In the Press - EU influence: Influencers
19 October 2018
Politico
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska is moving to the Centre for European Reform’s Brussels office to work on the 2019 EU election, Brexit and rule of law issues.
In the Press - UK businesses despair as a no-deal Brexit looms, EU silent on contingency plans
19 October 2018
The Australian Financial Review
"When we had a fuel strike in the early 2000s, that led quite quickly to people stockpiling fuel and huge queues at the petrol pump. We'd be looking at something pretty similar," says John Springford, deputy director at the Centre for European Reform."But my suspicion is that the UK and EU will co-ordinate to try and get essential things through, like food and fuel, and keep the flights in the air."
In the Press - British trade negotiator's conundrum: Can he actually make any deals?
16 October 2018
The Wall Street Journal
If the UK is barred for doing trade deals for goods in coming years, it can focus on promoting trade in services. It could work on ways to get regulators in different countries to co-operate on mutually recognized rules to help British firms do business there, for instance. While talks on services are possible, “broad services agreements don’t really exist,” says Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
In the Press - Crisis or choreography over Brexit?
15 October 2018
The Financial Times
At the same time the PM needs to reduce the lengthy period between the moment she signs a final deal in Brussels and the moment she puts it to the Commons. “She needs to sign an agreement very close to the moment she has a meaningful vote,” says John Springford of the Centre for European Reform. “On the current timetable, if she were to land an agreement this week, there would be up to two months for backbench opponents and the Eurosceptic media to tear it apart.”
In the Press - Filling in the gaps in the Brexit deal
11 October 2018
The Economist
Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, says several countries are keener to enforce a level playing-field on regulation than they are to keep untrammelled free movement of people. So some limits may be acceptable.
In the Press - The UK economy since the Brexit vote
11 October 2018
The Financial Times
Financial Times research has shown that by the end of the first quarter, the UK economy was between 1 and 1.5 per cent smaller than it would have been without the Brexit vote, although some independent estimates, such as a recent report from the Centre for European Reform, suggest the hit could have been as large as 2.5 per cent.
In the Press - Brexit already hurting UK economy and no-deal risks recession, says Office for Budget Responsibility
11 October 2018
The Independent
The Bank of England and some independent analysts, including the Centre for European Reform, have suggested that the Leave result has held back UK GDP growth by between 2 and 2.5 per cent relative to where it otherwise would have been due to lower household spending, resulting from the spike in inflation after the vote, and lower business investment due to Brexit-related uncertainty.
In the Press - Discussion paper No.3 Brexit and the OBR's forecasts
11 October 2018
Office for Budget Responsibility
The Centre for European Reform found that cumulative UK growth was lower by 2.5 percentage points between the second quarter of 2016 and the second quarter of 2018 than the comparator. Born et al (2018) found that the shortfall in GDP growth was 2.0 percentage points over the same period.2 It is noteworthy that the estimates are broadly similar, despite the composition of the doppelgangers differing significantly.
In the Press - Post-Brexit Britain: Why UK could be forced to accept rat hair and maggots in their food after US trade deal
10 October 2018
The Daily Mail
Sam Lowe, a trade specialist for the Centre For European Reform told Business Insider that the US would 'pressure' the UK to align its food standards closer with the FDA rules.
'The US actively dislikes many existing EU measures and will certainly pressurise the UK to jettison many of them in any FTA negotiations with the UK,' Lowe told BI this week.
'The US actively dislikes many existing EU measures and will certainly pressurise the UK to jettison many of them in any FTA negotiations with the UK,' Lowe told BI this week.
In the Press - Die Frau, die über den Brexit entscheidet
10 October 2018
Die Welt
In London vermutet man hinter Fosters lauter Ablehnung derweil Kalkül. „Meint sie ihr Nein ernst? Anfangs hatte die DUP auch eine Unterstützung der Minderheitsregierung abgelehnt und sich dann doch darauf eingelassen“, erinnert Sam Lowe daran, dass May Nordirland nach der Wahl kurzfristig umgerechnet 1,2 Milliarden Euro Sonderhilfen zusagte. „Nordirland ist in vielerlei Hinsicht nicht in Großbritannien integriert. Etwa in seiner kategorischen Ablehnung der rechtlich verbindlichen Homo-Ehe oder des Abtreibungsrechts. Das Beharren auf die Integrität des Territoriums birgt aber hohe Symbolik, und die ist wichtig für die DUP“, sagt der Handelsexperte vom Centre for European Reform.