Press
Trade experts play down Australia trade deal concerns
20 May 2021
The Grocer
Sam Lowe, a trade specialist at the Centre for European Reform think tank, similarly questioned the premise that dropping tariffs on Australian food would lead to floods of cheap meat on UK shelves.
“What if Australian exporters are happy selling all over Asia?” he said in a trade newsletter this week. “And what if Australian exporters want to sell their higher-end food products to the UK, not the cheap stuff? And what if Australian imports are just as likely to displace EU food imports?”
“What if Australian exporters are happy selling all over Asia?” he said in a trade newsletter this week. “And what if Australian exporters want to sell their higher-end food products to the UK, not the cheap stuff? And what if Australian imports are just as likely to displace EU food imports?”
UK government split over Australia trade deal
17 May 2021
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, the trade specialist at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said NFU fears about the effects of an Australian deal were overstated, given that exports volumes were currently quite small. But the deal would set important precedents for future negotiations with the USA and the Mercosur block in Latin American countries, which includes Brazil, a big beef producer.
Rociito y el Estado de derecho
17 May 2021
El Periodico
España tendrá unas cuantas cosas que explicar cuando la UE ponga en marcha su mecanismo de supervisión del Estado de derecho.
Brexit has cost Britain nearly £16 billion since 2016, experts estimate
13 May 2021
The London Economic
The Centre for European Reform estimates that quitting the single market and customs union at the end of December 2020 reduced UK trade by £7.7 billion – roughly 11 per cent – in March. This came on top of a further £8 billion hit to trade between the referendum, in June 2016, and quitting the single market – a period which saw a significant fall in the value of Sterling.
Brexit has cost UK economy almost £16bn in trade since 2016, report finds
13 May 2021
The New European
The Centre for European Reform (CER) estimates that leaving the single market and customs union at the end of 2020 has reduced UK trade by £7.7billion, or 11%, since March.
Turkey-style deal for Libya to stop migration to Europe 'not feasible'
13 May 2021
The National
Luigi Scazzieri, an expert on EU foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, told The National a Turkey-style deal was out of the question because it would involve housing migrants in Libya. “The way the deal with Turkey works is that migrants and refugees who arrive in Greece and did not qualify for asylum were returned to Turkey,” he said.
Die Briten staunen über Michel Barnier
13 May 2021
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“ In den Jahren der Austrittsverhandlungen hatten die Brexiteers Barnier als unbeugsamen Kritiker eines neuen britischen Nationalismus wahrgenommen. Für die meisten Remainer war Barnier dagegen die Stimme der Vernunft. Jetzt nennt John Springford vom EU-freundlichen „Centre for European Reform“ Barniers Vorstoß „absurd und unglaublich schädlich“.
Brexit has cost UK nearly £16 billion in trade of goods since the 2016 referendum, The Centre for European Reform estimates
12 May 2021
The Evening Standard
Brexit has delivered a blow of nearly £16 billion to the UK’s trade in goods since the 2016 referendum, leading experts said today.The Centre for European Reform estimates that leaving the single market and customs union at the end of December 2020 had reduced UK trade by £7.7 billion, or 11 per cent, in March.
France should ban non-EU immigration for up to FIVE YEARS, says ex Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier
11 May 2021
The Sun
John Springford, from the London-based think tank the Centre for European Reform, said it was "absurd and would be incredibly damaging".
Euranet: The next battle for rule of law in the EU will be fought in court
11 May 2021
Camino Mortera, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, believes that Hungary and Poland may have a case to answer. “This case that has been brought to the European Court of Justice by Poland and Hungary is not – and I know this may sound provocative – the...
UK’s services sector starts to count the real cost of Brexit
10 May 2021
Financial Times
In non-regulated services businesses, Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, says, “The difficulties are more indirect: if [a UK advertising agency] wants to be serving clients in Italy from London, you want to have Italians on staff. The new [UK] immigration system makes it more difficult to hire [EU nationals].”
CER podcast: The EU's plans for Big Tech
10 May 2021
Camino Mortera-Martínez discusses what to do about Big Tech with Zach Meyers.
Madrid success raises hopes of Europe’s struggling centre-right
09 May 2021
Financial Times
“This was an election fought in bars,” said Camino Mortera-Martinez, of the Centre for European Reform, who thinks it would be hard to replicate elsewhere in Spain, let alone in Europe. “The stance Díaz Ayuso took completely destroyed party lines. It was borderline populist if not populist altogether.”
UK freeports blow as exporters face tariffs to 23 countries
09 May 2021
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre For European Reform, said the clauses went against the political “narrative” that eight new freeports announced in the spring Budget would be economically transformative. “I’ve always thought they were largely pointless anyway,” he said. “It is absolutely the case that if you produce certain products in freeports you will not be able to take advantage of many of the free trade agreements.”
How the Digital Markets Act can tame big tech
06 May 2021
Encompass
The European Commission announced at the end of April that it believes Apple has breached competition laws. This was predictable.
The recovery is gaining strength, but Brexit is still inflicting damage
28 April 2021
The Times
The Centre for European Reform estimated this month in its “cost of Brexit” assessment that UK trade was taking an additional hit, on top of the 10 per cent reduction in UK exports relative to what they would have been since the 2016 referendum.
EU to finalise Brexit trade deal as Amsterdam emerges as top stock market
27 April 2021
Radio France International
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided he wanted "a run-of-the-mill free trade agreement", explains John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform in London. "Banks can blow up, so close trade relationships in financial services require common regulations, which Johnson didn't want," he said.
CER podcast: Russia and Ukraine: A worsening crisis?
23 April 2021
Charles Grant discussed the resurging conflict between Russia and Ukraine with Ian Bond and Orysia Lutsevych
BBC Radio 4: The Briefing Room - Could Germany Go Green?
22 April 2021
Sophia Besch, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform spoke to David Aaronovitch about what the Greens might change about German foreign policy (from 12.3 mins).
Persuading the world to back carbon border tax
22 April 2021
Financial Times
A solution to some of this comes to hand in the form of a paper by the Centre for European Reform’s Sam Lowe — “Big Sam” to give his official Trade Secrets title, though not that Big Sam. Lowe argues that the EU can adapt its current preference schemes for developing countries — Everything But Arms for the least-developed countries and the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) for middle-income countries — to exempt them from the carbon border measure.