Press

It was, for example, often repeated by Boris Johnson in the EU referendum campaign that Britain’s economic performance had for the last 15 years been much better than that of the rest of the EU. But Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, alleges that, on the contrary, Britain is in many ways the poor man of Europe. 
 

The Centre for European Reform (CER) said the problems of a London-focused economy, poor skill levels, weak infrastructure and a lack of affordable housing were likely to be made worse by leaving the EU, leaving poorer regions in an even worse state.

Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said that if Britain better understood the thinking of EU governments and businesses, it could secure a deal allowing tariff-free trade in goods with Europe. If it didn't, the two-year period between notifying Brussels of its intention to leave, and membership expiring, could pass without any deal at all, he said. "If the UK wants controls on labour movement from the EU it will have to concede membership of the EU's single market for services. I think that's obvious." 
 

The Centre for European Reform counts six interlocking negotiations for the UK government to contemplate: legal exit from the EU, the ultimate trading relationship, an interim arrangement between the two, joining the World Trade Organisation, trade agreements with 53 countries to replace existing EU deals, and co-operation on European security and defence.

But in circumstances where there is no obvious "lead nation",  the headquarters would provide the European Union a military planning and operational capacity it lacks, even for small missions, like securing the airport in Mali in January 2013, said Rem Korteweg, a defense analyst for the London-based Centre for European Reform. "The EU normally wants to deploy in co-ordination with diplomacy and development aid," he said, "and now can’t pull it all together."