Press

Could Donald Tusk use EU top job for anti-climate agenda?

Stephen Tindale
29 August 2014
Responding to Climate Change (RTCC)
Despite his pro-coal domestic agenda, Polish PM might not be a bad choice for European Council president.

Nomine Ue, leader in campo: l’Europa diventa politica

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
29 August 2014
Europaquotidiano
Agata Gostynska, esperta di istituzioni europee al CER, ha parlato di una sorta di diplomazia “dell’ora di pranzo”: van Rompuy "ha fatto in modo che le questioni più delicate fossero discusse a tavola", faccia a faccia, scavalcando gli apparati tecnici dei vari governi.

Political crisis exposes France's economic problems

Christian Odendahl
29 August 2014
NPR
Hollande's attempts to carry out reforms while trying to revive growth is risky, says Christian Odendahl, chief economist with the Centre for European Reform. Odendahl points out that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder did it, but he was not reelected. (From 01:18.)

Herman’s handbook for the new Council President

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
29 August 2014
EurActiv.com
Despite a reputation for having the “charisma of a damp rag”, as Nigel Farage once put it, Van Rompuy made European Council meetings more efficient and his successor should learn a lot from him, writes Agata Gostyńska.

Boris Johnson's Europe report is unreliable and 'impossible to trust' say critics from the right

28 August 2014
The Guardian
"A detailed and fair-minded appraisal of the macroeconomic consequences of these reforms might undermine the entire argument, and they are not available to the reader of Lyons’s report," wrote John Springford.

EU risks limp compromise on top jobs

28 August 2014
Wall Street Journal
Ian Bond, foreign-policy director at the CER, says there is an irony in the compromise emerging ahead of Saturday's summit. While Mr Renzi's profile will be boosted if Ms Mogherini gets the job, "there are no very obvious winners" among other powerful member states.

Ian Bond speaks to Monocle Daily Radio

28 August 2014
Monocle Daily
Ian Bond speaks to Monocle Daily Radio on the crisis between Russia and Ukraine (0:16:56).

Pilen peger på selvbevidst polak

Af Jakob Ussing og Jesper Thobo-Carlsen
28 August 2014
Berlingsk
Favorit. Inden de sidste forhandlinger beskrives Polens Donald Tusk som favorit til jobbet som rådsformand for EU. Helle Thorning-Schmidt er blandt outsiderne.

Brexit will destroy the City of London as we know it

Sajjad Karim MEP
27 August 2014
EurActiv.com
As a CER study recently highlighted...Brexit would lead to Britain being classified as a "third country" by the EU...As such, Brexit would mean Britain continuing to be burdened by EU regulations...while having little or no say in what those standards should be.

EU amid geopolitical crisis haggles over top positions

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
27 August 2014
Bloomberg
'Learning from Herman' is a must, wrote Agata Gostynska, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London. She praised Van Rompuy as an economically moderate consensus builder with a “small ego” who didn’t steal national leaders’ limelight.

New French cabinet sheds critics and leaves austerity policies in place

Simon Tilford
26 August 2014
New York Times
“In terms of the way Hollande is perceived abroad, this will reinforce the perception that he is a weak leader who is unable to marshal his troops effectively,” said Simon Tilford, of the CER.

Let's start a European tidal lagoon industry

Stephen Tindale
26 August 2014
Energy Post
A unique, £1 billion plan to build the world’s first tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay in Wales has won strong local support. Stephen Tindale, who is involved in the project, argues that the EU should support it and help create a new European tidal lagoon industry.

Russia, EU wage phony war over sanctions at WTO

20 August 2014
The Moscow Times
"[EU sanctions] have avoided any outright bans or tariffs on Russian exports," said Ian Bond. "Paradoxically, the fact that the EU has not really gone down the line of the so-called sectoral sanctions … may actually make it much more difficult for the Russians to make a case in the WTO."

"El sector nuclear argentino tiene un impresionante historial económico, medioambiental y de seguridad"

Stephen Tindale
15 August 2014
Observatorio de la Energía Tecnología e Infraestructura para el Desarrollo
Varios países, incluidos los Estados Unidos, China, India, Rusia y algunos países europeos como Francia, Hungría, Polonia y el Reino Unido, están planeando la construcción de nuevas centrales nucleares.

Eurozone economy stalls in second quarter as German GDP slips

Simon Tilford
14 August 2014
Wall Street Journal
"The eurozone recovery never really got going, and now it appears to be petering out," said Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform.

A top diplomat for Europe: Who will replace Catherine Ashton?

Ian Bond, Denis Corboy, William Courtney, and Craig Dunkerley
13 August 2014
The National Interest
The EU will soon select its next “foreign minister” – but rumors suggest an opportunity may be missed. At a time of so many international crises, Europe needs a more robust voice and America needs a stronger partner.

Russia bans food imports in retaliation for Western sanctions

07 August 2014
Wall Street Journal
The ban on foodstuffs underscored Russia's dramatic retreat from the West under Putin this year. "It's symptomatic of a much deeper economic and psychological change going on, which is that Russia is being cut off," said Charles Grant of the CER.

Brussels is needed to clean up Britain’s air

Stephen Tindale
06 August 2014
The ENDS Report
European co-operation is necessary to improve air quality. Pollution does not stop at national frontiers. And setting environmental standards at national level would undermine the single market.

German diplomacy: Dominant by default

05 August 2014
Financial Times
Charles Grant of the CER wrote that during the euro crisis Germany became the EU’s “unquestioned leader” on economic policy. “In foreign and security policy, Britain and France have generally set the EU agenda. The Ukraine crisis, however, may allow Germany to lead in this field, too.”

Britain outside Europe? The Dutch view

Rem Korteweg
04 August 2014
German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Fearing unknown referendum outcomes, the Netherlands favors reforms without treaty change.