In the Press - May's Brexit model is alive and kicking
18 July 2018
Financial Times
Above all, there is a decision to be made between the current free movement of goods across Britain’s European borders (thus protecting both the peace settlement in Northern Ireland as well as manufacturing supply chains) or taking a maximalist view of “taking back control”. This choice is one that May has taken — in favour of the former. The white paper may not state this clearly — many political fig leaves remain in place — but as Sam Lowe rightly puts it, she is “inching our way towards Jersey”. That refers to the “Jersey model” of free movement of goods, with the UK being a full rule-taker as far as the production and trading of goods is concerned, which both Lowe and I have outlined.
In the Press - A second Brexit referendum is back in play
18 July 2018
The Economist
It would almost certainly be necessary for Britain to ask the EU for more time. It would probably agree, believes Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, though it would hope to resolve matters before elections to the European Parliament at the end of May.
In the Press - EU rejects protectionism in huge trade deal with Japan
18 July 2018
The Times
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, said the EU-Japan deal was a “rebuff to the US attempts to move away from the multilateral order to an order based on the principle of might being right”.
In the Press - CER wins the 2018 Prospect Award for 'Think Tank of the Year'
17 July 2018
Prospect
Ian Bond and Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska represented the Centre for European Reform at the Prospect think tank awards, and were delighted to accept the award for Think Tank of the year.
In the Press - How Theresa May could stumble off the Brexit cliff
17 July 2018
Politico
One commits the UK to leaving the EU’s VAT area after Brexit. Some experts say this all but guarantees a hard border in Ireland, undermining the whole purpose of May’s compromise Chequers plan. Charles Grant, the director of the Center for European Reform, said: “Unless we stay in EU’s VAT area, we cannot avoid a hard border.”
In the Press - The Tory civil war over Brexit
17 July 2018
Financial Times
Today at Westminster, there is much debate over how much technical damage the Rees-Mogg amendments really did to Chequers. Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform is among a number of analysts who believe it was actually less harmful than Brexiters believe.
In the Press - DOMINIC LAWSON: Any Brexit plan that Peter Mandelson and Jacob Rees-Mogg BOTH think is hopeless must be an absolute stinker!
15 July 2018
Mail Online
'But if May wants a deal, her red lines will have to shift. She has already agreed to be a rule taker and accepted a role for the European Court of Justice. She will also have to accept some sort of customs union, payments to the EU and something close to free movement of labour.'
In the Press - Just sitting down with Trump, Putin comes out ahead
15 July 2018
The New York Times
Ian Bond, a former British diplomat in Moscow who is now director for foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, a research group in London, said he would normally cheer any chance for leaders to sit down and hash out their problems.
In the Press - Trump's criticism of May's Brexit plan zeroes in on trade reality
13 July 2018
The Wall Street Journal
Mr Trump’s interview upset many in the UK by undermining his host on the day he arrived in the country. But the message wasn’t wrong, trade specialists say.“Fundamentally, it’s the correct analysis,” says Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the London-based Centre for European Reform, a pro-EU think-tank. “The closer the UK remains to the EU, the more difficult it becomes to do a trade deal with the US.”
In the Press - Trump on the island: Why the US president will not help the British premier
13 July 2018
RBC
“Future arrangements will complicate the fact that the US and the EU adhere to different regulatory standards, said research staff of the Centre for European Reform, Beth Oppenheim and Christian Odendahl. According to analysts, the standards of food production in America are lower than in the EU, so the United States has long been calling for barriers to be removed in this sector. "If Britain intends to adhere to pan-European standards, the United States will have less incentive to complete the trade deal," experts concluded.”