Press
German debt rules proposal fuels new austerity fear
11 April 2023
EurActiv
“Everyone is jumping on [the German proposal] as if the 1 per cent is sort of a red line,” Sander Tordoir of the Centre for European Reform told Euractiv. “But if you read the paper, there’s a lot of ‘could’ and ‘could for example be’,” he said, adding that he thinks this language is chosen “explicitly and purposefully, signalling openness to discuss”.
„Konstruktiv“ oder „katastrophal“: Lindners Reformplan für EU-Schuldenregeln stößt auf geteiltes Echo
10 April 2023
Handelsblatt
“Andere Ökonomen bewerten die Vorschläge der Bundesregierung positiver. Sander Tordoir vom Centre for European Reform sieht „ein konstruktives Angebot“, das nach seiner Einschätzung strenger daherkommt, als es eigentlich ist.”
EU Commission to investigate testbed Orange-MasMovil merger
04 April 2023
EurActiv
“If the merger is allowed to proceed, it could trigger a string of similar mobile mergers across Europe. That means there is a lot of pressure: the Commission may decide that the merger would help support faster 5G and fibre rollout in Spain. But if they get it wrong, then only the firms’ shareholders will win,” Zach Meyers, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told EURACTIV.
For Meyers, the odds might be set against the merger, as raising prices might be particularly unpopular during raging inflation.
For Meyers, the odds might be set against the merger, as raising prices might be particularly unpopular during raging inflation.
If Sunak wants to put Britain back on track, he must break with the Brexiteers
01 April 2023
The New European
But whereas other economies have largely recovered from the pandemic, the UK continues to languish because Brexit keeps on inflicting its damage. The Centre for European Reform calculates that by June, it will have cost Britain a lost £40 billion in taxes.
Windsor Framework: Plan to scrap EU laws could undermine NI deal, says report
01 April 2023
BBC News
Plans to scrap thousands of EU-era laws copied over to UK law after Brexit could undermine the Windsor Framework, a think tank has warned. The Centre for European Reform (CER) said that would lead to "unmanaged divergence" between Britain and the EU.It says this in turn would "deepen the regulatory gulf between Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Sunak rejects report that plan to scrap thousands of EU laws will undermine Brexit deal
31 March 2023
The Daily Express
Rishi Sunak has rubbished the claim that the Government's plan to scrap thousands of EU laws would undermine the Windsor Framework. The Retained EU Law Bill will see thousands of laws inherited from the Europen Union expire automatically at the end of 2023. But the Centre for European Reform (CER) said the plans would lead to "unmanaged divergence" between Britain and the EU.
It's Groundhog Day for EU fiscal rule reform
30 March 2023
Politico
A desperately needed reform of the EU’s fiscal rules is finally underway.The current rules are too complicated — they impose unrealistic demands on some countries, and they lead to overspending in economic booms and austerity in recessions.
Judy Asks: Is Hungary a reliable EU and NATO member?
30 March 2023
Carnegie Europe
Viktor Orbán benefits from EU and NATO membership while undermining these organizations’ core values. Hungary’s allies must find ways to restrain Budapest and not be held hostage.
Navigating Europe’s southern challenges
30 March 2023
European View
The EU’s foreign policy is currently focused on supporting Ukraine in resisting Russian aggression and on dealing with the consequences of the war, particularly in terms of energy security.
Boris Johnson likely to remain a constant in UK political life
29 March 2023
Arab News
Estimates previously published by the Centre for European Reform, which found that Brexit cost the UK £33 billion ($40 billion) in lost trade in the second quarter of last year alone and more than £40 billion in tax losses in the year to the end of June 2022. The same research showed that the UK economy was 5.5 percent smaller in June last year than it would have been without Brexit.
EU: Estonia spat underlies challenges for Ukraine arms fund
29 March 2023
Deutsche Welle
The implication is that Tallinn is taking the opportunity to modernize its stocks with the help of EU funds rather than domestic assets, which other member states are not doing, Luigi Scazzieri, an analyst from the Centre for European Reform, told DW."Clearly there's annoyance in some countries at the way Estonia has used the fund," he said. "Mainly because if everyone used the fund to be reimbursed for new equipment, then the money in the fund would actually run out very, very quickly."
Brexit damage as big as Covid, says OBR – predicting five years before incomes recover
26 March 2023
The Independent
In December, the Centre for European Reform (CER) found that Brexit cost the UK a staggering £33bn in lost trade, investment and growth. The CER also estimated the tax loss from Brexit at around £40bn.The research – first shared with The Independent – showed that by June of this year Britain’s economy was 5.5 per cent smaller than it would have been if the country had remained in the EU.
CER podcast: Russian hybrid threats
24 March 2023
In this week's episode of the CER podcast Ian Bond discusses hybrid threats with Helmi Pillai.
Euractiv: How safe are European banks?
23 March 2023
This week Sander Tordoir joinged the Beyond the Byline podcast to discuss the trouble in the financial markets, following the collapse of the US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
Like it or not, the EU needs American cloud services
23 March 2023
Encompass
As industrial competition with the US and China heats up, European businesses need to be more innovative to keep pace.
Why does the UK have highest inflation in G7 and is Brexit a factor?
22 March 2023
The Guardian
Research from the Centre for European Reform and UK in a Changing Europe suggests Brexit could still have led to a shortfall of 330,000 people in the UK labour force, after taking into account how the workforce might have looked if Britain had remained in the EU.
Why is UK inflation higher than other countries?
22 March 2023
BBC News
A study by the think-tanks Centre for European Reform and UK in a Changing Europe suggests there are 330,000 fewer workers in the UK as a result of Brexit, with sectors such as transport, hospitality and retail have been particularly hard hit.
Winter is gone. But can we really say Europe's energy crisis is over?
21 March 2023
Euronews
Elisabetta Cornago, a senior energy researcher at the Centre for European Reform (CER), described the savings as an "impressive response" but said some of the changes, particularly the industrial cutbacks, were temporary rather than "structural.""The behavioural response was driven by price level and the fear of how prices will impact your life. These fears and concerns led consumers to stay on the conservative side and try to limit the hours they had the heating on," Cornago told Euronews.
German bid to tweak EU gas car phase-out peeves partners
21 March 2023
Deutsche Welle
Wissing's demands are controversial because few see e-fuels as a viable solution to reducing passenger car emissions, Elisabetta Cornago, an EU climate policy expert from the Centre for European Reform, told DW on Tuesday. "Studies indicate that e-fuels in 2035 would be able to power less than 5% of the EU fleet, proving to be a distraction from the electrification of transport," she said.
Integrated Review Refresh 2023 – towards a more pragmatic chapter in UK foreign policy?
21 March 2023
The UK in a Changing Europe
Luigi Scazzieri analyses the recent ‘refresh’ of the 2021 Integrated Review, arguing that it marks a new more pragmatic chapter in UK foreign policy and underscores a renewed willingness to engage with the EU.