Press

Can the European Union survive the debt crisis?

Simon Tilford
26 May 2010
The Christian Science Monitor
"Essentially, you can't have a single currency without a single economy," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. "For it to work, there needs to be much greater political and economic integration."

Merkel faces loss of political clout

Simon Tilford
24 May 2010
The Wall Street Journal
"Other euro members won't be able to put their public finances on a sustainable footing if their economies cannot return to economic growth," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. "It's all very well to talk about the need for greater fiscal discipline - that's only one element of the problem, which is why Germany's strategy lacks any real credibility with the markets or with its European partners.

The European disunion - will the euro survive?

Simon Tilford
23 May 2010
The Telegraph
Part of the reason why southern European nations like Spain and Greece are currently in so much debt is that the northern European nations were prepared to lend to them the cash in the first place, explains Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. The construction boom in Spain, for example, wasn't financed out of nowhere: it was fuelled by enormous sums of cheap cash borrowed at very low rates.

Germany tries to save the euro - all by itself

Simon Tilford
21 May 2010
Time
"The Germans are no closer to understanding that the markets are not the problem," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER. "The markets are right to be uncertain about the sustainability of the euro zone in its current form."

EU faces battle over closer economic union

Simon Tilford
21 May 2010
Reuters
"The problem is that when countries signed up to the single currency they were not made aware that it would require such integration. Political elites need to start explaining why it does," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London.

British PM to visit Paris and Berlin

20 May 2010
The Hindu
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform (CER), said that - now in government - the Conservative leader was likely to come across as being "much less eurosceptic than people feared." The timing of the visits was especially interesting. "The euro crisis is prising apart Franco-German relations. It is a great opportunity for Britain to lead in Europe, if it has the ideas and a constructive attitude," Mr Grant told the BBC on Thursday.

Germany's eurozone bind

Simon Tilford
19 May 2010
Reuters
As Simon Tilford, the chief economist of the Centre for European Reform think tank points out, if every economy in the eurozone looked like Germany they would all be expected to run trade surpluses, all have minimal labour cost inflation and all have low domestic consumption. "It's a beggar-thy-neighbour strategy," he said. "If everyone is called upon to cut costs and boost export income, then there's massive depreciation pressure and a eurozone wide slump. It would mean big trouble.

Euroland lesson for a stand alone nation state

Simon Tilford
19 May 2010
The Australian
Centre for European Reform chief economist Simon Tilford says: "Unfortunately, the eurozone fulfils few, if any, of the criteria for a successful currency union. The participating economies can hardly be described as fully integrated."

German trading ban exacerbates EU political divisions

Simon Tilford
19 May 2010
Reuters
"This sends a very unfortunate message," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank. "It again suggests that the Germans are no closer to understanding that the markets are not the problem here. The markets are right to be uncertain about the sustainability of the eurozone in its current form. … What is specific to Germany is a readiness to make unilateral announcements on things that would only be doable if they were done collectively," said Tilford. "It's pretty populist stuff.

Berlin makes shock move without allies

Katinka Barysch
19 May 2010
Financial Times
"Germany feels isolated and misunderstood," said Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think tank. "The rift, if badly handled, could make Germany's stance towards the EU more hard-nosed and inward-looking."

Against a great wall

Katinka Barysch
19 May 2010
Hindustan Times
"EU diplomats exude optimism when asked about China," wrote Katinka Barysch of the Centre of European Reform. "Chinese leaders, unlike most Russians and Americans, like and respect the European Union." … "Wishful thinking," was how European analyst Charles Grant termed Europe's China fixation. … Grant says "We have suffered more from yuan manipulation than the US."… the EU "should abandon the fiction of a 'strategic partnership' which cannot be meaningful when the values of the two sides are so different."

Europe 2020

Simon Tilford
18 May 2010
Newsweek
By 2020, argues Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London, the southern European tier could become Europe's most competitive and dynamic region provided it finally moves ahead with reforms that limit government spending, cut inflated public payrolls, and open up overregulated labour, product, and service markets that have stifled growth, productivity, and competitiveness in these economies.

The death of the European dream

18 May 2010
Financial Times
While the EU's foreign admirers are on the defensive, international eurosceptics are in the ascendancy. Charles Grant, head of the Centre for European Reform, a pro-EU think tank, says he has been struck on his recent travels by the growing disdain for Europe in Delhi, Beijing and Washington. "We're seen as locked into permanent economic and demographic decline, and our pretensions to hard power are treated with contempt," he laments.

NATO urged to look beyond borders

Tomas Valasek
17 May 2010
New York Times
A separate report, published this month by the Centre for European Reform in London, says NATO needs to address the security concerns of newer members in central and eastern Europe. … "Some of the allies worry that NATO would not be able to come to their defence in a crisis," said Tomas Valasek, one of the authors of the London report, who also was a civilian adviser to Ms Albright's group.

New UK government unlikely to oppose Turkey's EU bid

Katinka Barysch
17 May 2010
Today’s Zaman
Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform (CER), raised questions on "big uncertainty" about the EU policies of the new government because the two coalition partners have opposing views. "Both the Conservatives and the Lib Dems are pro-EU enlargement and that includes Turkey," she said.

Europe: Danger zone

Simon Tilford
16 May 2010
Financial Times
"The eurozone is on an unsustainable path, notwithstanding the latest package of measures," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform think tank. "That is no fault of the markets. It is the result of the gap between European rhetoric and reality."

Germans turn against the EU as eurozone meltdown heaps misery on Angela Merkel

16 May 2010
The Telegraph
But Charles Grant, of the Centre for European Reform, says the German political class's deep-seated commitment to Europe has not changed. "Germany is becoming a more unilateralist, nationalist partner," he says. "But ultimately the German political elite will do whatever is necessary to save the EU, and although the parties are pretending to be nationalistic they will go along. There is no chance that the popular will can break through – the German system is much more elite-driven."

Tory Euroscepticism is being sidelined

14 May 2010
The Guardian
For those of us who hope Britain will engage constructively with the EU, the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition is good news.

EU, under threat, shows new urgency in crisis

Simon Tilford
14 May 2010
Reuters
"Europe faces a critical choice between greater integration and disintegration," Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform think tank, wrote this week. "Unless the reality is brought into line with the rhetoric, the eurozone will unravel."

In first move, Cameron is neighbourly to Europe

14 May 2010
New York Times
"Policy won't change significantly on substance," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, "they will try to be constructive. But there are plenty of issues that will have the Conservative Eurosceptics frothing at the mouth, and that will put pressure on the coalition."… "I think this suits Cameron, because he can say to the right of his party: 'I have done a couple of things on Europe.