Press

Brexit's economic damage is getting real

09 October 2018
Bloomberg
The Centre for European Reform’s John Springford has taken the Born-led model a step further. The CER approach uses not just GDP, but also other attributes of 22 advanced economies — including the inflation rate, openness to trade, investment ratio and how well-educated the population is — to create a doppelganger U.K. that most closely matches the country’s economy before the referendum. Based on that methodology, the CER puts the cost of Brexit at 2.5 percent of GDP.

UK businessman posts defiant anti-Brexit war cry

09 October 2018
France 24
Leaving the EU is “a car crash waiting to happen” and “the worst thing to happen to the UK since the Second World War”, he said, citing an estimated cost of £500 million a week that was provided last month by the Centre for European Reform think-tank.

Remainers shouldn't assume EU leaders will welcome another Brexit referendum

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, Beth Oppenheim
08 October 2018
The Telegraph
Prime Minister Theresa May has yet again ruled out a new EU referendum. There has already been a people’s vote, and the people voted to leave, she told her party conference last week.

Remainers shouldn’t assume EU leaders will welcome second referendum

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, Beth Oppenheim
08 October 2018
The Financial Times
“The member states and the EU institutions want the UK out before the European Parliament elections in late May 2019 and the nomination of a new commission afterwards, or Britain would be obliged to take part. The EU has already agreed to redistribute 27 of Britain’s 73 seats in the European Parliament to other member states. France — one of the hardliners in the Brexit talks — is among the countries that are due to benefit from this redistribution. It is hard to imagine that Paris will be eager to give the UK more leeway.” (Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, senior research fellow and Beth Oppenheim, researcher at the Centre for European Reform).

Staying in the EU is best for everyone apart from Boris Johnson

07 October 2018
The Mirror
Brexit already costs £500million a week after uncertainty slashed economic growth by 2.5%, according to the Centre for European Reform think-tank.

Rachel Reeves: Why I’m backing a People’s Vote on any Brexit deal

06 October 2018
The Yorkshire Post
The £500m cost is the conclusion of the Centre for European Reform which warned the UK economy was already 2.5 per cent smaller than it would have been Britain had voted to remain in the EU.

New approaches to upholding democratic values in Poland

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
05 October 2018
Carnegie Europe
For almost three years, Poland has backtracked on the rule of law. The EU needs a comprehensive strategy to make the Polish public more resilient to the government’s populist narrative.

Britain faces more than a decade in EU trade limbo once Brexit deal signed

Sam Lowe
05 October 2018
The Telegraph
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow and trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, said, “It is unlikely that anything of substance will be agreed on the future trade relationship before leaving, meaning there will be much left to discuss in the transition.“If there was a clear direction and agreed, set parameters it is possible that the negotiations could be concluded before the transition ends, it seems improbable.”

Dogs, Russia and Grayling face questions of intelligence

Sam Lowe
05 October 2018
The Guardian
In what could be seen as a huge boost for the Eurosceptic European Research Group’s Canada + model, the Centre for European Reform think-tank has revealed that Bear Grylls is looking for some leading Brexit enthusiasts and policy wonks to appear as contestants in his next series of The Island – only the island in question will be the UK and the format will be a little different from usual.

SIEPS: Brexit – state of play

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
05 October 2018
As the date for the United Kingdom formally leaving the European Union approaches, negotiations are at a critical stage. There is urgency on both sides to agree on the conditions for the UK leaving the union, as well as on the nature of the future relationship between the two.

Brussels briefing: Balkan borders

04 October 2018
The Financial Times
Signs of a thawing relationship between Kosovo and Serbia give hope to the EU about getting the region closer into Brussels orbit, writes Ian Bond at the Centre for European Reform: "The EU believes that the prospect of enlargement will be enough to guarantee agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, especially now that Serbia (as well as Montenegro) has been told that it can join the EU by 2025, if it fulfils the EU’s membership requirements."

La muger que nunca ganaba a las damas

Camino Mortera-Martinez
04 October 2018
El Periodico Internacional
Como una buena reina del baile, Theresa May va a necesitar la creatividad de un buen jugador de ajedrez para cuadrar el círculo irlandés.

The Conservative failure to address Brexit at their conference is due to their lack of overall strategy

04 October 2018
iNews
As for ending austerity, there’s no form of Brexit that will make that more likely and research from the Centre for European Reform published this week showed that even before Brexit has occurred it is costing the public finances £26 billion per annum.

It remains hard to see a way forward on Brexit

Sam Lowe, John Springford
03 October 2018
The Irish Times
Researchers at the Centre for European Reform in London suggest one compromise might be that the UK signs up to the EU’s version of the backstop for the North – as a kind of last resort – but that both sides agree that the UK as a whole might remain in the customs union for a temporary period as trade talks progress, with a sign-off needed for this after Brexit. But even fudges now threaten the red lines.

Britain's best Brexit hope is a revised Chequers plan

03 October 2018
The Financial Times
A Brexit deal between the EU and the UK is more likely than not, because both sides really want one. But there is a serious chance of no deal, because of differences over the Irish “backstop”.

Weetabix wars and X-Men: Welcome to the wacky world of trade post-Brexit

Sam Lowe
03 October 2018
The New Statesman
As a UK that goes it alone will soon learn, trade disputes are complex, bizarre and at times, well, a little petty.

Gamblers give a 40% chance that Brexit’s deadline arrives with no deal

01 October 2018
The Economist
According to an analysis published by the Centre for European Reform on September 30th, Britain’s economy is 2.5% smaller than it would have been without a Leave victory. Voters could be forgiven for wanting an end to the awful journey. But nobody is quite sure what the final destination will be.

Pro-Europe think-tank says Brexit has cost Britain £26 BILLION

01 October 2018
The Express
A pro-Europe think-tank has said Britain suffered a £26billion blow to the economy annually after the nation voted Brexit. The report by the Centre for European Reform said this was the equivalent to £500million a week - even though the nation is yet to unshackle itself from the bloc.Experts said the UK economy was now 2.5 percent smaller today than if the nation had voted to remain in the bloc.

Le Brexit coûte plus cher que l’UE

01 October 2018
EurActiv
Le Brexit coûte plus cher à Londres que sa participation à l’UE. Soit 560 millions d’euros par semaine. Et le soutien des conservateurs à leur gouvernement faiblit. La décision du Royaume-Uni de quitter l’Union européenne coûte 500 millions de livres (560 millions d’euros) par semaine à l’État britannique, ce qui efface pour le moment d’éventuelles économies provenant d’un arrêt de ses contributions à Bruxelles, selon les conclusions d’une étude publiée le 30 septembre.

Brexit Bulletin: The Cost of Brexit

01 October 2018
Bloomberg
The Centre for European Reform estimates that the decision to leave the EU has cut 2.5 percent off gross domestic product since the 2016 referendum. It reckons the knock-on effect on the public coffers amounts to £26 billion a year.