Research
The EU’s Defence Readiness 2030 Roadmap: Ambition and constraints
29 October 2025
The Defence Readiness 2030 Roadmap seeks to accelerate and inject coherence into the EU’s defence build-up. Its success depends on sustained funding and political will.
Policy to accommodate populist voters won't work
28 October 2025
There is an expansive literature on the causes of the rise of populism. Its lesson? Policies designed to appease populism are unlikely to be effective. That battle can only be won through argument.
How buy-European rules can help save Europe's car industry
23 October 2025
Europe's car industry faces an acute demand shock from Chinese overcapacity & US tariffs. Instead of bailouts & regulatory rollbacks, member-states should co-ordinate buy-European EV subsidies & revive internal demand.
A reform agenda for the single market
16 October 2025
Last year, the Draghi report laid bare the need for reform to drive growth. Practical steps on energy, services, competition, finance and simplification can operationalise this agenda into meaningful change.
China and Europe: Can the EU and the UK find a shared strategy?
14 October 2025
China’s trade and industrial policy, its monopoly on many critical technologies and its geopolitical ambitions make it a genuinely systemic rival to the EU and the UK. They need to work together to defend their interests.
CER quick reaction: The Czech elections
06 October 2025
Czechia’s elections mark a populist shift, but Babiš faces a hard path to form a government. The further he’s pulled to the right, the greater the risk of EU fragmentation.
Can Europe save Ukraine – and itself – from Putin and Trump?
11 September 2025
Trump is not on Ukraine’s side, or Europe’s, but he cannot deliver peace on Putin’s terms. Rather than taking their lead from Trump, European leaders should act urgently to stop Russia’s advances and guarantee Ukraine’s security.
Tough love: How the EU should tackle corruption and the rule of law in Ukraine
09 September 2025
War has not made Ukraine’s problems with corruption and the rule of law vanish.
Making the EU's digital regulatory reset count: Four recommendations
02 September 2025
The EU digital rulebook has grown rapidly in recent years, becoming cumbersome and sometimes hampering trade. The forthcoming digital regulatory package is an opportunity to simplify the rules.
In defence of a bad deal
07 August 2025
The EU-US deal will hurt their economies, raise tariffs and weaken the global legal order. But despite it all, the EU was right to accept.
The Helsinki Final Act at 50: Relevant, or a relic?
28 July 2025
The Helsinki Final Act played a key role in ending the Cold War, but the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), to which it gave birth, has progressively been sidelined in Europe’s security architecture.
The EU Emissions Trading System in a larger EU
24 July 2025
Integrating EU candidate countries into the EU ETS would incentivise them to decarbonise their emissions-intensive electricity mix and heavy industries. Gradual integration would soften the economic impact of a high carbon price.
In transatlantic trade talks, the EU must keep digital policy off the table
18 July 2025
The UK has shifted some of its digital policies to appease the US president. But Brussels should adjust its tech agenda to boost its own competitiveness – not to cave in to Donald Trump.
Towards a decarbonised energy system in a larger EU
16 July 2025
Enlarging the energy union to include EU candidate countries would benefit both current and future EU member-states. Expanding the EU energy market would support energy decarbonisation, security and affordability.
The next steps for the UK-EU reset
19 June 2025
The UK-EU summit last month was an important step towards closer co-operation and a strategic partnership. Both sides now need to turn that ambition into detailed sectoral negotiations with a clear timescale.
Reconciling UK migration policy with the energy transition
18 June 2025
Many foreign workers that are needed to deliver the British government's net zero mission will not meet its higher salary and skills thresholds for visas.
Elections in Poland and Romania: What do the results mean for Europe?
13 June 2025
Both elections tested democratic resilience and, while confirming the status quo on most EU policies, showed that anti-establishment sentiment is here to stay.
The case for using the Anti-Coercion Instrument against Russia
05 June 2025
The EU sanctions regime against Russia is threatened by a Hungarian veto. The Anti-Coercion Instrument would allow the EU to bypass Budapest.
NATO summit 2025: Time to build a proper European pillar?
02 June 2025
Neither an ‘EU-plus’ nor a ‘NATO-minus’ could fill all the gaps that would be left in European security if the US radically reduced its commitment to NATO.
A perfect storm: Britain's trade malaise, weak growth and a new geopolitical moment
21 May 2025
The UK is facing its most severe trade challenge in decades – and at the worst possible time.