In the Press - Europe news round-up
27 November 2020
Financial Times
The Centre for European Reform argues in a report that a deal between the EU and the UK on international co-operation looks unlikely. It thinks London could try to “divide and rule” EU states on international questions, a strategy the EU will be “wary” of. The paper analyses the EU’s portfolio of foreign policy agreements and how well they work — or not.
In the Press - Covid-19 means economic forecasts could be totally wide of the mark as Boris Johnson hits out at ‘gloomy’ data
26 November 2020
iNews
Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform said: “If the vaccine is effective and rolled out quickly we could see a bit of a consumer-led economic boom in the next few years.”
In the Press - What Britain’s ‘rollover’ trade deal with Canada really means
24 November 2020
The Telegraph
Other potential upgrades could come on areas such as gender, the environment and digital trade, none of which should be too tricky given they are issues on which both countries are broadly aligned, according to Sam Lowe, senior fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
In the Press - Can India help Greece counter the Turkey-Pakistan-Azerbaijan axisthat just overwhelmed Armenia?
18 November 2020
The EurAsian Times
"The shift towards a more assertive policy coincides with [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s alliance with the ultranationalist MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] since 2015 and the strengthening of his rule after the failed coup in 2016,” said Luigi Scazzieri, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.
In the Press - Perfect sovereignty under Brexit will come at an economic cost
17 November 2020
The Telegraph
As Sam Lowe, a trade specialist with the Centre for European Reform, points out, it makes no sense to argue on the one hand that there is a big economic dividend to be had from freedom to negotiate FTAs with other countries, but on the other that there is no economic penalty in not having such an FTA with the UK’s biggest trading partner, the EU.
In the Press - With Cummings gone and Biden in, a Brexit trade deal beckons
15 November 2020
The Telegraph
To this reason for reaching a deal with the EU, Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, adds another two; that failure would play straight into the hands of insurgent Scottish separatists and would cause an already alienated business community to go through the roof in fury.
In the Press - Ghana loses faith on UK trade deal
15 November 2020
The Telegraph
Sam Lowe, senior fellow at the Centre of European Reform, says: “Trade policy in the UK is an executive competence. I don’t buy this ‘DIT’s only got a mandate for rollovers’ line.”
In the Press - The future of EU-Israel relations after Biden's victory
13 November 2020
The New Arab
Luigi Scazzieri, Research Fellow at the Centre for European Reform, says Biden will take a much less pro-Israel line than Trump, and "will recommit the US to a two-state solution" and be critical of Israeli settlement construction. "I think Israel will be pressured to drop the annexation agenda," he told The New Arab.
In the Press - Biden puts pressure on Johnson to do a deal with the EU
12 November 2020
The Economist
Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, says the next weeks will see growing pressure for a deal from business and pro-business cabinet ministers and Tory MPs. Mr Johnson’s rising unpopularity and reputation for incompetence also suggest he badly needs to show he can at least get a much-promised Brexit trade deal.
In the Press - Brexit: UK firms face £80bn trade hit due to government failure to roll over EU deals
10 November 2020
The Independent
“It now seems likely that the UK will manage to roll over the majority of the EU’s trade agreements by the end of the year. Of those outstanding, Canada, Singapore and Vietnam will probably be done in the coming weeks, but Mexico will be a struggle,” said Sam Lowe, senior fellow at the Centre of European Reform.