In the Press - Spain & France make official complaint over UK goods - 'EU rules broken!'
18 June 2021
The Express
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform thinktank, condemned the plans and warned the UK could be in breach of its international commitments.He said: “Local content requirements are prohibited not just under the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement, but also the UK’s WTO commitments.
In the Press - Brexit faces problems at the Northern Irish border
17 June 2021
The Economist
A model constructed by John Springford of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank with offices in both London and Brussels, concludes that goods trade is 11% lower than it would otherwise have been, on top of an earlier 10% fall since the referendum.
In the Press - Wind turbine clash adds to UK-EU post-Brexit tensions
17 June 2021
The Guardian
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, and a former member of the Department for International Trade’s strategic trade advisory group, said: “Local content requirements are prohibited not just under the EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement, but also the UK’s WTO commitments.
In the Press - Google's rare surrender on ads risks more antitrust pursuers
16 June 2021
Bloomberg
“Obtaining a settlement is likely to be a roadmap for other regulators,” said Zach Meyers, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank.
In the Press - Australia trade deal will deliver minimal benefit to UK economy and poses risks for farmers, say experts
16 June 2021
The Independent
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, tweeted that “trade deals don’t do very much for aggregate GDP either positively or negatively” because the main benefits come from reducing tariffs, which are already quite low.
In the Press - Biden and Putin conclude high-stakes diplomacy at Geneva summit
16 June 2021
CNBC
“This is an attempt to stabilize the situation,” Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, told CNBC Wednesday. “The slogan from the Americans has been that they want predictability and stability in the relationship and it has been on a downward spiral, things have been getting worse.”
In the Press - UK-Australia trade deal could complicate post-Brexit solution in Northern Ireland, officials fear
15 June 2021
Politico
“While it was totally possible for the U.K. to do a deal with Australia and not jeopardize its ability to enter into a deep veterinary agreement with the EU, it will be interesting to see whether the U.K. chooses to diverge from EU approaches anyway so as to make it more difficult for this or a future government to reintegrate with the EU. A ratchet, of sorts,” said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
In the Press - ‘A new dawn’: Australia and Britain agree on historic trade deal
15 June 2021
The Sydney Morning Herald
Centre for European Reform trade expert Sam Lowe said he was surprised the UK agreed to eventually eliminate agricultural tariffs.
“When it comes to tariffs, we have a constituency-based electoral system which sees farmers heavily concentrated in Conservative backyards. The fact we are discussing duty free and quota-free trade is something that will have shocked everyone.”
“When it comes to tariffs, we have a constituency-based electoral system which sees farmers heavily concentrated in Conservative backyards. The fact we are discussing duty free and quota-free trade is something that will have shocked everyone.”
In the Press - Is Europe’s latest payments project doomed to fail?
14 June 2021
Financial Times
“Once participating banks start to go into the nitty-gritty of designing the EPI, the interests of those banks will start to diverge,” warned Zach Meyers at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
In the Press - NATO statement on China goes 'much further' than prior language, expert says
14 June 2021
Euronews
"The language on China certainly goes much further than anything NATO has said before,” Ian Bond, Director of Foreign Policy at the think tank the Centre for European Reform, told Euronews. “I think this does reflect an increasing realisation that China is developing in ways that we hadn’t hoped for and perhaps we didn’t expect a few years ago when the talk was of China becoming a responsible stakeholder in the international system.”