Press

An EU of two tiers after eurozone debt crisis

28 October 2011
BBC News
Charles Grant, director of the London-based CER, calls the change fundamental: "Henceforth, there will be two clubs: the broader EU and the new euro club with its own rules and institutions."

Britons hanker for life outside EU as crisis bites

28 October 2011
Reuters
Hugo Brady of the CER, said the overwhelming popular feeling in Britain was that Europe was a hindrance. "The reality is that Britain would be far less able to wield its influence (outside the EU). The EU, flawed as it is, is the only game in town in Europe," said Brady.

Europe looks to China for possible bailout help

Katinka Barysch
27 October 2011
Associated Press
"You will hear some less-serious people in Ireland or Greece say, We don't need you Europeans with your conditions because the Chinese will bail us out," said Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the CER.

Markets rise but questions remain after euro debt deal

Simon Tilford
27 October 2011
Voice of America
"There is no new money involved," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER. "What they are essentially saying is that we will cover a proportion of your losses if these countries get into funding difficulties."

Markets soar following eurozone debt deal

Philip Whyte
27 October 2011
Channel 4 News
Philip Whyte, senior research fellow at the CER discusses how share prices and the value of the euro have soared after European leaders agreed a framework to solve the debt crisis last night.

Don’t panic, Merkel's war rhetoric 'is to keep the peace'

27 October 2011
The Times
Hugo Brady of the CER in Brussels, said: "What she is really saying now is that Germany still needs the EU whether Germans like it or not. This is not the Swabian housewife approach any more, she sounds more like Helmut Kohl every day."

Interview: Les Britanniques ont le sentiment que l’Union européenne essaie de faire du tort à la City

26 October 2011
Le Figaro
Le Figaro - David Cameron a essuyé sa plus grande rebellion dans son propre camp au Parlement. Peut-on parler d’un vent d’euroscepticisme chez les politiques?
Charles Grant – Oui, il y a une vague croissante d’euroscepticisme. Mais la nouveauté, c’est toute cette classe de députés, récemment élus, qui se proclament...

EU pushes Georgia to let Russia join WTO

Katinka Barysch
26 October 2011
The Wall Street Journal
"The EU-Russia relationship is completely stuck, and the Americans are looking for something to continue the goodwill created by the [Obama's administration's] reset," said Katinka Barysch of the CER.

Eurozone financial crisis: Winners and losers

Simon Tilford
25 October 2011
BBC News
But according to Simon Tilford, chief economist of the London-based think tank the CER, the chances of hedge funds being hit in that way are slim. Mr Tilford says European politicians and policymakers fear the consequences of compulsory write-downs. Because they believe investors would then assume that compulsory write-downs could be applied to other countries' bonds. "They are worried that if they compel borrowers to take haircuts, there will be a dramatic sell-off of Italian and Spanish debt ...

Deeper flaws in euro will take years to fix

Simon Tilford
24 October 2011
Associated Press
Economist Simon Tilford at the CER in London said the currency bloc will not straighten out its problems "unless they do something about trade imbalances within the eurozone, which at the moment are primary causes of the very big budget deficits in places like Spain."

Europe's growth outlook at mercy of debt politics

Simon Tilford
24 October 2011
Reuters
"We're not going to see meaningful reform of the euro zone's macro economic policy framework. It's not even under discussion. That is the single biggest obstacle to a recovery of economic growth," Tilford said.

This Tory rebellion over Europe tells us nothing we don't already know

24 October 2011
The Guardian
Charles Grant of the CER puts it down to history and geography: we alone in Europe had a good war, and our island made us wider traders than other countries, but even so half our trade is with the EU.

La fronde anti-Europe grandit en Grande-Bretagne

Simon Tilford
24 October 2011
Le Figaro
Cameron est dans une position très difficile car, d'une part, la crise de l'euro a des répercussions économiques considérables en Grande-Bretagne et, d'autre part, cette crise est une opportunité formidable pour les eurosceptiques, analyse Simon Tilford, économiste au Centre for European Reform.

Tories in EU referendum showdown

23 October 2011
Financial Times
But Charles Grant of the CER said: "That may be the case, and 50 per cent of people want more sunny days, but I really don't believe it is top of people's priorities."

Bruselas? Hay alguien ahí?

Simon Tilford
23 October 2011
El Pais
Sobre todo si se cumplen algunos vaticinios: "Europa está iniciando lo que parece una década perdida", dice Simon Tilford, del think tank británico CER.

Europe's options: Few, and shrinking

Simon Tilford
22 October 2011
The Wall Street Journal
"Europe is staring at a lost decade," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER. Years of economic stagnation with persistent fears of sovereign and banking-sector defaults "will have a considerable impact on the broader international economy," he says.

Bailout pot agreed, but splits remain over rescue fund plan

Simon Tilford
21 October 2011
The Scotsman
"I don’t think they can meet expectations. The summit will fall well, well short of the kind of big bang needed to reassure the markets," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER in London.

The Schengen zone: Another symptom of the EU disfunction

21 October 2011
World Policy
Hugo Brady, a research fellow at the CER, explains, "Immigration policy has always been a problem in the EU. It's never been centralised and countries examine border control at a national level."

Europe launches two Galileo satellites to cut reliance on GPS

Tomas Valasek
20 October 2011
Bloomberg
Governments will probably scrutinise the proposed budget more carefully than when Galileo was first conceived over a decade ago because of concern over the economy, said Tomas Valasek, director of foreign policy and defence at the CER in London. Still, the project probably won’t be shut down, and enough funding will be approved to keep staff employed and provide a minimal return for the manufacturers, he said. “They’ve already poured so much money into it ... Galileo has already benefited from previously unplanned allocations from the European Commission budget.”

EU anger over British stance on UN statements

20 October 2011
The Guardian
"For many countries this is a big deal," said Charles Grant, the director of the CER. "For British officials this is about a slippery slope. Everyone else thinks this is damaging and overblown. By fighting a theological battle on ideological grounds you are using up political capital and goodwill that maybe you should conserve, because the [UK] government has lost goodwill over this for no tangible benefit. And they will have to fight a lot of other important battles, over the single market for example."