Press
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.
Theresa May's game of Brexit chicken
03 October 2016
Prospect
Theresa May's speech to the Conservative party conference yesterday was only slightly less gnomic than her previous statements about Brexit.
Theresa May: The captain of HMS Brexit surfaces
03 October 2016
Channel 4 News
Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform has repeatedly argued we are heading for a Canada Trade Deal with some additions. Brexiteer ministers would argue we can do much better than that because of various entanglements that allow us to improve our bargaining position.
CER podcast: Charles Grant on negotiating Brexit – priorities on both sides of the channel
03 October 2016
Sophia Besch talks to CER's director Charles Grant about Brexit red lines in Paris, Berlin and Brussels and a negotiation strategy for the British.
May on collision course with Conservative backbenchers over hard Brexit
03 October 2016
The Guardian
Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, has published a paper in which he reveals that negotiators in other countries including France and Germany are preparing to stand their ground in Brexit negotiations. They believe freedom of movement is a central part of the single market and are reluctant to make concessions in other areas. "She is trying to square a circle and none of us know how she plans to do it, but British companies will not be in the single market if she limits immigration and spurns or rejects ECJ rulings," said Grant.
German hard line on Italy may rebound with Deutsche in crisis
03 October 2016
The Daily Mail
The possibility that Deutsche could run short of capital if it is overwhelmed by penalties puts Berlin in a more vulnerable position than before, possibly undermining any push for a tough solution for Italy. "They have taken a very doctrinaire line with the Italians," said Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank. "Maybe this gives Germany cover to soften their line."
Theresa May sets out her stall
03 October 2016
Financial Times
Charles Grant, of the Centre for European Reform, says the reason the EU is taking such a tough stance — not only rejecting pre-negotiation but also insisting that the UK cannot have the single market without freedom of movement — is fear of populism.
Europe governments warn May won't get early Brexit talks
03 October 2016
Bloomberg
The remaining nations may be taking a hard line as they worry early talks would allow the British to sow divisions among the 27 by meeting with individual governments, according to Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform.
What will happen now timescale for article 50 has been revealed?
02 October 2016
The Guardian
Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform likens it to a divorce settlement, "dividing up the properties, institutions and pension rights, and dealing with budget payments and ... the rights of UK citizens in the EU and vice versa".
Down to earth: Brexiteers need to respect gravity models of international trade
01 October 2016
The Economist
For the foreseeable future, GDP per person in places like India and China will be lower than the EU’s, points out John Springford of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. It will be many years before these countries’ citizens are rich enough to demand the same sorts of goods and services from Britain as the EU does.
Hard bargain: Lacking clear American leadership, the global trade agenda is floundering
01 October 2016
The Economist
Christian Odendahl, an economist at the Centre for European Economic Reform, a think-tank, says that including such a controversial provision in TTIP was probably a mistake; legal systems in America and Europe are developed enough for investors not to need the extra legal certainty.
Hungary's Orban aims to 'give the finger' to Europe in migrant referendum
01 October 2016
NBC News
Camino Mortera-Martinez, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, described the question as "absolutely biased" and pointed to its loaded language. "The way the question has been put to the people, I think Orban is likely to win," she said.
Bye, bye Basel: Shielding Europe's banks
30 September 2016
Financial Times
Talking Britain down: Martin Wolf draws attention to the myriad flaws of the British economy in this piece. The piece relies on a paper by Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform, which we linked to the other day.
In Calais, a rising wall reinforces fears of fortress Europe
30 September 2016
Deutsche Welle
"People find ways around barriers," says Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank. "Unless you start making them particularly inhumane, people are going to find other ways of getting through the system."
EU and US trade negotiators seek to get TTIP talks back on track
30 September 2016
The Guardian
John Springford, head of research at the Centre for European Reform, said it was hard to see TTIP talks resuming in 2017. "The window of opportunity for getting TTIP done was before we got into the US election campaign, and certainly before the French and German elections got under way [in 2017]. I think that window of opportunity is now closed."
Viktor Orbán's date with destiny
29 September 2016
The World Weekly
On no issue is this state of limbo more dangerous than migration. With civil wars still raging in the Middle East, any number of sparks could see the crisis flare up again with startling intensity. “There is a sense of calm before the storm,” said Camino Mortera-Martinez, a research fellow and expert on free movement at the Centre of European Reform, a think-tank. As it stands, she told TWW, the bloc would be ill-equipped to withstand such an eventuality. The current solutions, though hard-fought, are sticking plasters; the serious treatment is yet to come.
Make no mistake, Britain is not a world-beating economy
29 September 2016
Financial Times
Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform provides a far more realistic picture in his Brexit Britain. Measured at purchasing power parity, the rise in the UK's gross domestic product per head between 2000 and 2015 was smaller than in Germany, Spain and France. Over this period, the UK outperformed only Italy, among the EU's largest pre-2000 members. In 2015, the UK's GDP per head was lower relative to the average of the 15 pre-2000 EU members than in 2000: its GDP per head was a mere ninth within this group.
Stuck in a rut? Here's how to help the Brits who feel left behind
28 September 2016
City A.M
Our fortune in the west may be indisputable, but is often little comfort to the many Brits who – by western European standards – are stuck in an economic rut. Stark figures were published this week from the Centre for European Reform. London and the south east are the only UK regions with a higher-than-average GDP per capita, compared to 15 major EU countries. All other parts of the UK (accounting for three quarters of the population) have GDP-per-head below 90 per cent of the EU-15 average.
As US election nears, the globe watches (very) intently
28 September 2016
The Christian Science Monitor
In Britain, just setting out on an uncertain path outside the European Union, the "special relationship" between London and Washington is more important than ever, suggests Ian Bond, foreign policy analyst at the Centre for European Reform in London.