Press
CER wins the 2018 Prospect Award for 'Think Tank of the Year'
17 July 2018
Prospect
Ian Bond and Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska represented the Centre for European Reform at the Prospect think tank awards, and were delighted to accept the award for Think Tank of the year.
How Theresa May could stumble off the Brexit cliff
17 July 2018
Politico
One commits the UK to leaving the EU’s VAT area after Brexit. Some experts say this all but guarantees a hard border in Ireland, undermining the whole purpose of May’s compromise Chequers plan. Charles Grant, the director of the Center for European Reform, said: “Unless we stay in EU’s VAT area, we cannot avoid a hard border.”
DOMINIC LAWSON: Any Brexit plan that Peter Mandelson and Jacob Rees-Mogg BOTH think is hopeless must be an absolute stinker!
15 July 2018
Mail Online
'But if May wants a deal, her red lines will have to shift. She has already agreed to be a rule taker and accepted a role for the European Court of Justice. She will also have to accept some sort of customs union, payments to the EU and something close to free movement of labour.'
Just sitting down with Trump, Putin comes out ahead
15 July 2018
The New York Times
Ian Bond, a former British diplomat in Moscow who is now director for foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, a research group in London, said he would normally cheer any chance for leaders to sit down and hash out their problems.
Brexit: How Trump strengthens the case of the remainers
14 July 2018
The Globalist
And when even liberal voices such as Charles Grant of the London-based Centre for European Reform talks about it being unacceptable to having a deal with the EU like Norway because that would make the UK a “vassal state,” it goes to show one sad fact: The UK is still very long on imperial attitudes – and very short on realism.
Trump's criticism of May's Brexit plan zeroes in on trade reality
13 July 2018
The Wall Street Journal
Mr Trump’s interview upset many in the UK by undermining his host on the day he arrived in the country. But the message wasn’t wrong, trade specialists say.“Fundamentally, it’s the correct analysis,” says Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the London-based Centre for European Reform, a pro-EU think-tank. “The closer the UK remains to the EU, the more difficult it becomes to do a trade deal with the US.”
Trump on the island: Why the US president will not help the British premier
13 July 2018
RBC
“Future arrangements will complicate the fact that the US and the EU adhere to different regulatory standards, said research staff of the Centre for European Reform, Beth Oppenheim and Christian Odendahl. According to analysts, the standards of food production in America are lower than in the EU, so the United States has long been calling for barriers to be removed in this sector. "If Britain intends to adhere to pan-European standards, the United States will have less incentive to complete the trade deal," experts concluded.”
BBC Radio 4 - Today programme: White paper - goods and services post-Brexit
13 July 2018
Sam Lowe of the CER spoke to the Today Programme about the implications of the governments' white paper on goods and service post-Brexit (from 15:00 mins).
CER podcast: A guide to the White Paper
13 July 2018
Beth Oppenheim asks Sam Lowe about the UK government's recent White Paper on Brexit, and whether it stands any chance of being accepted by the EU.
Chequers plan for EU goods rules out Indian trade deal
12 July 2018
The Times
Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: “If the UK remains bound by the EU’s approach to plant and animal health it will remain unable to address many of the concerns laid out by India, potentially making a far-reaching free trade agreement all the more difficult.”
Inching our way towards Jersey
12 July 2018
Financial Times
“The EU will probably reject Theresa May’s Chequers compromise. Rather than confronting the EU on its fundamental principles, the UK should build upon the foundations of a customs union,” wrote Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
The Spectator Podcast: Is the Brexit drama just beginning?
12 July 2018
Is Brexit going in circles? With the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson – and widespread unhappiness at the Prime Minister’s Chequers plan – it is hard to pretend that things are going well. But is the drama only just getting started?
Judy Asks: Is Trump wrong about NATO?
11 July 2018
Carnegie Europe
A selection of experts answer a new question from Judy Dempsey on the foreign and security policy challenges shaping Europe’s role in the world.
CER event podcast: CER/KAS Conference on 'Plugging in the British: Completing the circuit'
11 July 2018
Three panels of experts gathered at the CER/KAS conference, ‘Plugging in the British: Completing the Circuit’ at the Royal United Services Institute.
BBC World Service: Trump: NATO Allies 'delinquent'
11 July 2018
Sophia Besch a research fellow a the Centre for European Reform spoke to the BBC World Service about how US relations with its NATO allies are “at an absolute low point. The European allies seem traumatised and shocked. …I personally think there is very little that they can do to convince Trump of the NATO value but we will see how they get on over the next 48 hours.” (from 37:53 mins).
Voice of America: NATO summit overshadowed by defence spending spat
11 July 2018
Singling out Germany isn't necessarily fair, said defence analyst Sophia Besch of the Centre for European Reform.
BBC Newsnight: NATO summit
11 July 2018
Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the CER spoke to Newsnight (from 31:57 mins) from the NATO summit.
NATO desperate to avoid rerun of disastrous G7 summit
10 July 2018
Deutsche Welle
"We're absolutely right to be nervous," said Sophia Besch, a fellow with the Centre for European Reform (CER), about the possibility a Trump-Merkel clash could derail the summit. "[Trump] is framing the 2 per cent as the golden ticket for any European leaders to get into his good graces, and that's why everyone is so worried." Only seven allies other than the US invest in their militaries at the desired level, though all 29 are increasing their defense budgets now, a trend that started in 2014.
Donald Trump UK visit: When is Trump coming to the UK? Will he visit London?
10 July 2018
The Express
Ian Bond, director of Foreign Policy and the Centre for European Reform, said: “Trump’s visit will be more of a minefield than manna from heaven for the Prime Minister. "He is hugely unpopular in the UK, and her invitation to him to pay a State Visit attracted a lot of criticism."
Europe's response to May's plan could cost her more ministers
10 July 2018
The Guardian
The EU’s initial reaction to the Chequers plan is polite, but negative. The prime minister will have to make further concessions before it is accepted.