Research
On Europe, Labour should reconsider its 'red chains'
16 May 2025
Labour’s reset with the EU will fail to deliver a significant boost to economic growth. A fundamental refashioning of the EU-UK relationship would require Labour to think again about freedom of movement.
Not a summit of ambition
12 May 2025
The EU-UK summit should enable leaders to respond to the threatening global situation by putting past differences behind them. However, backward-looking dogma and unnecessary red lines may result in the summit under-achieving.
Does EU enlargement require voting reform?
09 May 2025
Moving away from unanimity is complex and faces much resistance. But it is a question that EU leaders will not be able to avoid in the long run.
Ditchley conference report: A European path to higher economic growth
07 May 2025
In November 2024, at its annual Ditchley economics conference, the CER gathered leading politicians, officials, academics, journalists and thinkers to discuss the causes of Europe’s slow economic growth and what the continent should do about them.
Power losses: What's holding back European electricity trade?
29 April 2025
The EU is falling behind in its push to create a European power market. This analysis sets out a five-point plan for the EU and national governments to hasten integration.
France and Romania: Should far-right candidates be banned from running for the presidency?
25 April 2025
Excluding candidates from standing in elections may be a legally sound option to protect democracy from anti-democratic forces.
Will EU enlargement create new models for the EU-UK relationship?
15 April 2025
Enlargement is pushing the EU to think creatively about how to work more closely with candidate countries before accession. The consequences for EU-UK relations could be significant.
Access denied: The EU's discriminatory visa regime is undermining its reputation in Africa
02 April 2025
EU leaders claim people-to-people links between Europe and Africa are a strength, but the EU’s visa policy tells a different story.
Donald Trump's return to office: Ten consequences
28 March 2025
Donald Trump’s second presidency is shaking up the geopolitical landscape. Most of the consequences are harmful, but some are beneficial.
One step forward for Europe's defence
26 March 2025
In an effort to adjust to the new strategic reality, the EU is trying to make it easier for member-states to strengthen Europe’s defences. Success or failure depends on them.
Articles
Political bans may be legal, but they are unlikely to save democracy
12 May 2025
Encompass
In recent months, several far-right politicians have been banned from political competition. The courts in Romania banned two extremist candidates from running in presidential elections.
The Iberian grid meltdown imperils electricity trade
03 May 2025
EurActiv
Linking up electricity grids exposes European countries to each other's energy policy decisions. But the meltdown of Spain and Portugal's grids on Tuesday, which spread to France, will lead to renewed scrutiny on interconnectors being a potential way for troubles in one country to spread to another.
Taking the Pulse: In light of Trump’s tariffs, should Europe get closer to China?
17 April 2025
Carnegie Europe
The EU and China are both trade-surplus blocs: They rely on external demand and need buyers, not sellers, as the United States reduces its demand.
Econoom Sander Tordoir over de Trump-tarieven: “Xi Jinping zal zich in de handen wrijven om dit geschenk”
04 April 2025
De Standaard
Na Vietnam en Mexico zijn de VS het grootste slachtoffer van de handelstarieven van Donald Trump, zegt econoom Sander Tordoir.
Wcale nie Trump. Głównym przeciwnikiem gospodarczym UE są Chiny
28 March 2025
Oko Press
„Chiny są egzystencjalnym zagrożeniem dla europejskiej branży motoryzacyjnej” – mówi nam holenderski ekonomista Sander Tordoir.
Experts: What do Trump’s tariffs mean for global climate action?
27 March 2025
Carbon Brief
The Trump administration is walking back on US climate commitments, both domestically by threatening to cut back Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) support for clean-tech industries and internationally, [by] withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.
Press
‘A double whammy’: Strong euro compounds EU exporters’ tariff torment
20 May 2025
EurActiv
“It's a double whammy for European exporters to the United States, [in] that they get hit not only with tariffs, but that the normal offset of an appreciating dollar exchange rate to the euro is not kicking in – in fact, the opposite is happening,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.
Reeves hopes hat-trick of deals shows Britain is open for business
19 May 2025
The Guardian
John Springford of the Centre for European Reform, whose analysis suggests the UK economy is approximately 5% smaller than it would otherwise have been as a result of Brexit, suggests that the government’s 0.3% estimate still looks relatively generous.He recently forecast that an SPS agreement would add less than 0.1%, for example, against the 0.2% upside modelled by the government.
How much Starmer’s Brexit deal might cost you
19 May 2025
The Telegraph
Aslak Berg, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said: “Ten to 12 per cent of that is a reasonable estimate.”This would mean a rough contribution of around £15.7 million from Britain to the EU agency every year.
ITV News: Government says EU reset is a 'huge boost for growth' - does the claim stack up?
19 May 2025
“I think the price of goods will come down a bit, certainly in the food that we import from the EU and we might get a bit of a better range, but I don't think it's really going to make a really noticeable difference to people's shopping bills,” John Springford, an associate fellow at the CER told ITV News.
How has Britain’s economy fared since Brexit? The five charts underpinning the UK-EU summit
19 May 2025
The Guardian
According to estimates by John Springford, an associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform, the demands of the UK and EU suggest the reset could boost Britain’s GDP by a limited amount, of between 0.3% and 0.7%. Far less than the OBR’s estimated 4% long-term reduction in GDP.
EU certificates deal could boost UK exports by a quarter, study finds
18 May 2025
Financial Times
John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said the decision was a question of “pure politics” rather than legal barriers, and that the potential benefits for both sides were significant. “It’s strange that the EU is willing to allow the US to judge the conformity of goods to EU standards, but not the UK, despite its continued alignment with EU rules in the goods sector,” he added.
The £25bn-a-year prize at stake in Starmer’s Brexit reset talks with EU
18 May 2025
The Independent
The long-awaited youth mobility scheme alone could boost GDP by 0.45 per cent in the next decade, according to a separate study from the Centre for European Reform. On youth mobility, John Springford, associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform, noted: “The youth mobility scheme would raise GDP by bringing more young EU workers into the UK labour force – although the final numbers will depend on how many are allowed to come and how long they can stay for.”
'Our business needs Irish Sea border reset'
18 May 2025
BBC News
The Centre for European Reform (CER), a think tank, said that an agri-food deal would not be of "great macroeconomic significance" for the UK as a whole but that NI would be a "major beneficiary".It added: "The closer UK regulations come to those of the EU, the less is the need for border controls on goods crossing the Irish Sea from Great Britain to Northern Ireland."
The critical weaknesses in Starmer’s EU defence pact
17 May 2025
The Telegraph
“Without question, signature of the pact at the summit is desirable, but in the near future it will not create the single European defence market, including the UK, that some member-states would like to see,” the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, has said in a report ahead of the summit.
Londres y Bruselas trabajan contra reloj para que su primera cumbre bilateral sea la imagen de superación del Brexit
17 May 2025
El Pais
“El triunfo de Reform UK ―la reencarnación del Partido del Brexit― en las elecciones locales del 1 de mayo va a aumentar la precaución extrema del Gobierno laborista a la hora de dar pasos que pueden ser vistos como demasiado proeuropeos. Y el ascenso de Reform UK también ha tenido su efecto sobre la visión que la UE tiene del Reino Unido: algunos líderes europeos se muestran reticentes a lograr una reconciliación amplia con Londres, ante el temor de que en cuatro años se acabe asentando en Westminster [como se denomina al Parlamento británico] un Gobierno fuertemente euroescéptico”, han señalado Aslak Berg, Ian Bond y Charles Grant, del influyente Centre for European Reform, en su informe previo a la cumbre.
Podcasts
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Will the UK-EU summit reset relations?
08 May 2025
Charles Grant and Sophia Gaston discuss the UK-EU summit.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The implications of Trump's tariffs
16 April 2025
Aslak Berg and Meredith Crowley discuss President Trump's tariffs.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: The future of EU-India relations
02 April 2025
Anunita Chandrasekar, Tara Varma and Amaia Sánchez-Cacicedo consider the trajectory of EU-India relations.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: Can Europe still rely on the United States?
11 March 2025
Charles Grant and Kori Schake discuss what America’s hostility to the rules-based international order means for transatlantic relations.
CER Podcast: Unpacking Europe: A snapshot of the war in Ukraine
21 February 2025
Ian Bond and Iuliia Osmolovska discuss the war in Ukraine.
Events
CER/Clifford Chance hybrid discussion on 'Can the EU reconcile regulation and growth?' with Mirzha De Manuel Aramandia, Daniel Friedlaender and Ursula Woodburn
21 May 2025
Hybrid Brussels
Please email [email protected] for further information, including how to register.
Discussion on 'What future for the transatlantic relationship?'
08 May 2025
London
With Kim Darroch and Rachel Ellehuus
CER/HSF hybrid discussion on 'The Weimar Triangle and Weimar Plus'
03 April 2025
Hybrid London/Zoom
With Michał Kamiński, Joséphine Staron, Nicolai von Ondarza and Peter Watkins. Watch the video of the event here.
CER/Delegation of the EU to the UK discussion on 'Can Europe become a tech power house?'
17 March 2025
London
with Priit Alamäe, Katherine Bennett, Gaelle Drory-Liaudet and Roberto Viola
27th birthday party, London
26 February 2025
London
With a keynote speech by the Rt Hon David Lidington CBE, former Minister for the Cabinet Office & Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster & Chair, RUSI. Listen to the audio of the speeches here.
Hosted by Inigo Lambertini, Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom.
Hosted by Inigo Lambertini, Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom.