Press
EU contempt laid bare as insider claims bloc 'trying to undermine UK's vaccine rollout'
05 February 2021
Express
Chief economist at the Centre for European Reform Christian Odendahl wrote on Twitter, attaching a picture of a survey by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Approval rating of Merkel‘s government is in free fall, on the back of the vaccine disaster and mishandling of the second wave."
Europe in battle to overcome economic lag vs US, Asia
05 February 2021
Reuters
"If we manage to use this big pot of money to get some countries to do the necessary adjustments and reforms and investment they need to tap long-term potential, then this recovery fund would have served a very good purpose," said Christian Odendahl of the Centre for European Reform think tank.
Affaire Navalny : les relations Russie-UE sont au "plus bas" juge l’émissaire de l'UE à Moscou
04 February 2021
France 24
Elle a des leviers, mais elle "sous-estime sa capacité à influencer le comportement des Russes", déplore Ian Bond, chef du département de politique étrangère du Centre for European Reform (CER).
Boris Johnson backs US on Russia but he can't deliver Europe
04 February 2021
Bloomberg
“When Britain was in the European nucleus, it could counterbalance the French and German view that Russia could be dealt exclusively by trade and diplomacy,” said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform and a former British diplomat. “When Britain left the EU, the center of gravity shifted to a softer line toward Russia.”
Europe should pay attention to Germany's debt brake debate
02 February 2021
Financial Times
But Christian Odendahl, of the Centre for European Reform in Berlin, thinks Mr Braun has done Mr Laschet and Europe a favour, “to break the taboo, for after the election”. And the chancellor was probably behind it. “This was Merkel holding the pen.”
Europol and differentiated integration
02 February 2021
EUIDEA
Europol has become a hub for differentiated integration. Initially a small anti-drugs unit, the EU’s police agency is now a fully-fledged body where law enforcement agencies from all around the world work together.
Why Britain wants to join a Pacific trade deal
01 February 2021
The Telegraph
The rules of origin requirements are a little more useful, according to Sam Lowe at the Centre for European Reform.“The benefit of having an agreement with all of these countries instead of individual bilateral agreements is that you can use inputs from other members when trying to meet local contact thresholds, which makes it a bit easier to qualify for tariff-free trade,” he says.
EU's vaccine fiasco to cause bitter 'election upheaval' in France, Germany and Netherlands
01 February 2021
Express
Chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, Christian Odendahl wrote on Twitter, alongside a picture of a survey by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Approval rating of Merkel‘s government is in free fall, on the back of the vaccine disaster and mishandling of the second wave."
UK makes formal request to join trans-Pacific trade deal
01 February 2021
Reuters
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said accession could be a useful counterpoint to those who thought Brexit was a nationalist policy and a retreat from the world stage.“Even signalling that the UK wants to join the CPTPP is a useful global signal that the UK is still interested in rules based trade, is still interested in working together with others,” he said.
Europe's year zero after Merkel
30 January 2021
FEPS
The German election in September 2021 marks a new beginning in European politics.
Breaking up is so hard to do
30 January 2021
The Australian Financial Review
There is pain on the European side too, of course, but it is less dependent overall on the Britain-EU trade relationship. And for Brusssels, says CER economist John Springford, Britain's pain is a necessary price. "The strategy of the EU has always been to play hardball because they need to show that Brexit hurts," he says.
A month on from Brexit, UK firms are being slowly ground down
30 January 2021
Bloomberg
“People refer to lots of the problems as teething problems,” said Sam Lowe, senior fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London. “But while businesses will learn how to fill in forms, we should acknowledge that new bureaucracy is the new reality and there’s a lot more to come.”
The EU-AstraZeneca vaccine fight, explained
29 January 2021
Vox
But, initially, richer EU members like Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands began to negotiate deals with vaccine makers themselves, including with AstraZeneca.
BBC News: EU, Germany and the vaccines
29 January 2021
"It's about boosting the supply of the vaccines, and quickly. [...] This is the richer countries' job, and I think that's where the EU's strategy fell short" Christian Odendal, chief economist of the Centre for European Reform told BBC News.
Britain has successfully rolled over the EU’s trade deals
29 January 2021
The Economist
Sam Lowe, of the Centre for European Reform, a think tank, points out that doing deals is also harder when there is no deadline.
Majority of lorries crossing channel to France are empty as Brexit hits trade
28 January 2021
ITV News
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the number of empty lorries is a cause or concern.“[They] suggest a substantial hit to the UK economy. And with new sanitary and photo sanitary controls still to be phased in by the British it is possible we will see increased disruption over the coming months,” he said.
Judy Asks: Is Germany damaging Europe's position on Ukraine?
27 January 2021
Carnegie Europe
Germany has made it harder to achieve a united European response to Russia’s threats to Ukraine. No one wants a war in Europe, and everyone would like to find a peaceful outcome.
Brexit Britain set for '50 years' of non-stop negotiations with EU to improve current deal
27 January 2021
Express
Charles Grant, Director of the Centre for European Reform, fears the UK still has five key areas that will determine the future relationship between the country and the European Union. Mr Grant looked at European countries outside the EU, like Switzerland, who have been in a constant negotiation limbo with the bloc since the mid-seventies. The political expert forecast Brexit Britain may soon be entering a similar situation and face as much as 50 years of additional talks with Brussels.
Brexit negotiations could continue for '50 years' to improve deal
27 January 2021
The New European
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, told the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that the UK could end up like Switzerland - a country which has been in negiotiation limbo since the mid-seventies.Grant warned that very little had been settled with the Brexit deal that decides the UK's long-term relationship with the bloc.
Brexit leaves UK and EU diminished in fight against international crime
26 January 2021
Financial Times
Camino Mortera-Martinez, an expert in EU justice and security at the Centre for European Reform, foresees difficulties in reconciling the EU’s perceived data protection “gold standard” with the UK becoming laxer to boost innovation.