Press
Brexit would be a challenge for Berlin
15 May 2016
Financial Times
For the first time in EU history, one country is the clear leader. But Germany’s authority faces many challenges - and the departure of the UK would make it even harder to manage this fissiparous club.
Liam Fox is wrong to suggest that the EU controls the Foreign Office
14 May 2016
The Spectator
Former Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox told an audience at the Royal United Services Institute last week that the Foreign Office had been reduced to “little more than the EU embassy in Whitehall”.
CER podcast: Five questions on the economic implications of a Brexit for the EU
13 May 2016
In the second episode of a series of podcasts on the implications of a Brexit for the EU, Simon Tilford explains the economic consequences for the EU.
Brexit would leave Germany more powerful with less influence
12 May 2016
Voice of America
"The departure of the UK, a vital ally, would make it even harder to manage this fissiparous club," argues Charles Grant, director of the London-based pro-EU research organization, the Centre for European Reform. "Brexit would leave the EU a less congenial place for many Germans, while also heightening resentment of Berlin’s power elsewhere on the continent," he argued in an opinion article in Britain’s Financial Times.
France's government survives vote over labor reform
12 May 2016
The Daily Mail
France is trying to do the bare minimum," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform. But "politically it seems almost impossible to do this without street protests." ..."They're incredibly conservative ...they don't understand the world has changed. If you want companies to hire, you need to make it easier to fire. That is a lesson that the Spanish and Italians learned, and the Germans learned," Grant said.
Judy Asks: Can debt relief save the euro?
11 May 2016
Carnegie Europe
A selection of experts answer a new question from Judy Dempsey on the foreign and security policy challenges shaping Europe’s role in the world.
If you're voting for Brexit because you think British troops will be called up to an EU army, you've been horribly misled
11 May 2016
The Independent
Britain's Eurosceptics have spent years frightening people with the idea of an 'EU army' and the subject is once again rearing its head in the referendum campaign.
Draghi cast as cash conspirator foreshadows German clash on exit
11 May 2016
Bloomberg
"When the economy or energy prices begin to push inflation higher, the real test will be whether the ECB has the stamina to hold on," said Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London.
Italy must choose between the euro and its own economic survival
11 May 2016
The Telegraph
"Italy is enormously vulnerable. It has gone through a whole global recovery with no growth," said Simon Tilford from the Centre for European Reform. "Core inflation is at dangerously low levels. The government has almost no policy ammunition to fight recession."
Campaigns for Britain to leave EU pull ahead in race to raise cash
11 May 2016
Reuters
"There are a lot of wealthy individuals who back Brexit," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. "On the Remain side there are a few, but it tends to be big companies who back remaining in the EU, and big companies find it difficult to donate to political campaigns."
There would be no growth
10 May 2016
Sunderland Echo
A study by the Centre for European Reform found that Britain’s EU membership has not prevented it from already having one of the most flexible labour markets in the world, which is one reason why unemployment has remained relatively low.
The EU is Northern Ireland's biggest trading partner
09 May 2016
Belfast Telegraph
As the Centre for European Reform explains, and I quote: "In order to maintain access to EU markets, a Britain on the outside would have to sign up to many of the EU's rules. As a non-participant in the EU’s institutions, it would have little say over the rules."
Avec Londres, un possible divorce mais pas de procédure
09 May 2016
La Croix
Plusieurs scénarios sont donc possibles. "Pour certains ’’brexiters”, il faudrait un accord comme celui qui lie l’UE et le Canada (liés par un 'partenariat stratégique' économique sans équivalent, NDLR)", indique Agata Gostynska, chercheuse au Centre for European Reform, un groupe de réflexion britannique.
El rechazo social amenaza el acuerdo comercial entre la UE y EE UU
08 May 2016
El Pais
Parte del problema, según coinciden los expertos, es la negativa de los negociadores a admitir quiénes serán los perjudicados por el acuerdo comercial. “Para recuperar la confianza de la opinión pública, las autoridades necesitan trasladar expectativas realistas sobre los beneficios del TTIP”, defendía Rem Korteweg, socio del Centro para la Reforma Europea, en un debate sobre el TTIP organizado por el Real Instituto Elcano en Madrid.
Brexit - the day after: What would it be like?
07 May 2016
The Irish Times
"Given that Norway basically has to sign up to pretty much everything substantive, has to abide by freedom of movement and has to pay substantial amounts of money into the EU budget, it's very hard to see how that option would satisfy the UK and how it would satisfy the right wing of the Conservative Party," said Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform.
Preparations for a Brexit III: Views from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Poland, and Portugal
06 May 2016
LSE blog
If Britain votes to leave the EU it will have to negotiate its exit and a new post-withdrawal relationship with the EU, one that will have to be agreed by the remaining 27 EU member states and the European Parliament.
The collapse of Schengen would have only two winners: Terrorists and populist parties
05 May 2016
The Telegraph
Unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers making their way into Europe have led some member states to close their borders.
What does Davutoglu's resignation mean for Turkey and the EU?
05 May 2016
The Spectator
Ahmet Davutoglu’s resignation comes at a sensitive moment for the EU’s migration deal with Turkey. Why did the prime minister fall from the sultan’s favour, and what does it mean?
A push for Greek cuts even creditors think go too far
05 May 2016
The Wall Street Journal
"It's good that European institutions seem to be acknowledging that the Greek economy cannot sustain further dramatic fiscal tightening," says Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank. "But they aren’t able to draw the obvious conclusion that the target needs adjusting. If they do down that road, then they would have to address the debt."
The Spectator podcast: Erdogan's Europe
05 May 2016
What does Davutoglu’s resignation mean for Turkey and the EU?