Press

Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform speaks on 'One road for many itineraries' panel, at the Bucharest Forum 2014, held at the Palace of Parliament on October 2 - 4.

"Current levels of immigration help Britain to deal with the costs of an ageing population," states the CER in its paper 'The Economic Consequences of Leaving the EU'.

"Everybody recognises him as competent and effective, so if he’s given charge of the important energy dossier that is good news because you need someone as experienced as him to handle this sensitive issue," said Charles Grant, director of the CER.

Ian Bond, de la CER: "Sunt pesimist în ceea ce priveşte şansele acestui proiect (Noul Drum al Mătăsii – n.r.). Diferenţele dintre ţările aflate de-a lungul aşa-numitului Nou Drum al Mătăsii sunt enorme şi interesele jucătorilor externi, sunt diferite."

The United Kingdom has always had an uneasy relationship with the European Union. The current UK government has promised the British people that they will get a chance in 2017 to decide whether they should finally break away from the EU entirely. British critics see the European Union as an undemocratic imposition of foreign rules on an unwilling British public, while British proponents see the EU as an important source of British prosperity and a magnifier of British influence in the world.

"The concept of the unitary state is going to become much more difficult except for a very small country," said Stephen Tindale, associate fellow at the CER. "It does augur increased pressure on central governments to change the (political) relationship" with regions.