Press
The revenge of strategic yogurt: How the EU started speaking French when it comes to the economy
03 October 2020
The Economist
Given how dependent the EU is on exports, which are worth about half its GDP compared with 12% in America and 18% in China, the bloc will probably come off worse from any protectionist fight. It is possible that merely developing the tools will ensure the EU never has to use them, argues Sam Lowe from the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. But if the EU does end up using these tools as a stick, it may turn out to be a boomerang that comes hurtling back at them.
BBC Business Daily: Final countdown for a Brexit trade deal
02 October 2020
"From the EU's point of view they undoubtedly fear, post-Brexit, a very hyper-competitive UK that is slashing rules and regulations, subsidising high-tech industries and pulling investment in that would have otherwise gone to the EU, it fears the UK running a very different economic model" Charles Grant, director of the...
The EU's Turkey challenge
01 October 2020
LSE blog
EU leaders will discuss relations with Turkey at a special European Council meeting that begins today.
The Warcast: No-Deal Brexit: Implications for Ireland and European Security
01 October 2020
Daniel Keohane, an associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform and the author of the recent report, “A terrible border is reborn? Ireland and a no-deal Brexit”, joins the Warcast to discuss the implications of the Internal Market Bill for security in Ireland and UK-EU security ties.
European Union struggles to manage Turkey spat as leaders meet
01 October 2020
Ahval
Member states broadly agree on the aim of the EU's Turkey policy, but disagree on the best way to achieve this, Luigi Scazzieri, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said ahead of the meetings.
Brexit and external differentiation in foreign, security and defence policy
29 September 2020
EUIDEA
This paper examines the EU’s foreign, security and defence policy relations with third countries, and their relevance to the EU’s future co-operation with the UK in these areas.
CER/OSEPI podcast: The new migration pact: A "fresh start" or more of the same?
28 September 2020
The European Commission has unveiled its much-awaited ‘new migration pact’. But just how much of it is new? Will the EU finally agree on a common migration policy?
Good Morning Scotland: Kent lorry checks
26 September 2020
John Springford, deputy director of the CER spoke to Good Morning Scotland about the likelihood of a UK-EU trade deal, as well as how trade might be impacted by the plan around Kent and potential hold-ups for freight (from 32:06).
For UK's Boris Johnson, hardball tactics seem the only way to a Brexit deal
26 September 2020
The New York Times
The blockage seems to come from Mr. Johnson’s powerful adviser, Dominic Cummings, who sees no need for Britain to tie itself to any European rules and wants the freedom to subsidize the high-tech industries of the future, said Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, a research institute. ...“Ultimately I think Boris Johnson wants a deal,” Mr. Grant said.
Trade experts raise fresh doubts over UK-US trade deal due to tax row
24 September 2020
City A.M
Sam Lowe, a trade policy adviser at the Centre for European Reform, said the Donald Trump administration sees the tax “as a discriminatory attack on US tech companies”.
“It has already threatened retaliatory tariffs on British exports if it comes into effect,” he said.
“The US is unlikely to back down on the issue even if there is a Biden presidency, and is unlikely to strike a trade deal with the UK if it is in place.”
“It has already threatened retaliatory tariffs on British exports if it comes into effect,” he said.
“The US is unlikely to back down on the issue even if there is a Biden presidency, and is unlikely to strike a trade deal with the UK if it is in place.”
Die EU bleibt hart
23 September 2020
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Unabhängige Fachleute wie Charles Grant vom Londoner Centre for European Reform bleiben vorsichtig optimistisch. Er sieht Johnson unter „enormem Druck“, einen Deal möglich zu machen. Grant macht nicht nur „große Nervosität“ unter britischen Wirtschaftsführern aus. Viele Konservative, unter ihnen Minister, sorge vor allem die Lage in Schottland. Dort könnte der Drang zur Unabhängigkeit weiter wachsen, sollten die Verhandlungen mit Brüssel scheitern.
CER submission to the British government's integratered view of security, defence, development and foreign policy
21 September 2020
The CER's submission to the British government's security, defence, development and foreign policy review argues that to tackle diverse threats successfully, the UK must build strong partnerships with other democracies.
Do you think the UK really cares about getting a US trade deal?
21 September 2020
Financial Times
Despite a trade deal with the US being popular with many in the Conservative party, it does not appear to be a number one priority for Number 10.
Rules of origin: A Brexit headache for UK exporters
18 September 2020
Global Trade Review
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER) think tank, says he doubts extended cumulation would actually lead to the UK becoming an offshore manufacturing hub – not least because “there are still many other additional costs that come with producing in the UK, rather than the EU, if you’re selling to the European market”.
No-deal hype obscures the real threat of a bad Brexit
18 September 2020
Financial Times
This is a harder Brexit than most supporters voted for in 2016, and a harder Brexit than many people can make sense of now. After so many threats of catastrophe over the past four years, businesses have “boy who cried wolf” syndrome, says Sam Lowe, of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. But the bumps are coming.
Russia 1: Brexit developments
18 September 2020
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform spoke to Russia 1 about developments around Brexit: the introduction of the Internal Market Bill, the next stage of negotiations with Brussels and the perspective of a new trade agreement between the UK and the EU (from 3:20 mins).
After fire at refugee camp, Europe faces a reckoning
18 September 2020
The New York Times
“The fire at Moria has shifted public attention to the dire conditions of Greece’s refugee camps,’’ said Camino Mortera-Martinez, a senior analyst with the Centre for European Reform, a think tank, noting that the problem is not new.
CER podcast: What does the 2020 SOTEU speech reveal about the EU's ambition?
18 September 2020
In this year's State of the Union address, Ursula von der Leyen laid out her plans for the EU's transition "from fragility to a new vitality".
Agenda Exterior: la UE de Von der Leyen
17 September 2020
POLÍTICA EXTERIOR
Con un discurso bastante largo, creo que Von der Leyen se dirigió especialmente a los tres partidos que la sostienen en el Parlamento Europeo, con el objetivo de seguir manteniendo el apoyo del grupo socialista y del grupo liberal.
Europe's economic revival is imperiled, raising the specter of a grinding downturn
17 September 2020
The New York Times
“The rich countries have shown they are willing to put their credibility on the line to support the others,” said Christian Odendahl, the Berlin-based chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. “That will stabilize expectations about the European economy going forward.”