Press
CER podcast: What does COVID-19 mean for the EU-UK trade talks?
22 April 2020
Charles Grant and Sam Lowe discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on the EU-UK trade talks, and whether the pandemic will lead to the transition period being extended, taking into account the arguments for and against.
10 things to change after corona
21 April 2020
The Chosunilbo
The corona crisis put the EU (European Union) vulnerable back into the test, after weakened by Brexit (the British withdrawal from the European Union). In particular, the imbalance in the EU is deepening as southern Europe, which has suffered economic crises such as Italy and Spain, has been hit harder by Corona. Southern Europe has already paralyzed the real economy from massive national debt. If any country in southern Europe collapses, it means a retreat in European integration.
The case for a Brextension
21 April 2020
Financial Times
EU and UK Brexit negotiators held their latest round of virtual talks on Monday. Samuel Lowe at the Centre for European Reform makes the case for both sides to agree a maximum two-year extension that can be ended early if a future relationship deal is agreed after the pandemic.
Coronavirus: EU struggling to show solidarity in face of ‘existential’ crisis
21 April 2020
The Parliament Magazine
The EU’s response to COVID-19 has given plenty of ammunition to its opponents. Frontiers have been closed and supply chains broken as countries have put their own needs first.
Here's how the UK should work with EU to combat coronavirus and end the lockdown
16 April 2020
The Telegraph
As the coronavirus pandemic continues its rampage around Europe, neither the British government nor the EU plans to extend the transition period.
Cómo debe la UE coordinar la salida del confinamiento
16 April 2020
El Pais
Los gobiernos europeos esperan que las ‘apps’ de rastreo de casos les permitan relajar el confinamiento.
Pandemic across Europe - Data rush
15 April 2020
Financial Times
John Springford at the Centre for European Reform thinks tracing technologies are a prerequisite for post-lockdown life but warns that without mass testing in member states, they may still prove ineffective: “To avoid further mass outbreaks, member states must first continue to build testing capacity and develop contact tracing systems. Only then can they slowly ease restrictions, in order to determine the effects of different interventions on infection rates. The EU can help to ensure that all member states have the tests and technology to be able to do so, exchange information between them about what works and what does not, and ensure that citizens’ privacy is respected.”
UK resists calls for Brexit transition extension despite Covid-19 crisis
15 April 2020
Global Trade Review
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank and a committee member of the UK Trade Forum, pointed out in January that even if a free trade deal was agreed in time, that would still likely result in the immediate introduction of new barriers to trade.
Il tracciamento, anonimo, è realizzabile, ma senza una politica di test di massa non ha senso
14 April 2020
EU News
Un paper di John Springford, vice direttore del Centre for European Reform, i governi europei sperano che le app possano consentire di allentare i blocchi. Ma molto lavoro deve essere fatto a livello sia nazionale che europeo prima che le restrizioni possano essere alleviate.
Coronavirus crisis revives Franco-German relations
13 April 2020
Financial Times
“It is clear that they are not on the same page yet when it comes to the recovery fund,” said Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. “The divide is still there.” Or, as one German official put it, “We agreed to disagree”.
Merkel's crisis stimulus is already seeping into the grateful German economy
12 April 2020
Independent (Ireland)
"It seems surprising how quickly the German government is responding, but at the same time it's completely in line with what it has professed for years about maintaining fiscal prudence in good times in order to spend when it's needed," said Christian Odendahl, chief economist for the London-based Centre for European Reform.
After coronavirus: How will Europe rebuild?
12 April 2020
The Guardian
Coronavirus has given hope to those who wish to see the EU stumble. Countries have put their own needs first and trust among governments has diminished.
Las dos fases económicas del coronavirus
09 April 2020
ES Global
Las autoridades europeas deben contrarrestar los enormes costes de la contención del virus y, al mismo tiempo, mantener una deuda sostenible en todos los Estados miembros de la eurozona.
EU pledges billions to 'partner countries' but unable to agree on pandemic support for its own members
08 April 2020
CNS News
“The EU’s initial belated and chaotic response and its failure to coordinate has weakened its reputation and provided fertile ground for euroskeptics,” said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
Euroamor en tiempos de pandemia
08 April 2020
ES Global
Ian Bond, director de Política Exterior en el Centre for European Reform, cree que es un ejemplo perfecto de cómo las “políticas impulsivas” nacionales tienen consecuencias negativas para todos: “La gente que intentaba volver a sus respectivos países quedó atrapada, se interrumpieron las cadenas de suministro, incluso de bienes esenciales, y nos encontramos con filas interminables de camiones sin que todo eso impidiera la propagación de la enfermedad”.
CER podcast: The EU, the US and China: Irresponsible stakeholders in the global order?
08 April 2020
The EU, the US and China are the most important economic blocs in the world. But trade, political and security relations between them are becoming dangerously tense. Can the EU calm things down?
Corona time
07 April 2020
Reuters
A paper by Christian Odendahl of the Centre for European Reform, Sebastian Grund of Harvard Law School and Lucas Guttenberg of the Jacques Delors Centre suggests the European Commission could raise 440 billion euros in 30-year bonds to fund the collective costs of fighting coronavirus. Crucially, however, the money would be granted to member states rather than lent. Responsibility for repaying the bonds would be divided between EU members according to the relative size of their economies in 2050, allowing the strong to support the weak.
The EU's latest existential crisis might be its biggest one yet
07 April 2020
Bloomberg Quint
“The EU’s initial belated and chaotic response and its failure to coordinate has weakened its reputation and provided fertile ground for euroskeptics,” said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in Brussels. “This shock is of a more symmetric nature and can hit the north and south equally. So the question is whether this makes the north more open to risk-sharing.”
Les coronabonds fissurent le consensus allemand
07 April 2020
Liberation
Pour beaucoup de raisons, donc, l’Allemagne devrait opposer un «non, mais» aux coronabonds. «A ce stade, Berlin veut que l’Europe explore les options que les institutions actuelles offrent déjà, explique Christian Odendahl, économiste en chef pour le think tank Centre for European reform. Ils vont dire en substance : "Oui, nous vous avons entendus, mais utilisons d’abord nos institutions".
Hilfe für Italien und Spanien ist gut investiert
06 April 2020
Capital.de
Die Krise droht Italien und Spanien in die Insolvenz zu stürzen. Da sind Coronabonds allemal besser - auch für die politische Einheit Europas. Ein Selbstgespräch des Ökonomen Christian Odendahl.