fighting various fires in Europe. She has the Dutch and the northern and Scandinavian countries on her side, but she is certainly not strong enough to be called the undisputed leader of Europe as she might have been," Besch added. “She’s great at surviving these things, in part because of her calm approach, which is in stark contrast to the posturing in the CSU and the ‘Merkel must go’ faction of the CDU."
CER Bulletin podcast: Transatlantic relationship; Brexit and financial services; UK-EU defence negotiations
14 June 2018
CER researchers brief podcast listeners on three of the most important topics for Europe this month.
The Guardian - Politics Weekly podcast: Grenfell memorial, Brexit brinkmanship and open Scotland
14 June 2018
After a dramatic week of Brexit brinkmanship in the Commons, what has actually changed? As Tory rebels and Brexiters both claim the other side blinked first, our expert panel will fill you in on what really happened – and what comes next. Joining Pippa Crerar this week are our political correspondent Jessica Elgot, Allie Renison from the Institute of Directors and Sam Lowe from the Centre for European Reform.
Both sides claim victories in chaotic 'crunch votes' on Brexit
14 June 2018
The World
“Dominic Grieve’s last-minute amendment focuses on a no-deal scenario. It does not give Parliament the opportunity to reject a bad deal, which is what the Lords’ original amendment arguably intended,” says Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, a senior analyst at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. The final vote itself, she argues, is less important than the leverage it gives MPs to pressure the government to change its negotiating stance.
Even as a Remainer, I can see that the politically compromised Brexit we are heading for is utterly intolerable
14 June 2018
The Telegraph
As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform points out, the single market was virtually a British invention, enlargement was championed by the UK, we essentially wrote the EU’s competition and state aid rules, and the current wave of European free trade agreements was a largely British-driven phenomenon.
No panaCeta
13 June 2018
Progress online
Sam Lowe, trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, has collated estimates for other potential EU agreements. The largest is for Japan, with an upper estimate of 0.76 per cent of GDP. But as he notes the majority of these gains are forecast in the areas of food, feed, and processed food, with much less coming from services. This is also the most optimistic forecast, the least optimistic has gains of 0.39 per cent. Forecasts for an EU-US agreement, unlikely as that now seems, come in around halfway between Japan and Canada.
Brexit briefing: MPs have been given a say on Brexit — they should use it
12 June 2018
Financial Times
“When MPs vote on Tuesday they should stick to their guns and pass the Lords amendment. It gives them an opportunity to transform parliament from a bystander into an active player in the Brexit talks,” wrote Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in The Times.
May udfordrer oprørere i kamp om brexit
12 June 2018
Borsen
Ønsket om medlemskab af det indre marked får May med stor sandsynlighed stemt ned, for både Det Konservative Parti og Labour er imod, understreger Sam Lowe, research fellow ved den EU-venlige tænketank Centre for European Reform.
MPs have been given a say on Brexit — they should use it
12 June 2018
The Times
Last month the House of Lords sent Theresa May a clear message — Brexit does not have to mean her version of Brexit.
China, EU should work together for better globalization: Envoy
10 June 2018
Xinhua
The European Union (EU) and China should work together for a better globalization, Chinese envoy to the EU has said in a speech earlier this week. In his remarks at the breakfast meeting on Thursday co-hosted by the Centre for European Reform, an European think-tank, and Kreab, a global consulting company, Ambassador Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, shed light on how to save globalization and appealed to the EU to join hands with China to buck unilateralism.
BREXIT SHAMBLES: How May's backstop will make it IMPOSSIBLE for UK to trade with USA
08 June 2018
The Express
Sam Lowe, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said: "The UK backstop makes a US trade deal difficult for two reasons. "First, while in place it would prevent from the UK from lowering its agriculture tariffs, which is a precondition of any deal with the US. "Second, if the backstop really is to remove the need for a border in Ireland, it will also require the UK food standards remaining fully aligned with the EU. "This is something the US will demand to be changed in the event of an any UK-US free trade agreement."
The Government's proposals for a future security partnership with the European Union
08 June 2018
House of Commons Defence Committee Report
Sophia Besch a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform told the Committeethat CSDP was not at the heart of the UK’s strategic thinking and priorities but that the UK did have an interest in influencing the strategic and regional priorities in the debate on European Security. She suggested that the limited number of troops that the UK had provided to EU missions and operations had influenced the debate in Europe around whether the UK was a valuable part of CSDP.
Can NATO deter both Russia and radicalization?
07 June 2018
Deutsche Welle
Ian Bond, director of foreign policy for the Centre for European Reform, suspects some of Trump's insistence that NATO isn't doing enough is because he doesn't understand how the alliance works. "NATO is not going to start picking up random people who've been radicalized on the internet and want to blow themselves up," Bond told DW. "You're not going to deploy NATO's rapid-reaction force to a guy with a van and some knives on London Bridge. NATO is not the answer to most of the kinds of terrorism that western countries are now facing."
Galileo's middle finger: A Brexit row over Galileo could damage broader co-operation on defence
07 June 2018
The Economist
More worrying, says Sophia Besch of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, are the implications of going it alone for wider defence co-operation. In January 2017 Theresa May was criticised when she hinted that Britain’s future defence relations with Europe might be affected by the terms of any Brexit deal.
Merkel, Macron and the euro
07 June 2018
Politico
In an email forum, three experts chime in on the German chancellor’s proposal for the eurozone.
Sky News: Rules of origin
06 June 2018
Sam Lowe a research fellow a the Centre for European Reform spoke to Sky News about rule of origin and Brexit, in particular its impact on the UK car industry.
How dangerous for the UK economy is the European Union’s latest advice to Continental firms?
06 June 2018
The Independent
Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform think tank says that sectors which traditionally find rules of origin burdensome include textiles, food, machinery and vehicles.
CER podcast: A briefing on Italy's new government
06 June 2018
Sophia Besch asks Luigi Scazzieri what to expect from the new ruling coalition in Italy.
Doubts grow over the UK's preferred post-Brexit model for financial services
04 June 2018
City AM
Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform, said member states were unhappy about being “lectured to” by government and City representatives. “There’s been a bit of arrogance,” he told City A.M. “They know it’s bad but they’re not willing to risk the legal order of the EU and the integrity of single market, which they see as more valuable.”
The EU counts its crises as problems mount
03 June 2018
The Daily Times
“In Spain, it’s a localised issue about corruption, but Italy is obviously very serious,” said John Springford of the London-based Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank. “It is too big to fail in terms of the eurozone, and too big to save.”