Press

Why Deutsche can't bank on Germany in fight with the US

Christian Odendahl
27 September 2016
Fortune
As Christian Odendahl, an economist with the Centre for European Reform in London, points out, a bailout with taxpayers’ money would give AfD yet another stick with which to beat her, on top of her bailouts of feckless Mediterranean types and her handling of the migrant crisis.

Brexit Briefing: George Osborne, soft Brexiter

Simon Tilford
26 September 2016
Financial Times
Britain has not been one of Europe’s economic stars over the past 15 years and Brexit is set to exacerbate its underlying weaknesses, writes Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform.

UK heading for 'hard Brexit', warns Scottish minister

Simon Tilford
26 September 2016
Sky News
The Centre for European Reform (CER) said the problems of a London-focused economy, poor skill levels, weak infrastructure and a lack of affordable housing were likely to be made worse by leaving the EU, leaving poorer regions in an even worse state.

Britain, don't blame the EU for your economic problems, CER says

Simon Tilford
26 September 2016
Bloomberg
The UK's difficulties in unlocking its economic potential lie at home and it's wrong to blame the European Union, according to a new report by the Centre for European Reform.

Britain's Brexit economy is "mediocre" compared to other EU countries

Simon Tilford
26 September 2016
New Europe
“Brexit Britain: The Poor Man of Western Europe?”, the latest report of the Centre for European Reform authored by Simon Tilford criticizes Britain’s economy and decision for Brexit.  It brings forth evidence that Britain is not the strong economic leader that the public perceives it as being.

European firms offer Britain scant support in divorce talks

Simon Tilford
25 September 2016
The Daily Mail
Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said that if Britain better understood the thinking of EU governments and businesses, it could secure a deal allowing tariff-free trade in goods with Europe. If it didn't, the two-year period between notifying Brussels of its intention to leave, and membership expiring, could pass without any deal at all, he said. "If the UK wants controls on labour movement from the EU it will have to concede membership of the EU's single market for services. I think that's obvious." 
 

British PM Theresa May dismisses Brexit veto threat

25 September 2016
Cosumnes Connection
"Free movement is the only way that most such services-in construction, retail and so forth-can be traded, as construction workers and baristas cannot provide their services remotely", John Springford, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said in a report.

Brexit & beyond: Prospects for hard Brexit; May loses minister; French revival

23 September 2016
The Wall Street Journal
John Springford at the Centre for European Reform, a pro-European Union think tank based in London, believes the lack of an immediate recession makes it more likely that pro-Brexit politicians will win their case for a dramatic break from the EU.

Brexit vote 3 months on: Markets questions still to answer

23 September 2016
Financial Times
The Centre for European Reform counts six interlocking negotiations for the UK government to contemplate: legal exit from the EU, the ultimate trading relationship, an interim arrangement between the two, joining the World Trade Organisation, trade agreements with 53 countries to replace existing EU deals, and co-operation on European security and defence.

RTÉ Radio 1: Morning Ireland

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
23 September 2016
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska talks to Morning Ireland about the impact of Brexit on Britain (from 01:32).

RTÉ News: Six One

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
23 September 2016
The CER's Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska speaks to RTÉ News about Britain's negotiating restrictions while still in the EU (from 27:57).

After 'Brexit' EU revives idea of its own joint military command

Rem Korteweg
22 September 2016
The New York Times
But in circumstances where there is no obvious "lead nation",  the headquarters would provide the European Union a military planning and operational capacity it lacks, even for small missions, like securing the airport in Mali in January 2013, said Rem Korteweg, a defense analyst for the London-based Centre for European Reform. "The EU normally wants to deploy in co-ordination with diplomacy and development aid," he said, "and now can’t pull it all together."

UK's early economic resilience adds new wrinkle to Brexit

22 September 2016
The Wall Street Journal
John Springford at the Centre for European Reform, believes the lack of an immediate recession makes it more likely that pro-Brexit politicians will win their case for a dramatic break from the EU. ...Consumption, which has sustained growth, also tends to be a lagging indicator. “The mistake that we made in July was that we assumed that consumers were more forward-looking than they are,” Mr Springford said.

Free Lunch: How to help the left-behind

Simon Tilford
22 September 2016
Financial Times
Beyond redistributive and labour market policies, consider Simon Tilford’s analysis of what ails the British economy. Tilford rightly diagnoses the UK as economically middling by west European standards, in particular in terms of productivity. He blames supply side problems including poorer skills (numeracy and literacy), scarcer housing and more meagre transport infrastructure investment than the other large west European economies...

Un año después, los refugiados siguen huérfanos en la UE

Camino Mortera-Martinez
22 September 2016
El Espanol
¿Pero cuáles son las causas del fracaso hasta ahora del reparto de refugiados? Para la investigadora Camino Mortera, experta en cuestiones migratorias del Centre for European Reform, la clave está en "la reticencia de los Estados miembros a aplicar la iniciativa". Y ello pese a los beneficios económicos que los refugiados pueden generar en los lugares de acogida, según ha puesto de relieve un informe del Banco Mundial y Acnur.

Globonews: Um panorama da Alemanha e os desafios do próximo governo

Sophia Besch
22 September 2016
Sophia Besch speaks to Globonews about the German elections (from 22.00 mins).
Written evidence from The Centre for European Reform

Written evidence from The Centre for European Reform

22 September 2016
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Referendums on constitutional questions are too important to be settled by a simple majority of those who vote on the day.

Feud over a holiday threatens fragile peace in Bosnia

Rem Korteweg
21 September 2016
The New York Times
"The EU," said Rem Korteweg, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a research group based in London, "is trying to give these countries encouragement by kicking the can down the road, even as it can't offer them immediate membership."

A 13-euro entry fee for the EU?

Camino Mortera-Martinez
21 September 2016
Deutsche Welle
After Brexit, millions of British people traveling to the EU for vacations or business trips will also have to pay and register with Etias. The same goes for people from Turkey or Ukraine, in the event that the EU grants them visa-free travel. According to Camino Mortera-Martinez of the Centre for European Reform, it's a bad deal. "It would be damaging for British business," she told Britain's "Guardian" newspaper.

ECB said to redouble economic reform push with task force

Christian Odendahl
21 September 2016
Bloomberg
"The ECB has no particular expertise in structural reforms but it can certainly contribute to the debate as economic growth and the supply side of the economy matter for achieving its mandate," said Christian Odendahl, chief economist of the London-based Centre for European Reform. "It should place emphasis on what kind of macro-economic impact reforms may have - that's what it can do best."