Press
Theresa May given stark warning about leaving customs union
18 October 2016
The Guardian
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said that Irish officials feared that the return of customs posts would provoke terrorist attacks. “The British and Irish governments would certainly do everything possible to minimise physical customs checks on the border – perhaps through the use of advanced technology, or simply through checking lorries at towns near the border, rather than at the border itself,” he said.
The isle is full of noises
15 October 2016
The Economist
For a smooth Brexit, Britain must drop the boorish language and try to understand its neighbours... “We forget that other people watch us,” despairs Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform in London.
Britain may end up with the most 'extreme' version of Brexit because there may not be enough time to negotiate with Brussels, say ministers
15 October 2016
The Telegraph
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said that a recent tour of EU capitals had confirmed rising a sense of hostility to the UK after the speech. "What it has done is eliminate any residual good will," he said. "Britain took a big hit in Europe on June 24, and it took another big hit on Tory Party conference. If you want a half-decent deal you need to nice to people and the government is doing a bad job of that at moment."
EU council president: It's hard Brexit or no Brexit at all
14 October 2016
The Guardian
Simon Tilford, deputy director of pro-EU think-tank the Centre for European Reform, said the markets would be scrutinising the government’s actions closely. “They’ve had a honeymoon, and it’s very clearly over,” he said. “It’s pretty clear that of the leading members of the government, only Philip Hammond understands the gravity of the situation.” He added: “What’s really spooked people is the suspicion that they really don’t know what they’re doing.”
Tok FM: High Court rozpatruje pozwy przeciwko decyzji premier o wszczęciu procedury
13 October 2016
The CER's Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska speaks to Tok FM on the role of the British parliament in the Brexit negotiations.
Britten zakken steeds dieper in moeras
11 October 2016
Het Financieele Dagblad
Simon Tilford van het Centre for European Reform deed het en maakt in zijn rapport ‘Brexit Britain: The poor man of Western Europe’ gehakt van de mythe dat het Verenigd Koninkrijk een ‘powerhouse’ is, zoals Britse media zo graag stellen, een economie die nog veel harder zou groeien als het eenmaal van de Brusselse ketenen zou zijn verlost.
BBC Newsnight: UK to pay into EU funds after Brexit?
11 October 2016
Charles Grant speaks to Newsnight about Whitehall's plan to keep paying into EU funds after Brexit (from 4.10 mins).
After May's Brexit pledge, Europeans close ranks
10 October 2016
Reuters
"Many Brexiters claim that the toughness of the 27 is merely an opening stance, and that, when talks commence, economic self-interest will push them to soften," wrote Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform. "But that may be wishful thinking."
The Tories and Brexit: Mind your step
08 October 2016
The Economist
Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank, says the prime minister needs to plan for six broad sets of treaty arrangements. The first is the Article 50 negotiation, meant to be completed within two years, which will cover such matters as pensions for British Eurocrats and MEPs, dividing up EU assets and working out what to do with the European Medicines Agency in London. This deal needs approval from a qualified majority of EU members, minus Britain, and a majority in the European Parliament.
EU leaders line up to insist UK will pay a high price for Brexit stance
08 October 2016
The Guardian
Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform thinktank said in a research paper last week that this was partly because of a rising fear of Eurosceptic populism. "A lot of British politicians believe that the hard line of the 27 is merely an opening stance,” Grant said. “Rather more Britons assume that, in the end, Angela Merkel will look after the UK. But for Merkel, the interests of the EU come first.
CER podcast: The rights of EU migrants in Britain after Brexit
07 October 2016
CER researchers assess the credibility, legality and practical feasibility of political proposals to restrict the rights of EU migrants in the UK.
Why Europe wants a hard Brexit to hurt
07 October 2016
The Guardian
British ministers are being overly optimistic about the chances of a decent trade deal if they reject the single market.
Rude awakening in the UK over Brexit cost sends pound down
07 October 2016
Bloomberg
May’s strategy amounts to a bet that voters’ opposition to immigration outweighs all else and that the economy will find support from easier fiscal policy, new trade deals emerge and banks don’t flee London, said Simon Tilford, deputy director at the Center for European Reform. The political payoff could be more support for her Conservatives at a time when the opposition Labour Party is in disarray.
Brexit Briefing: Theresa May's EU budget bargain
06 October 2016
Financial Times
John Springford of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, tells me the UK offer will make little difference to the chance of an interim deal. “Berlin insists that budget payments will not allow Britain to pick and choose,” he says. “And if we consider that the UK’s net contribution would be spread between the other net contributors, it’s not a game changer.”
German industry cannot save Britain from hard Brexit, warns Merkel
06 October 2016
The Telegraph
Simon Tilford, deputy director at the Centre for European Reform, a pro-EU think-tank, said that taking a hard line with Britain despite the size of its market reflected European concerns that Brexit posed an existential threat to the EU.
“If Britain could leave but retain the advantages of membership, what would prevent other Eurosceptic countries from pushing for similar deals? Like France and Italy, Germany is desperate to avoid setting a precedent that emboldens Eurosceptic movements in other countries,” he said.
“If Britain could leave but retain the advantages of membership, what would prevent other Eurosceptic countries from pushing for similar deals? Like France and Italy, Germany is desperate to avoid setting a precedent that emboldens Eurosceptic movements in other countries,” he said.
Czy Kaczyński zaszkodzi szansom Tuska na drugą kadencję? Może, ale nie musi
05 October 2016
Wiadomosci
Patrząc od strony politycznej, unijna praktyka pokazuje że dobrze jest, jeśli jest jednomyślność. Tym bardziej, że jego zadaniem jest wypracowywanie kompromisów i reprezentowanie stanowiska rządów państw członkowskich - mówi WP Agata Gostyńska, analityk Centre for European Reform w Londynie. - Ostatecznie dużo będzie zależeć od tego, czy zostanie zaproponowany kontrkandydat, i czy Polska będzie jedynym państwem sprzeciwiającym się wyborowi Tuska - dodaje.
Judy Asks: Is Central Europe destroying EU solidarity?
05 October 2016
Carnegie Europe
Central Europe's defiant approach toward the refugee crisis has undermined EU unity, but it has not triggered its erosion.
Tok FM: Brexit czas zaczac
04 October 2016
The CER's Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska speaks to Tok FM about Theresa May's decision to launch Brexit talks.
William Hague's migration solution
04 October 2016
Financial Times
As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform argues in a paper out this week: "British negotiators need to understand why the 27 are taking such a tough line on the four freedoms. Their obduracy is based on more than the attachment of EU politicians and officials to conservative, traditional thinking.
Phil's six impossible things to do before Brexit
04 October 2016
The Evening Standard
However, as was pointed out here only last week, citing analysis published by the Centre for European Reform, if growth is calculated with reference to what things cost in each county and what the money can actually buy, then the UK is behind Germany, Spain and France among the European countries, to say nothing of those G7 counties across the Atlantic — the USA and Canada.