Press

Europeans retreat on defence spending

Tomas Valasek
24 August 2011
The Wall Street Journal
Tomas Valasek of the Centre for European Reform, a think tank in London, says opportunities exist for smarter defence spending. Most spending is not for military operations, he says, but for things like training, education and procurement. Four-fifths of European equipment budgets are spent on products from domestic manufacturers, which often don't offer the best value. "There's a shocking contrast between the way we fight together and the way we build our forces in splendid isolation from each other," he says.

What does Europe's austerity movement mean for NATO?

24 August 2011
The Christian Science Monitor
"Americans may feel rightful anger in Europeans not doing their share," says Tomas Valasek, a defence and security specialist with the Centre for European Reform in London. "But Europe showed a newfound political courage in Libya. The commentariat, and the Atlanticists in Washington, who used to be NATO defenders, have missed the main story in Libya." ..."What worries me is that the NATO-bashing and anger at Europe in Washington, combined with a new generation in the US, will actually hasten the end of the alliance," says Mr Valasek.

Slowdown could make Germany rethink euro crisis stance

24 August 2011
Reuters
Germans feel poorer and more troubled in their own economy it will make them less generous in providing aid, in making full use of the EFSF, in considering things like euro bonds. They will have more worries, be more insecure," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London.

ECB austerity drive raises fears for democratic accountability in Europe

Philip Whyte
22 August 2011
The Guardian
Philip White, of the London-based Centre for European Reform, explains that EU leaders are torn between meeting the demands of the markets and upholding democratic norms: "The stage we are at in the eurozone crisis presents politicians with a deeply uncomfortable position: trying to convince markets that they are taking the necessary action to place economies on a more sustainable path and that the euro is here to stay while on the other hand to persuade their electorates that they are respecting democratic traditions." "If you look at the debt and deficit numbe

Merkel never holding hands with Sarkozy betrays Europe’s crisis

Katinka Barysch
22 August 2011
Bloomberg
"For much of the history of the European Union, the alliance between Germany and France was the main motor for integration," Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the London-based Centre for European Reform, said in a study published last year. "The euro crisis will make it harder to paper over Germany and France’s differing interests and ideas about the future of the EU."

Europe: The seven-year hitch

Stephen Tindale
21 August 2011
Financial Times
"The euro crisis has left many people in the richer EU countries opposed to any kind of transfers to poorer countries," writes Stephen Tindale, an associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform, in a recent review of the budget. In the minds of many Europeans, Mr Tindale argues, development funds to help poorer regions and national economic bail-outs had become one and the same.

In crisis, reminders of disputes in euro's founding

Simon Tilford
17 August 2011
The New York Times
Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform (CER) in London, called it "a positive step that this debate is taking place in Germany and that there is an acceptance that pooling fiscal authority is a necessary precondition of a lasting conclusion of the crisis." "But there is a risk," he added pointedly, “that in order to sell this to domestic opinion, Germany will extract concessions that will render the whole thing unworkable." ...Europe still hasn’t resolved the fundamental question it skirted back in 1996 at Dublin Castle: Is the euro mor

Eurobond debate rises in Germany, France

Simon Tilford
16 August 2011
The Wall Street Journal
"It's good news that we're seeing this discussion in Germany, because the eurozone can't continue to muddle through now that we're seeing contagion to the core," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank.

How eurobond would work

Simon Tilford
16 August 2011
The Wall Street Journal
"It's imperfect [the eurobond] and it would be difficult," says Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform, a London think tank. "But it's much less destructive, economically and politically," than watching the euro collapse, he says.

EU heading for eurobond clash amid German dread over looming fiscal union

Simon Tilford
12 August 2011
Bloomberg
"No single currency has ever survived without some form of debt mutualisation," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform, a research institute focused on European integration. "There's an increasing recognition that that is the only way of stabilising the eurozone."

EU has sanctions on Syria - so why are we buying its oil?

Clara Marina O'Donnell
12 August 2011
The Scotsman
"Sanctions on the energy sector would be an obvious next step," Clara O'Donnell, of the Centre for European Reform, said. "But if there were a real interest to do that, it would probably have gone further already - the level of violence the Syrian authorities have been inflicting has been quite prolonged now and it's striking to see how slow the exploration of widening sanctions has been. Clearly, the desire of European policy makers not to damage the economic interests of some firm may be a playing a role."

La via maestra degli eurobond

Simon Tilford
10 August 2011
Il sole 24 Ore
Le debolezze istituzionali dell'eurozona sono state messe a nudo. Il tentativo di attuare una politica monetaria comune senza un Tesoro comune è fallito.

Debt downgrade weakens US stature abroad

Simon Tilford
08 August 2011
NPR
"There's real fear that, given the mounting challenges facing the administration and the standoff in Congress, this could really weaken US influence and the US role in the world," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London. "For most Europeans, that's not a prospect they welcome." ...If they are left holding paper of diminished value, they have only themselves to blame, argues Tilford, the economist at the Centre for European Reform. China bought U.S.

Eurobonds or bust

Simon Tilford
08 August 2011
Project Syndicate
The eurozone’s institutional weaknesses have been laid bare. The attempt to run a common monetary policy without a common treasury has failed.

A real threat of stagnation

Simon Tilford
08 August 2011
The Voice of Russia
In Europe, or in the US more particularly, we are seeing investors are losing confidence in the ability of various economies, various governments to service their debts.

EU struggles to win influence in Middle East

Clara Marina O'Donnell
06 August 2011
Daily Times [Pakistan]
"The Europeans can call for certain policy shifts which, for the moment, the Americans can't," said Clara O’Donnell of the Centre for European Reform in London. ..."The official EU position regarding engagement with the Palestinian unity government is much more compromising than the US position and there seems to be a tacit involvement from the Obama administration to encourage the Europeans to do it," said O’Donnell.

EU faces crisis of legitimacy warns former Europe minister

Simon Tilford
06 August 2011
The Independent
Simon Tilford, the chief economist at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, warned the EU was suffering a backlash from citizens and politicians worried about issues for which it stands, such as economic liberalism and movement across borders. "The EU can only work if the national governments let it work." He said he had "pressing concerns" over the Commission's effectiveness as more member-states entered into deals with individual governments rather than operating through the Commission.

Group of 7 will meet to address debt issue

Simon Tilford
05 August 2011
New York Times
"If they had agreed on those measures nine months ago it would have prevented the crisis from spiraling to this extent," said Simon Tilford, the chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London. "But this is too little too late."

It doesn’t matter who is president of Russia

02 August 2011
Financial Times
In Moscow, the speculation about Russia’s next president is becoming tedious. Dmitry Medvedev has made it clear he would like to run again, but most people think Vladimir Putin, prime minister, will be the official candidate and win March’s election.
But does it matter whether President Medvedev continues, Mr Putin returns...

We are not out of the woods by a long shot

Simon Tilford
25 July 2011
Irish Independent
"The single biggest mistake by Europe was the decision to impose budget targets on Ireland, Greece and Portugal that were impossible to meet," said Simon Tilford, chief economist with London-based think-tank the Centre for European Reform (CER). "The economics of those budget targets were nonsensical. To meet those targets, all three countries have had to cut public spending by unprecedented amounts -- but this hasn't put those countries back on a sustainable fiscal path.