Press
In rejecting treaty, Cameron is isolated
09 December 2011
New York Times
The summit was "a disaster for the UK," Charles Grant, director of the CER said in a statement. "For more than 50 years, a fundamental principle of Britain's foreign policy has been to be present when EU bodies take decisions, so that it can influence the outcome." What should really worry London now, Mr Grant said, is that it no longer has a seat at the negotiating table.
Spain's example shows limits of EU targets
09 December 2011
The Wall Street Journal
That may spell trouble, says Simon Tilford at the CER. Businesses may be unwilling to invest while the outlook for demand continues to be weak, he says.
Immediate summit reaction
09 December 2011
CER
This week’s summit will do little to solve the fundamentals of this crisis. What has been agreed is definitely not a fiscal union, there is no agreement to close any of the institutional gaps in the eurozone, such as the lack of any real fiscal union or pan-eurozone backstop to...
Charles Grant, believes Britain "is a big loser"
09 December 2011
BBC Radio 4 Today Programme
Charles Grant, Director of the Centre for European Reform, believes Britain "is a big loser" as they have chosen to be "outside the room". Britain's influence will be "reduced" as a consequence he adds.
Londres s'éloigne de l'Union européenne
09 December 2011
Le Figaro
"Nous devenons très détachés de l'Europe", souligne Charles Grant, directeur du CER. "Nous avons choisi d'être à l'extérieur de la salle quand des politiques économiques seront discutées qui risquent de mettre en danger le marché unique.
'If you're not at the table, you're on the menu'
09 December 2011
BBC News
After British Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to veto an EU-wide treaty change, Hugo Brady of the CER said the UK was left in a precarious position. He told the BBC "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu."
New plan aims to end European debt crisis
09 December 2011
Voice of America
But Simon Tilford at the CER, says the new treaty does nothing to solve Europe's debt crisis. "The problem is that fiscal austerity will not solve this crisis, at least not alone. Fiscal austerity has in many ways become part of the crisis. Enforcing unending austerity on countries in the periphery has already made their predicaments much worse and threatens to make a bad situation in Spain and Italy even worse than it currently is." Mr Tilford says whether Britain will be weaker for staying out of the deal depends on what happens to the euro area.
Myth and reality about the euro crisis
09 December 2011
The Wall Street Journal
"The whole eurozone strategy is predicated on the assumption that fiscal ill discipline caused this crisis," said Simon Tilford at the CER. "That is a radically incomplete analysis. ...
Brussels summit 'will not resolve euro crisis'
09 December 2011
Channel 4 News
Simon Tilford, from the CER agreed, "This week's summit will do little to solve the fundamentals of this crisis."... Mr Tilford told Channel 4 News the summit should have agreed a fully-fledged fiscal union. Instead, all it had done was tinker. "This is little different from what the eurozone already had: the stability and growth pact. All it does is require states to keep their budget deficits under 3 per cent. That is not a fiscal union, which would mean a federal budget and revenue-raising powers," he said. ...
As the dust settles, a cold new Europe with Germany in charge will emerge
09 December 2011
The Guardian
"For the first time in the history of the EU, the Germans are now in charge. But they are also more isolated than before," said Charles Grant, director of the CER. "The British are certainly more marginal than before. Their influence has never been lower in my lifetime." Whether or not the summit has saved the euro remains, of course, to be seen.
EU crisis: Germany the 'unquestioned' master of Europe, says analysts
08 December 2011
The Economic Times
"For the first time in the history of the EU, Germany is the unquestioned leader, and France is number two," said Charles Grant, of the CER, citing growing inquality ever since the financial crisis struck in 2008.
France, Germany push balanced budget requirement
08 December 2011
USA Today
"I would find it surprising if they are not going to offer any more than this," said Simon Tilford at the CER. "If this is all that is on the table then the future for the euro is very, very bleak indeed."
Ma l’Europa di Merkozy è già vecchia
08 December 2011
Europaquotidiano
«In questo momento mi pare si possa adattare ai leader europei quello che Churchill usava dire a proposito degli americani: si può sempre essere sicuri che facciano la cosa giusta, una volta che abbiano esaurito tutte le altre possibilità». Charles Grant, direttore del Centre for European Reform di Londra, è...
Now the Franco-German question
08 December 2011
Financial Times
As Charles Grant of the CER has observed, the proposals for a stability union presented to the Brussels summit were essentially written in Germany, even if the odd page was edited in Paris.
European financial tax - is the City worth saving?
07 December 2011
Channel 4 News
It is not just eurosceptics who are opposed. Simon Tilford of the CER, told Channel 4 News: "I think a transactions tax would only work if agreed globally. Europe moving unilaterally would achieve little.
Will Europe achieve a solution at summit?
07 December 2011
USA Today
"The euro crisis is transforming the balance of power in Europe," said Charles Grant, director of the CER. "Germany is emerging, for the first time in the EU's history, as the unquestioned leader."
Crisis batters EU's longtime cherished notion of members' equality
07 December 2011
The New York Times
"Germany is the unquestioned leader of Europe," said Charles Grant, director of the CER. "France is definitely subordinate to Germany and Britain has less influence than at any time I can recall.
Conflicting visions at core of eurozone crisis
06 December 2011
Reuters
"France and Germany make no secret of wanting less Monnet and more de Gaulle," Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, wrote in an essay.
The Robin Hood tax
06 December 2011
The New York Times
"There is some momentum behind this," said Simon Tilford at the CER. "If they keep the show on the road, they probably will attempt to run with this."
Juncker: "Maßlos überzogen"
06 December 2011
Frantfurter Allgemeine
"Wenn das alles ist, sind das wirklich schlechte Nachrichten für die Zukunft des Euros", sagte der Chefökonom des Londoner Forschungsinstituts Centre for European Reform, Simon Tilford, zu den Plänen von Merkel und Sarkozy.