Press
A plan of action
06 April 2020
Financial Times
Lucas Guttenberg, Christian Odendahl and Sebastian Grund have devised a plan for a Pandemic Solidarity Instrument that aims to avoid the obvious political pitfalls of debt mutualisation but still provide a €440bn bazooka for the EU to spend on the healthcare systems and labour markets the need it the most.
Nicht alte Vorurteile, sondern ökonomische Vernunft sollte die Krisenbekämpfung leiten
06 April 2020
Handelsblatt
Dass es auch schneller gehen kann, zeigt allerdings die Idee des von den drei deutschen Ökonomen Christian Odendahl, Sebastian Grund und Lucas Guttenberg entwickelten „Pandemic Solidarity Instrument“: einer gemeinsamen, einmaligen und begrenzten Krisenanleihe, die von allen EU-Ländern garantiert würde und mit dem EU-Recht und ohne neue Institutionen machbar wäre.
As Italy teeters, EU wrestles with crisis that could tear it apart
05 April 2020
Brisbane Times
"Those countries that did not respond may have been worried they were about to be hit themselves, but the optics were absolutely atrocious and made even worse by the fact at the same time, China and Russia were taking advantage and sending medical teams and medical treatments," says Luigi Scazzieri, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
Sharing the fiscal burden of the crisis: A Pandemic Solidarity Instrument for the EU
05 April 2020
VoxEU
To ensure that all EU countries can do what is necessary to fight the economic fallout of the pandemic, the fiscal costs of this crisis must be shared.
Der Anti-Boris
05 April 2020
Die Welt
„Nach Corona wird es aber ohnehin schwer, eine Politik links von Johnson zu machen“, gibt Charles Grant, Chef des Centre for European Reform, zu bedenken.
The EU needs to counter Italy's coronavirus-induced Euroscepticism
03 April 2020
Prospect
The coronavirus crisis may be unprecedented in living memory, but for many Italians the EU’s reaction has been no surprise.
BBC News: The EU's response to the coronavirus
02 April 2020
“This €100 billion [proposed EU coronavirus jobless scheme] strikes me as rather small given the number of unemployed that are expected in light of the huge economic shock facing not only Italy but the eurozone as a whole”.
EU fiscal response to cornavirus pandemic taking shape after shaky start
02 April 2020
RTE News
"The way other member-states initially responded to Italy’s coronavirus plight has shaped the narrative of the crisis," says Luigi Scazzieri, of the Centre for European Reform (CER).
The EU can emerge stronger from the coronavirus crisis
01 April 2020
Encompass
The coronavirus pandemic has become a stress test for the European project.
EU countries step up ‘solidarity’ in fightback against critics
31 March 2020
Financial Times
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, from the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said the EU needed to make up for an initial “chaotic and unco-ordinated” pandemic response in which some member states “showed a lack of solidarity with Italy”, Europe’s worst-affected country.
EU leaders enter a virtual, parallel reality
27 March 2020
Financial Times
Christian Odendahl and John Springford and the Centre for European Reform want governments to avoid the economic mistakes of 2008 by stimulating the “economy once the containment phase is lifted”.
Sharon White mucks in to help Waitrose's panicky buyers
27 March 2020
Financial Times
Former Ofcom boss and Treasury big cheese Sharon White. Becoming chair of Waitrose’s parent, John Lewis, has not put her above replenishing empty shelves at the Holloway Road store. She was spotted by the director of the Centre for European Reform (who else, given the proximity to Highbury Fields) Charles Grant.
'The future of the European project is at stake': EU in crosshairs of coronavirus pandemic
27 March 2020
Euronews
"Basically the outcome of the summit is something not particularly surprising but still it’s obviously an outcome which is going to cast a shadow on a previously pretty efficient EU response," said Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska from the Centre for European Reform.
Judy Asks: Can Europe become stronger after the coronavirus pandemic?
26 March 2020
Carnegie Europe
The EU’s initial response to the crisis was haphazard, with member states taking center stage. But the EU could emerge stronger from this pandemic if it learns from its past mistakes.
Coronavirus pandemic is a make or break moment for the EU
26 March 2020
Financial Times
“The EU’s hands are pretty much tied in the area of public health”, says Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in Brussels.
Europe fumbled coronavirus at first. Can it manage the pandemic now?
26 March 2020
The New York Times
“We need to be pretty honest and say that the initial E.U. response was chaotic and belated,” said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska of the Centre for European Reform in Brussels.
Europe's leaders ditch austerity and fight pandemic with cash
25 March 2020
The New York Times
“A monumental crisis like this creates the political space to challenge whatever the thinking was before,” said Christian Odendahl, the Berlin-based chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.
CER podcast: The EU must fight COVID-19 on the home front and abroad
25 March 2020
EU solidarity went missing when the COVID-19 pandemic started, feeding eurosceptic narratives. The Union is now getting its act together internally.
Germany fires fiscal fusillade but markets roiled by economic anxiety
24 March 2020
The Australian Financial Review
"Hawkish northern eurozone members, which have so far strongly opposed the idea of any risk sharing in the eurozone members, should understand that without taking bold steps the entire eurozone may be endangered," said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, in a paper published on Monday.
Europe is losing the battle to unite its military efforts
23 March 2020
European CEO
Sophia Besch, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, points out that these have had limited success: member-states are dodging the policies by invoking Article 346, which allows governments to protect issues relating to their security, meaning they have to comply when it comes to maintenance and repair but not in terms of major military equipment contracts.