Press

What Brussels energy players think about the Energy Union

11 September 2024
EurActiv
Elisabetta Cornago, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform noted that grids will have to be a “a major focus” of the next Energy Commissioner. 

Draghi presenta un informe demoledor. Y se llevará a la práctica

10 September 2024
EL Confidencial
Están empleando sus recursos para conseguir mayor poder e influenciamientras que la Unión Europea ha decidido detenerse en el escalón anterior. Como afirmaba Sander Tordoir, “Europa es el único actor importante que todavía respeta las reglas. Es muy difícil ganar en el póquer si eres el único jugador que no hace trampa”.

Raffaele Fitto, l'espoir italien d'un portefeuille en or à la Commission

10 September 2024
La Croix
« Il [Raffaele Fitto] est bien connu à Bruxelles, modéré, constructif et, à bien des égards, le choix évident » pour l’Italie, a décrypté Luigi Scazzieri, chercheur au Centre for European Reform (CER). « Il n’est pas susceptible de créer des problèmes. Le problème consiste à obtenir un portefeuille de haut niveau ou un poste de vice-président ».

EU moet heilige huisjes afbreken, zegt Draghi. Hoe nu verder?

10 September 2024
Het Financieele Dagblad
Het is zoals Sander Tordoir, econoom van de denktank CER, het zegt: ‘Het zal onmogelijk blijken de EU-begroting voldoende te herzien om de investeringsdoelstellingen te verwezenlijken.’Tordoir waarschuwt: ‘Duitsland en andere zuinige landen zullen tegenspartelen.’

Can anything spark Europe’s economy back to life?

09 September 2024
The Economist
In telecoms, he [Draghi] wants to make mergers easier, to boost investment. “Telecoms is probably the worst example of the need for scale,” says Zach Meyers of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. Fewer operators would mostly mean higher prices and lower quality, but not more investment.

VW factory fears renew concerns about China exposure of German carmakers

09 September 2024
South China Morning Post
“The second China shock will play out differently around the world because for many economies, like Germany, it will be associated with the loss of export markets, not just a surge in imports,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in Berlin.

Défi cit public, la France demande un premier délai

08 September 2024
La Tribune
« Si on regardele budget dont Barnier hérite et la trajectoire budgétaire de la France, c’estplutôt sombre », constate Sander Tordoir, expert des questions budgétaires etéconomiste en chef du think tank Centre for European Reform. « Si desmesures ne sont pas prises, il ne fait guère de doute que la France va violer les nouvelles règles budgétaires, ne pas respecter la procédure en défi cit excessif,ni quelque plan structurel que ce soit. »

‘China problem’ may be key as nominees vie for top European Commission jobs

06 September 2024
South China Morning Post
“The Dutch are free traders, but due to their semiconductor sector, they woke up on the need for economic security before the Germans,” said Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.“Hoekstra would be a sensible choice for trade commissioner: positioned in between von der Leyen and [Olaf] Scholz, France and Germany, on trade with China and this issue more widely,” he added.

Britain and the EU find it easier to talk about guns than butter

05 September 2024
The Economist
Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, suggests that Britain should sign an administrative arrangement with the European Defence Agency and pursue more informal links through joint declarations rather than trying to agree to a cumbersome treaty. 

What’s next for Britain and the EU?

05 September 2024
The Economist
Aslak Berg of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, notes that even under the Tories Britain aligned with the EU in a handful of areas where fully independent regulation wasn’t practical, like conformity assessments (CE markings). 

‘A structural crisis’: German growth forecast downgraded to zero percent

05 September 2024
EurActiv
Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, agreed that Germany’s economic problems are largely structural.He also pointed to the lingering impact of the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, to which Germany’s energy-intensive industries were uniquely exposed.

„Der China-Schock zerstört Europas Kernindustrie“

04 September 2024
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Vor zwanzig Jahren traf der erste China-Schock die USA. Jetzt gefährdet der zweite das wirtschaftliche Rückgrat Deutschlands, warnt der Ökonom Sander Tordoir.

Ian Bond: "Georgian Dream" is not a government that is serious about joining European structures

03 September 2024
InterpressNews
This is not a government that is serious about joining the European and Euro-Atlantic structures, - Ian Bond, deputy director of the CER, said in an interview with InterpressNews.As Ian Bond explained, the "Georgian Dream" government is not taking the steps specifically required by the European Union to open accession negotiations.

Is Sir Keir Starmer’s cautious ‘reset’ with Europe enough to undo the damage done by Brexit?

01 September 2024
The Observer
“People in the UK don’t realise just how bad our reputation is in the EU,” remarks Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform. “There’s a lot of work to do to rebuild trust and confidence, and convince them that Starmer isn’t just a nicer version of Rishi Sunak.”

Europe’s Anglo-German axis is an astonishing turn of events

30 August 2024
The Telegraph
“The French think we are too close to the Americans. They want to rule the roost in European defence industries, and they are taking a very hard line,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform.

Meblowanie Komisji Europejskiej. Nie tego spodziewała się von der Leyen

30 August 2024
Polskie Radio
Choć Ursula von der Leyen chciałaby połowę stołków w Komisji Europejskiej obsadzić według parytetu płci, to na razie tylko sześć spośród nadesłanych ponad 20 kandydatur na komisarzy, to kobiety. - To będzie bardzo trudne do zaakceptowania przez Parlament Europejski - powiedziała Polskiemu Radiu ekspertka londyńskiego Centre for European Reform Zselyke Csaky.

Der Traum von der sozialdemokratischen Achse zwischen London und Berlin

29 August 2024
Die Welt
Charles Grant, Direktor der britischen Denkfabrik Centre for European Reform, glaubt, dass sich die EU vor allem beim Handelsabkommen kaum bewegen wird. „Die vorherrschende Linie in der EU ist die der Kommission und der Franzosen, dass das Handelsabkommen abgeschlossen ist und die Briten lernen müssen, damit zu leben und das Beste daraus zu machen“, sagt er WELT.

UK's Starmer wants to ‘Turn a corner on Brexit.’ What does that mean?

28 August 2024
The New York Times
So the first phase of Mr Starmer’s re-engagement with European leaders is simply to be pleasant to them, said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a research institute. “This is all about mood music, rebuilding trust, restoring confidence, being nice to people, being polite and showing that we have changed — which sounds obvious but is really important,” he said.

China’s industrial strategy on ‘collision course’ with top German export industries

27 August 2024
EurActiv
Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, however, told Euractiv the issue goes beyond cars, and it is increasingly threatening Europe’s top exporting economy.“The two countries, and in particular [their] car and machine industries, are on a collision course,” he said, due in large part to “massive, industry-wide subsidisation” in China.

The EU-UK reset: What are the prospects for closer co-operation?

26 August 2024
Euronews
"Labour has not ruled out a role for the European Court of Justice, and it's spoken very positively - not only in the veterinary field, but also for example in chemicals - about the value to domestic industry of aligning with EU rules," Luigi Scazzieri, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told Euronews."This is something that the UK is already doing spontaneously, so why not formalise that so that your businesses then have an easier time when exporting to the EU market?" he added.