Sophia Besch

Sophia Besch

Senior research fellow
Areas of expertise 

EU Common Security and Defence Policy, European defence industry integration, NATO, German security and defence policy

Twitter 

CER podcast: Brexit negotiations phase 2: The politics of regulatory alignment

31 January 2018
Charles Grant talks to Sophia Besch about how the EU-27 view the British idea of a bespoke post-Brexit partnership based on regulatory alignment. 

CER Bulletin podcast: Trade post Brexit; EU vs Poland; Trump's foreign policy

24 January 2018
In the CER Bulletin podcast, CER researchers brief podcast listeners on three of the most important topics for Europe this month.

CER podcast: A briefing on Nordstream 2

17 January 2018
Noah Gordon talks to Sophia Besch about the controversial Nordstream 2 pipeline – who is in favour of the project and who stands to lose out, what the EU is doing and what it should do, and whether Nordstream 2 is about business, geopolitics, or EU solidarity.

CER podcast: CER researchers review the year 2017

20 December 2017
Charles Grant, Simon Tilford and Ian Bond review the political themes and events that shaped 2017, and take a look at some of the predictions they made last year.
CER podcast: Will there be reforms for the eurozone?

CER podcast: Will there be reforms for the eurozone?

08 December 2017
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska and Sophia Besch review the Commission's new proposals for eurozone reform, and look at what EU leaders should discuss at the euro summit next week in Brussels.

CER podcast series: How to save the EU

22 November 2017
In November, the CER took more than 50 of Europe's top economists and political commentators to a conference on 'How to save the EU'.

BBC Newsnight: German coalition talks collapse

20 November 2017
Sophia Besch, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform speaks to Newsnight about the collapse in the German coalition talks (from 03.05).

Voice of America: EU signs historic defence pact as Brexit, Trump drive bloc to co-operate

14 November 2017
Three years later, Russia’s invasion of Crimea persuaded many European leaders of the need for closer defence.

CER podcasts: Relaunching the EU

08 November 2017
The CER has launched a major new report ‘Relaunching the EU’. In this podcast mini-series, CER researchers explain some of the reports main recommendations.

Judy Asks: Is the Franco-German engine floundering?

Carnegie Europe
08 November 2017
It is premature to talk about the engine floundering. The hype around the couple will be tested once a new German government is in place.