Press

Pound hits $1.30 amid Brexit deal and trade war hopes - as it happened

Sam Lowe
21 October 2019
The Guardian
"A while ago I wrote a paper in which I estimated the potential impact being in a free trade agreement (much like the one Johnson wants) would have on UK services exports to the EU." As you can see, the work (by trade expert Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform) suggests a free trade deal would cause severe damage to some UK service sector exports -- particularly the City...

Can next Bank boss avoid negative interest rates?

20 October 2019
The Sunday Times
Brexit has had a negative short-term effect on the economy, of course, estimated to be 2.5%-3% of GDP (growth being slower than otherwise), according to the Centre for European Reform. 

European Union's message to UK: Just leave already

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
18 October 2019
The New York Times
“The EU showed a lot of patience,” said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, a Brussels-based analyst with the Centre for European Reform. “It’s very rare that hours before the European Council starts, that individual states don’t even have a legal text. The deadline set for midnight Tuesday was supposed to be absolute, but the parties wanted to deliver on this. The objective is to move on.”

Sky News: Brexit countdown

Sam Lowe
18 October 2019
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow from the Centre for European Reform spoke to Adam Boulton today about what the Brexit deal means for the UK's trade with the rest of the world (from 11.13 GMT).

Channel 4 News: Brexit deal - trade barriers

Sam Lowe
18 October 2019
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told Channel 4 News,"Brexit never ends, you just move onto the next stage".

Gulf between the EU's rich and poor continues to widen despite economic recovery

18 October 2019
El Pais
According to an article from the independent think-tank, Centre for European Reform, the most productive regions are no longer those that are highly industrialized. Being located close to a thriving city or one with a high percentage of young professional workers is also a significant factor.

This deal doesn't get Brexit done – it's just the end of the beginning

Sam Lowe
17 October 2019
The Telegraph
Some countries like Australia and New Zealand are, meanwhile, negotiating their own trade agreements with the EU, complicating a future trade deal with the UK. “It’s not in Australia or New Zealand’s interest to annoy the European Commission,” says Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform.

Turkey's Syria incursion: Can Ankara force NATO to provide assistance?

17 October 2019
Euro News
Luigi Scazzieri, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, concurred: "Turkey could trigger Article 5 but it would hardly be credible unless Turkish territory was attacked by Russia or Syria," he told Euronews by e-mail."Other member states would probably be unwilling to provide assistance, unless Turkey came under sustained attack, given that Ankara started this bout of fighting," he added.

Rennen gegen die tickende Brexit-Uhr

17 October 2019
Die Welt
Nach Berechnung des unabhängigen Londoner Instituts Centre for European Reform war die britische Wirtschaft im zweiten Quartal 2019 um 2,9 Prozent kleiner, als sie es ohne das Brexit-Votum wäre. Durch den Brexit „verursachte Unsicherheit hat generell ökonomische Aktivitäten getroffen und besonders nachteilige Effekte für Investitionen gehabt“, heißt es in dem am Mittwoch vorgestellten Report.

BBC RADIO 4- TODAY PROGRAMME: What does the Brexit deal mean in practise

Sam Lowe
17 October 2019
Sam Lowe a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform spoke to the Today programme this morning about what the current Brexit deal means in practise (from 06.15).

Tylko Boris Johnson może to zrobić

17 October 2019
Rzeczpospolita
May głosowała w referendum za pozostaniem w Unii i w oczach eurosceptycznych torysów była niewiarygodna. Z Borisem Johnsonem jest zupełnie inaczej. Był liderem kampanii na rzecz brexitu, wielu uważa, że jeśli nie on, to nikt nie wyprowadzi kraju z Unii – mówi „Rzeczpospolitej" Ian Bond, dyrektor londyńskiego Centre for European Reform.

BBC News: The next phase of Brexit

17 October 2019
“The EU will want to make sure the level playing field is a stringent one and probably more stringent than with any third country that the EU has been negotiating with” Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform told BBC News.

BBC Radio 5 Live: Brexit deal?

Sam Lowe
17 October 2019
“There’s this idea that we’re coming towards the end of Brexit...even if this deal goes through we’re just moving to phase three...Brexit is a process not an event” (from 10.51) Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform told  BBC 5 Live.

PM Johnson scrambles to save Brexit deal ahead of key Saturday vote

Sam Lowe
17 October 2019
City A.M
The new agreement has effectively shifted the backstop into the Irish Sea, pleasing those who feared border checks on the island of Ireland, and appears to draw on the plans readied under Theresa May, including the proposal for tariff rebates for firms moving goods into Northern Ireland that do not progress into the RepublicCentre for European Reform trade expert Sam Lowe described it as “Chequers for Northern Ireland”. 

No 10's concessions in race to break Brexit deadlock

Sam Lowe
17 October 2019
Financial Times
“It has been written in a specific way to appeal to British viewers, but the default position is Northern Ireland is treated as if it is in the EU customs union,” said Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform.

A Brexit deal in hand, Boris Johnson faces an uphill struggle in parliament

Sam Lowe
17 October 2019
The New York Times
But nobody really knows how things will pan out. “We have one step forward, in that we’re talking about something substantive,” said Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a research group in London. “But we still really have no idea where this is all going to land.”

Tok FM: Gostyńska: Brexitowej sagi ciąg dalszy nastąpi

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
17 October 2019
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform talks to TOK FM about the ongoing Brexit talks.

EU risks trade fight over carbon border tax plans

Sam Lowe
16 October 2019
Financial Times
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the EU “should make it as easy as possible for [importing] companies to seek relief based on proof of actual greenhouse gas emissions”.

UK's economy is £69bn smaller because of Brexit turmoil, says leading think tank

16 October 2019
Evening Standard
Britain's economy is a startling £69 billion smaller than it would have been if the country had not voted for Brexit, according to a leading think tank.The Centre for European Reform said the turmoil and uncertainty triggered by the 2016 vote to quit the EU means the economy is 2.9 per cent smaller than it would have been otherwise. “We have seen a substantial loss of output as a result of slower growth, and the hit to investment is storing up trouble for the future,” said John Springford, deputy director of the CER and author of the analysis.

Brexit deal on a knife-edge as Boris Johnson scrambles to find agreement with DUP

16 October 2019
The Mirror
Brexit has cost almost £70billion since the 2016 referendum thanks to the economy being 2.9% smaller than if the UK voted Remain, according to the Centre for European Reform.