Press
The Iran war’s economic threat to Europe and Asia
19 March 2026
The New York Times
Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Center for European Reform, a research institute, said Europe’s overall public finances are in good shape, but that a repeat of the level of relief that governments provided consumers and businesses in 2022 would raise troubling prospects. In the European Union, energy subsidies nearly doubled to 397 billion euros, or $457 billion, in 2022 from a year earlier. Over two years, the British government provided about 75 billion pounds ($100 billion) of support, including subsidizing household energy bills.
Ukraine suffers money detback after Hungary blocks $100 billion from Europe
19 March 2026
The Wall Street Journal
The pipeline issue gives Orbán something concrete to talk about after years of pledging to keep Hungary out of the war and backing Trump’s plans to end it, said Zselyke Csaky, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “Orbán is behind in the election campaign and he needed some tangible proof that can make it look like Ukraine posed a threat,” she said. “The pipeline provides this excuse.”
How has Brexit affected immigration to the UK?
19 March 2026
Encompass
Vote Leave made the end of free movement a central plank of their referendum campaign, and promised that Britain would introduce a ‘points-based system’ if it left the EU.
ITV Peston: Benefits of the UK-EU reset
18 March 2026
John Springford was asked by The Peston show to update his estimates of the benefits of the UK-EU reset.
Trump wants to strongarm Nato into a new Gulf war. Here’s why Europe must resist
18 March 2026
The Guardian
If Europe is sucked into this illegal conflict with Iran, public support for rearmament could collapse – and only Putin will benefit.
Rachel Reeves risks a Brussels shake-down
17 March 2026
The Telegraph
While deals on plant and animal health, and on electricity trading, bring obvious benefits to EU farmers selling food to Britain and to northern European customers buying British energy, Charles Grant, at the Centre for European Reform, says even in these limited areas it is hard to strike a deal.
Rachel Reeves warned that more than warm words are needed to woo the EU
17 March 2026
Financial Times
Anton Spisak, a former UK government official now at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said that while it was helpful for Reeves to acknowledge the cost of Brexit, unless the Labour government softened its manifesto red lines, deeper economic integration was off the table, meaning the gains for the UK economy would be “relatively small”.
Keep it secret: The dollar’s not safe
14 March 2026
EurActiv
Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, thinks that ...“The longer the war drags on, the higher the political cost for the president: rising petrol prices at the pump, financial market volatility, higher US borrowing costs, and damage to US allies in the Gulf,” Tordoir said. “Trump needs an off-ramp, and he needs it fast.”
The Iran war is dashing Europe’s growth ambitions
13 March 2026
Politico
A “full-blown energy shock” from a lengthy Iran conflict could “choke all the long-term competitiveness debates,” said Sander Tordoir, the chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. “The European Council, European leaders, the [European] Commission, will just be scrambling and in an immediate crisis mode.”
Rachel Reeves to make new push for greater single-market access
13 March 2026
Financial Times
“When I speak to people in Paris and Berlin, there’s not much enthusiasm,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, an independent think-tank. “It feels like it’s cherry picking.”
Experten: Europas upprustning hotas av ekonomin
12 March 2026
Dagens PS
Europeiska länder behöver lägga stora pengar på försvaret kommande år – en utmaning om man inte har allmänheten bakom sig, menar forskaren Armida van Rij.Europa står inför ett trippelhot: Rysslands imperialistiska ambitioner, Kinas ekonomiska påtryckningar och USA:s svåra inställning – försvaret behöver rustas upp men finansieringen kan visa sig vara en svår nöt att knäcka, menar forskaren Armida van Rij i en rapport för tankesmedjan Centre for European Reform (CER).
Europe's green energy dream is being quietly dismantled — and investors are missing the real trade
12 March 2026
CTOL digital
The Carnegie Endowment and Centre for European Reform have both documented how "greenlash" — once a fringe talking point — has now entered mainstream bargaining. The default setting in Brussels has quietly shifted: simplify first, justify later.
Europas upprustning hotar att falla på finansieringen
11 March 2026
YLE
Europa behöver rustas upp, men satsningarna hotas av allvarliga finansieringsproblem och växande motstånd bland väljarna. Det varnar forskaren Armida van Rij i en rapport för tankesmedjan Centre for European Reform (CER).
« Le fossé demeure » : après le rapport Draghi sur la compétitivité, l’Europe a-t-elle engagé le sursaut attendu ?
07 March 2026
Challenges Fr
« La Commission a inscrit la compétitivité à son agenda avec plus de sérieux, car le rapport a montré le coût de l’immobilisme, tempère Anton Spisak, chercheur au Center for European Reform. Mais entre le diagnostic de Draghi et ce qui a été effectivement mis en route depuis, le fossé demeure. »
Militares y diplomáticos aliados advierten de que Trump "no se queda quieto" y que la actitud de Sánchez "tendrá consecuencias"
07 March 2026
El Espanol
"España dice que cumple su objetivo del 2%, pero es el segundo país por la cola en la lista de la OTAN", incide Ian Bond, diplomático británico con 28 años de servicio, exembajador de Reino Unido en Letonia y hoy vicedirector del Centre for European Reform (CER).
Trump finds he needs Europe now that he's waging war in Iran
05 March 2026
Bloomberg
"It's becoming harder for Europe to say 'Yes' to Trump,” Charles Grant, director at the Centre for European Reform, told Bloomberg. “Greenland was a very important dividing point and made Europe realize that it cannot trust America to behave reasonably in relation to European security.”
EU and UK urged to step up “re-set” efforts
04 March 2026
Brussels Morning
Ajoint paper by the Centre for European Reform and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung UK and Ireland asks: “EU-UK relations: Will 2026 be the year to reset the reset?” It concludes by saying the EU and UK need a “fundamental rethink of how they can enhance their security and prosperity.”
Iran war revives spectre of energy crisis in Europe, fuelling economic anxiety
04 March 2026
Euronews
"The closure of Qatari LNG facilities and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz are affecting a large chunk of global LNG supply," said Elisabetta Cornago, an assistant director at the Centre for European Reform (CER).
"Asia is more dependent on this region's LNG supply than Europe as a whole, but if Europe won't feel the impact in terms of immediate gas shortage, we are heading into storage refilling season, so high prices will raise the cost of those operations."
"Asia is more dependent on this region's LNG supply than Europe as a whole, but if Europe won't feel the impact in terms of immediate gas shortage, we are heading into storage refilling season, so high prices will raise the cost of those operations."
Orbán usa a Ucrania y Bruselas como armas ante el riesgo de perder las elecciones en Hungría
02 March 2026
El Diario
La posibilidad de cambio en Hungría es real. Zselyke Csaky, investigadora especialista en elecciones y democracia del Centre for European Reform, añade que “después de más de 15 años, será la primera vez que el primer ministro Orbán enfrente a un oponente fuerte y pueda perder el poder.
Hungary plays the spoiler in Europe, as Orban seeks votes at home
27 February 2026
The New York Times
“He [Orban] has always played this game, using his veto as a kind of threat, essentially as a bargaining chip,” said Zselyke Csaky, a senior research fellow at the Center for European Reform in Brussels. “It is more driven by domestic politics right now because Hungary will have elections in two months and Fidesz is not doing well at all.”