Press
Britain to revamp diplomatic service
02 November 2018
The Hindu
Past cuts, particularly the hollowing out of staffing levels within some of Britain’s major partners in previous budget cuts, had had a detrimental effect on British diplomatic efforts, said Ian Bond, the director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform and a former diplomat.
Mandarins attack Hunt's plan to open up ambassador posts
01 November 2018
The Times
Ian Bond, a former ambassador to Latvia, called the announcement depressing. “No major nation except the US does this and there are plenty of horror stories from the US to show why,” he tweeted.
2 views of Angela Merkel's legacy: Stoic leadership, and economic malpractice
01 November 2018
The New York Times
“The euro crisis started getting better the moment Europe decided to go against what Merkel said the policies should be,” said Christian Odendahl, Berlin-based chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, a research institution. “The euro crisis got better not because of, but despite Merkel.”
No change Brexit
31 October 2018
Financial Times
Don't bank on a weak German chancellor to deliver a better Brexit, writes Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in (The Guardian): "Unwilling to rescue the Chequers plan, Germany – with or without Merkel – will push Britain towards the relatively hard Brexit of a Canada-style free trade agreement."
Why Jeremy Hunt’s ambassador scheme will not work
31 October 2018
The Financial Times
Ian Bond, a former UK diplomat now at the Centre for European Reform, says: “I have many American career diplomat friends who have despaired of having to work for ambassadors whose sole qualification is they have given money to the president.”
Merkel is going but Germany won’t shift its stance on Brexit
30 October 2018
The Guardian
The departure of Angela Merkel from the leadership of her party will make little difference to the Brexit negotiations.
Austerity is over, Britain says, despite Brexit uncertainty
30 October 2018
The New York Times
According to the Centre for European Reform, a research institution based in London, the British economy is 2.5 percent smaller than it would be if the country had voted to remain in the European Union.
Angela Merkel will not get to pass the crown to her preferred successor without a fight
29 October 2018
The Telegraph
German Chancellor Merkel announced today that she would not run again for the leadership of her conservative CDU/CSU party. The end of Merkel’s chancellorship is in sight.
Budget 2018: What to expect
29 October 2018
UK Investor
An analysis by the Centre for European Reform has found that the UK economy is 2.5% smaller now than if the British public voted to remain within the EU.
Is ‘Norway for Now’ a runner?
29 October 2018
The Financial Times
John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, says Mr Boles’s idea is not a runner. “The EU has no interest in trying to organise a UK accession to the EEA for a short-term period rather than simply extending the transition,” he said.
Budget: More cash for NHS but crackdown on tech firms expected
28 October 2018
The Guardian
Brexit is already costing us at £500m a week, according to a pro-European thinktank – compared with the £350m “dividend” plastered on the sides of the leave campaign bus. The Centre for European Reform’s analysis also suggests that the size of the UK economy is 2.5% smaller than it would have been had remain won the referendum. In cash terms, the public finances have been hit by £26bn a year.
Sorbonne: A year on
26 October 2018
The Financial Times
Emmanuel Macron’s blockbuster EU vision speech is one year old and almost none of his big ideas have come into fruition. Leonard Schuette at the Centre for European Reform reviews the French president’s “mediocre record” thus far. “For some of the slow progress, Macron is to blame. But by and large, Macron’s plans were stymied by developments outside his control. Due to his reliance on support from other member-states — particularly Germany and Italy — he has been held hostage by parochial domestic politics elsewhere. At home, his popularity is waning.”
Why Britain’s economy will be more European after Brexit
25 October 2018
Reuters
Brexit rubs salt in the wound. By stopping the free movement of people from the EU it limits the scope for migration to offset the demographic brake. And by harming Britain’s main trading relationship it inflicts further economic costs. Already GDP is 2.5 percent smaller than if Britain had voted to remain in the 2016 referendum, according to the Centre for European Reform.
Italy and the EU: There is no good outcome from here
24 October 2018
Prospect
The European Union has taken the unprecedented step of rejecting the Italian budget.
CER podcast: The cost of Brexit to June 2018
24 October 2018
The UK economy is 2.5 per cent smaller as a result of the vote to leave the EU. John Springford talks to Beth Oppenheim about his latest analysis, how he has refined his modelling method and the implications of the findings.
The silent struggle at the heart of Brexit
20 October 2018
CNN
According to Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, the Brexit talks "have revealed that the British have limited understanding of how the EU operates. Some in the UK still tend to think that the EU would bend backwards and offer the UK a sweet deal if only the British negotiators knew how to properly exert pressure on the EU 27.
Ekspert: Briti parlament hoiab peaminister Mayd kahvlis
20 October 2018
Postimees
Sõltumata sellest, kas Ühendkuningriigi peaminister Theresa May tooks Brüsselist koju pehme või karmi Brexiti, püsib tõenäosus, et Briti parlament sellega ei nõustu, selgub intervjuust mõttekoja Centre for European Reform vanemteaduri Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska.
UK businesses despair as a no-deal Brexit looms, EU silent on contingency plans
19 October 2018
The Australian Financial Review
"When we had a fuel strike in the early 2000s, that led quite quickly to people stockpiling fuel and huge queues at the petrol pump. We'd be looking at something pretty similar," says John Springford, deputy director at the Centre for European Reform."But my suspicion is that the UK and EU will co-ordinate to try and get essential things through, like food and fuel, and keep the flights in the air."
EU influence: Influencers
19 October 2018
Politico
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska is moving to the Centre for European Reform’s Brussels office to work on the 2019 EU election, Brexit and rule of law issues.
Debunking Jacob Rees-Mogg’s claim an extension period will make the UK a ‘vassal state’
19 October 2018
iNews
In an effort to break the Brexit negotiation deadlock over the Irish backstop, it is reported that Theresa May has conceded that the standstill transition period could be extended beyond its current deadline of December 2020.