Centre for European Reform

A report by the Centre for European Reform (CER), calculates that more than half of the foreign-born workers doing “green jobs” in the UK – 260,000 out of 465,000 – would not have been allowed in under the new rules.Ministers are relying on employers to raise wages and provide more training in order to attract domestic workers into these roles, but John Springford, an associate fellow at the CER, said that could push up the costs to consumers of going green.

Aslak Berg, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said the Commission seemed to be serious about reforms that made a difference, but needed to get EU members on board.

"If the EU alone decides to tighten the screws on the cap, it's an additional constraint on Russia's oil exports but not as tight as with a whole of G7 approach," said Elisabetta Cornago, a senior researcher at the Centre for European Reform (CER).

Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said the cherry-picking line had been “a product of the strained relationship that followed the referendum, and the EU’s concern that other countries should not follow the UK’s example.”“The truth is that where there is mutual interest in the two sides moving closer — as there is on [sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agri-food rules] and energy trading — the EU is happy for the British to pick a cherry.