Press
Brexit Britain set for '50 years' of non-stop negotiations with EU to improve current deal
27 January 2021
Express
Charles Grant, Director of the Centre for European Reform, fears the UK still has five key areas that will determine the future relationship between the country and the European Union. Mr Grant looked at European countries outside the EU, like Switzerland, who have been in a constant negotiation limbo with the bloc since the mid-seventies. The political expert forecast Brexit Britain may soon be entering a similar situation and face as much as 50 years of additional talks with Brussels.
Brexit negotiations could continue for '50 years' to improve deal
27 January 2021
The New European
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, told the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that the UK could end up like Switzerland - a country which has been in negiotiation limbo since the mid-seventies.Grant warned that very little had been settled with the Brexit deal that decides the UK's long-term relationship with the bloc.
Brexit leaves UK and EU diminished in fight against international crime
26 January 2021
Financial Times
Camino Mortera-Martinez, an expert in EU justice and security at the Centre for European Reform, foresees difficulties in reconciling the EU’s perceived data protection “gold standard” with the UK becoming laxer to boost innovation.
Britain joins US in attack on China’s trade subsidies
23 January 2021
The Telegraph
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said joining the tripartite group would be “a good way of building bridges with the US and the EU on trade”.He said: “It’s good for the UK to try and come to a consensus position on these issues; there’s no point in the UK taking its own approach. If the aim is actually to try and change Chinese behaviour and get new commitments from China in these areas, then you need to present a united front.
US President Biden's rocky road to rebuilding trust with Europe
21 January 2021
Forbes
“Trump literally thought that EU had been set up to cheat and take advantage of the US,” said Luigi Scazzieri, a researcher at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “Biden doesn’t, so this makes working together feasible in a huge range of areas,” he said.
In a slight to EU, UK says not all Ambassadors are equal
21 January 2021
The New York Times
Ian Bond, the director of foreign policy for the Centre for European Reform in London, said Britain’s “attempt to downgrade the status of the EU delegation to the UK looks petty and guaranteed to cause ill-will, when the UK needs friends in Brussels.’’It was “worth noting Trump tried the same trick, but had to back down,’’ he said, referring to a similar effort to downgrade the status of the EU ambassador to Washington two years ago.
Biden y Europa: ¿la gran esperanza blanca?
21 January 2021
El Periodico
El nuevo presidente de EEUU devolverá la calma a las relaciones con Europa, aunque esa no va a ser su prioridad.
Judy Asks: Is the EU too soft on Putin?
21 January 2021
Carnegie Europe
After more than twenty years, the EU has not found a successful strategy to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
5 things to expect from Joe Biden on UK trade
20 January 2021
Politico
Yet dealing with the domestic economic aftermath of COVID-19 and all the other burning issues left by the Trump administration will cause the deal to “fall down the political agenda,” said Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, shortly after Biden’s election.
CER podcast: What next for post-Merkel Germany?
20 January 2021
Christian Odendahl spoke to Laura Krause and Sophia Besch about the election of the new CDU party leader Armin Laschet.
How did US President Donald Trump impact Europe during his four years in office?
19 January 2021
Euronews
For Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform (CER) think tank, "the biggest impact" of Trump's presidency for Europe, was "the loss of trust in America's reliability as an ally."
Europe welcomes Biden, but won't wait for him
18 January 2021
The New York Times
Sophia Besch and Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform argue in a new paper that “many Europeans will want to forget Trump’s presidency ever happened.” But they add, “Europe cannot continue to look to the U.S. to answer key questions on what its interests are and how it should pursue them.”
Faltering threesome fight to follow Angela Merkel
16 January 2021
The Times
“The CDU is not the party of ideas,” Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said. “It’s the party of maintaining the status quo.”
It’s over for Angela Merkel and her winning coalition
16 January 2021
The Telegraph
As the Centre for European Reform points out, the chancellor has simultaneously managed to draw outsized support from conservatives, centrists, greens, women and descendants of migrants. But her successor will not be given the benefit of the doubt by most of these groups and will have to prioritise.
Les débuts chaotiques du commerce post-Brexit
16 January 2021
Le Monde
« Une partie de ces problèmes relève de l’adaptation à court terme aux nouvelles règles. Cela devrait se calmer une fois que les entreprises comprendront les démarches à effectuer, estime Sam Lowe, du groupe de réflexion Centre for European Reform. Mais c’est aussi l’amorce d’une relation commerciale fondamentalement différente entre l’Union européenne et le RoyaumeUni. Chaque échange va entraîner un coût supplémentaire et, pour certaines entreprises, ça ne sera plus rentable. »
The messy race to replace Germany's 'remarkable' Angela Merkel
15 January 2021
The Sydney Morning Herald
Sophia Besch, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, says CDU delegates are not just picking a new leader but also casting a vote on the future of conservatism in Germany.
La eleccion del sucesor de Merkel: ¿Ninguno de los de arriba?
15 January 2021
Agenda Publica
La competencia por los votantes de Angela Merkel ha comenzado, y la CDU necesita un líder capaz de mantener unida a su amplia red de partidarios. Éste bien puede ser el ministro de Salud, Jens Spahn.
The battle for Germany's ruling party that will change Europe
15 January 2021
EU Observer
"Any future CDU chancellor will thus start from a position of managing the status quo, preserving what has been achieved, maintaining the crucial relationship with the US, and not risking Germans' support for European integration," Sophia Besch and Christian Odendahl at the Centre for European Reform write in their analysis.
BBC Radio 4 - The World at one: Brexit problems with new trading arrangements
14 January 2021
Sam Lowe a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform spoke to Sarah Montague about the teething problems and costs of the new trading arrangements (from 28.30 mins).
Britain’s immediate economic prospects are grim
14 January 2021
The Economist
But Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, says Brussels will weaken its rules only to help EU members such as Ireland; it has no interest in softening the impact of Brexit on Britain.