Press

Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, views the need to increase defence spending as a potential boon to a Europe that is otherwise in danger of deindustrialising. “The EU remains a funny animal. From the outside, it looks like a rich bloc with a strong industrial base and lower debt than the US or China – surely capable of rearming quickly and cheaply if it just co-ordinated. Inside, leaders are too busy distrusting each other to act, squabbling while the house burns,” he said.

If that is kept in mind, there is a case for common borrowing (Sander Tordoir usefully sets out how to think about common defence bonds), if this is designed to encourage streamlining specifications and joint procurement across Europe.

Leading European think-tanks, such as the Kiel Institute and the Centre for European Reform, are pretty clear that borrowing is the best way forward, not raising taxes. 

„Wir beobachten so etwas wie eine Verschweizerung der deutschen Wirtschaft“, sagt etwa Sander Tordoir, Chefvolkswirt der Denkfabrik Centre for European Reform.

Le BDI, la fédération allemande de l’industrie, a salué le paquet législatif, mercredi matin. « L’Allemagne est de retour », a réagi Sander Tordoir, chef économiste au Centre pour la réforme européenne.

Aslak Berg, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said it was telling that while Mr Trump referred to “trade deals” at the White House, Sir Keir was careful to call them “economic deals”.
“The traditional US stance is that EU food regulations are unacceptable but it’s not really what’s on the table here,” he told The Telegraph, “You’re likely to see something on tech regulation and artificial intelligence.”

John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform, suggested a narrow, tech-focused deal could include the UK promising to adopt a similar approach to artificial intelligence regulation, for example – where the US has strongly criticised the EU’s more stringent legislation. “That could be preferable to getting into the weeds of a free trade agreement,” he said.