Research
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Will 2026 be the year to reset the reset?
11 February 2026
Ian Bond discussed the reset in EU-UK relationship with Anton Spisak and Jannike Wachowiak.
Meloni and Merz: EU's new power couple
11 February 2026
AFP
"The gaps between Paris and Berlin mean Berlin is having to look to other partners," Thomas Maddock, a fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London, told AFP.
Trump is right about Europe’s weakness — and wrong about the cure
10 February 2026
Encompass
I disagree with nearly everything Trump has said about Europe, yet one sentiment in his world-order-shifting rhetoric holds some truth. At the WEF in Davos, Trump said, “we want Europe to be strong...”
The Twenty-Four Two Podcast: “Trump hasn't been the boon to Orbán that many expected”
08 February 2026
This week's guest is Zselyke Csaky from the Centre for European Reform in Brussels - author of a recent report on the election. We discuss how Magyar’s foreign policy would differ from Orbán’s, whether Magyar could form an eastern counterweight to the EU’s Franco-German axis, his chances of getting his hands on €18 billion of suspended EU funds for Hungary, and Donald Trump’s failure to provide meaningful support to Orbán.
Trump dwingt Britten en Europeanen samen, maar echte toenadering blijft lastig
08 February 2026
Het Financieele Dagblad
‘Hoewel er enige vooruitgang is geboekt, is het momentum verloren gegaan’, oordeelde Ian Bond van het Centre for European Reform over de reset.
Exception not the rule
07 February 2026
Financial Times
As Sander Tordoir and Brad Setser pointed out in this piece, France has adopted EV subsidy rules that penalise long-distance, high-polluting transportation as well as production using electricity from coal, in effect excluding Chinese cars. The rest of the EU should follow France’s example, they said.
French paradox
07 February 2026
Financial Times
The tussle over Buy European is emblematic of what Charles Grant describes as the “paradox of French power”. French ideas, whether on industrial policy or defence, are in the ascendant or even dominant in EU policy-making, just at the moment when France’s president and government have never seemed weaker.
Europe threatens to shun British goods just as Starmer embraces Brussels
06 February 2026
The Telegraph
Ian Bond, of the Centre for European Reform, says France’s lingering Brexit resentment is not shared in other capitals such as Berlin, Rome and Brussels.“I have heard EU officials who are quite frustrated by the fact that some of the member state officials that they have to deal with are still relitigating hurts from 10 years ago, rather than looking to the future,” he says.
De la danse à la guerre : la Nuit des idées face aux tensions du monde en 2026
06 February 2026
Le Petit Journal
Ian Bond, directeur adjoint du Centre for European Reform, ne mâche pas ses mots : “Ne pas agir aujourd’hui est plus dangereux que le risque de s’engager.”
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The trade implications of ruptures in transatlantic relations
02 February 2026
Elisabetta Cornago discussed the trade implications of ruptures in EU-US relations with Anton Spisak and John Springford.
Rachel Reeves takes aim at Donald Trump in call for UK and EU to speak with one voice on trade
02 February 2026
Financial Times
John Springford, trade economist at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, noted that the promised additional growth amounted to just 0.3 per cent of UK GDP.
‘Gezamenlijk lenen’ is bezig aan een stille opmars, of Nederland dat wil of niet. In Luxemburg zien ze: Europese autonomie begint met gezamenlijke schulden
30 January 2026
NRC Handelsblad
Desondanks is er nu geen serieuze rivaal voor de macht van de dollar, zegt hoofdeconoom Sander Tordoir van het Centre for European Reform, telefonisch. Niet zolang beleggers vastzitten aan die Amerikaanse obligaties. „Duitse, Nederlandse en andere Europese kredietwaardige staatsobligaties zijn populair, maar ze zijn schaars. Niemand komt in de buurt van de schaal van de Amerikaanse obligatiemarkt (die met een marktomvang van zo’n 25.000 miljard euro bijna twintig keer zo groot is als alle eurobonds bij elkaar opgeteld).
EU dynamo is consumers, not trade deals or tariffs
29 January 2026
Reuters
EU consumers could be predictably stirred with the kind of “Buy European” subsidies as proposed by economists such as Sander Tordoir at the Centre for European Reform.
Six ans après, le Brexit n’a pas tenu sa promesse et provoqué un impact majeur sur l’économie britannique
29 January 2026
Le Temps
John Springford, un économiste et chercheur au Centre for European Reform, estime que cet écart de PIB représente une perte de revenus équivalente à 2000 livres (2100 francs suisses) par habitant et un manque à gagner en recettes fiscales de 40 à 80 milliards de livres (42 à 84 francs suisses).
You want proof that Brexit was a disaster? Go to an airport
27 January 2026
iNews
The Centre for European Reform estimated that UK GDP per capita was 6-8 per cent lower, investment 12-18 per cent lower and productivity down 3-4 per cent, leaving the country poorer than it would otherwise have been.
Programme militaire européen SAFE : vers une volte-face du Royaume-Uni ?
27 January 2026
Capital
Charles Grant, directeur du Centre for European Reforme, explique dans une récente analyse que «certains fonctionnaires de la Commission étaient plutôt embarrassés. Ils ont évoqué les pressions considérables exercées par la France. (...) Un fonctionnaire français – travaillant pour une institution de l'UE et non pour la France – a estimé que la France avait 'intimidé' la Commission».
Brexit Britain wil niet kiezen tussen EU en VS. Hoelang is dat nog houdbaar?
26 January 2026
Financieel Dagblad
Het probleem van Starmer is dat de Britten na tachtig jaar nauwe samenwerking enorm afhankelijk zijn van de VS, zegt oud-diplomaat Ian Bond van de denktank Centre for European Reform. ‘Het is onze grootste handelspartner na de EU, de investeringen over en weer zijn immens. We hebben de VS nodig voor veel van ons militaire materieel en de inlichtingendiensten hebben een unieke samenwerking.
NPO Radio 1: Europa gooit het roer om
26 January 2026
De ‘Groenland-crisis’ heeft Europese leiders wakker geschud. De afhankelijkheid van de Verenigde Staten moet, in ieder geval voor de komende jaren, drastisch worden teruggeschroefd. Maar dit is niet alleen slecht nieuws. Over hoe we dat nu precies doen, dat losweken, praten we vandaag verder met Sander Tordoir, hoofdeconoom bij het Centre for European Reform.
The PM has a doctrine — but it’s delusional
25 January 2026
The Sunday Times
When Lithuania said it would withdraw from the treaty to join Finland, Estonia and Latvia, which shrewdly never signed up, a Labour Foreign Office minister in the Lords, Baroness Chapman of Darlington (formerly Starmer’s political secretary), voiced strong disapproval: “The UK regrets Lithuania’s decision [and] has frequently raised concerns with Lithuania regarding withdrawal.” When I reported this to a former British ambassador to Latvia, Ian Bond, he groaned and described it as “nuts”.
Briti teadur Kaja Kallasest: ta on aus, teised juhid käituvad vahel nii nagu võiksime lihtsalt teeselda, et Trump juhib vaba maailma
23 January 2026
Postimees
«Ma tean, et ta ei ole Brüsselis universaalselt populaarne,» ütleb Briti mõttekoja CER vanemanalüütik, kunagine Ühendkuningriigi suursaadik Lätis Ian Bond Kaja Kallase esimest aastat Euroopa Liidu kõrge välisesindajana kokku võttes.