Press

'Global Britain' must get real on migration

Sam Lowe
03 March 2021
Politico
The UK’s crude conversation on labor mobility could undermine its status as a major services player.

Talking Baltics - Interview with Ian Bond

03 March 2021
University of Cambridge Centre for Geopolitics
We posed five questions to the director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform and a former British ambassador to Latvia to get his thoughts on the Baltic Sea Region.

Britain's climate dilemma as it navigates post-Brexit trade

Sam Lowe
28 February 2021
Politico
“How do you get political buy-in for these measures if it just leads to carbon leakage?” said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. 

Back Story podcast: Ukraine - war in Europe

27 February 2021
On this Back Story podcast we talk to Ian Bond, from the Centre for European Reform and a former British Diplomat on the chances of a direct clash with Russia and NATO and Putins state of mind.

Uncommon Decency podcast: A Very British Divorce

26 February 2021
After almost 4 years since 17 million Brits voted for this outcome, the UK has finally divorced from the European supranational behemoth. The year-end deal on the new trade rapport between the two sides of the Channel was elusive, but the sighs of relief in Whitehall and the Berlaymont have...

Future is Blue podcast: Economic and energy implications of Ukraine's war in Europe

25 February 2021
Elisabetta Cornago a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, talks to Carlos Carnicero Urabayen about the economic and energy related implications of Ukraine's war in Europe.

BBC Radio 4 - The Briefing Room: Brexit Business

Sam Lowe
25 February 2021
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Refrom joined Peter Foster, Vandeline von Bredow and Maddy Thimont Jack to speak with David Aaronovitch two months on from the UK's uncoupling from the European Union's single market.

Foster accuses European Commission of being tone deaf on impact of NI protocol

Sam Lowe
24 February 2021
The Irish Times
Earlier on Wednesday, one of Britain’s leading trade experts told MPs at Westminster that there was reason to be concerned about the sustainability of the protocol. Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the protocol could only endure if it enjoyed broad consent.“It is in the EU’s interest to be as accommodating as possible so as to ensure that it endures and to ensure that it doesn’t have to keep returning to this question constantly, over and over again,” he told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

CER podcast: What does Draghi's new government mean for Italy and Europe?

Luigi Scazzieri, Nathalie Tocci
24 February 2021
Katherine Pye discussed the outlook for Italy's new government with Nathalie Tocci and Luigi Scazzieri.

Northern Ireland Affairs Committee: Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol

Sam Lowe
24 February 2021
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform gave evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Dieser linke Rapper treibt tausende Spanier auf die Straße

Camino Mortera-Martinez
23 February 2021
Bayern 2
Camino Mortera forscht am Centre for European Research in Brüssel und sympathisiert mit den Protesten in ihrem Heimatland: „Der Protest bezieht sich im Grunde auf die Tatsache, dass der spanische Staat undemokratisch handelt, dass er den Menschen nicht erlaubt, ihre Meinung frei zu äußern und dass es ein großes Problem mit der Rechtsetzung im Land gibt.“

Flood of services trade heading to the EU after Brexit

Sam Lowe
22 February 2021
Politico
Britain should scrap visa costs for foreign workers and offer a stable regulatory climate for investment if it’s to stem a “flood” of services trade heading to the European Union after Brexit, according to a new report.  Fresh analysis by Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, urges the UK government to shift its policy focus away from securing free trade agreements (FTAs) and instead take steps to encourage immigration.

Europe risks shooting itself in foot with ‘premature’ Chinese trade agreement

Sam Lowe
21 February 2021
The Telegraph
Although the EU still sees China as a “systemic rival”, the realpolitik behind the deal has been enhanced by the UK’s harder line on China in a break from the courtship of the David Cameron era, underlined by the banishing of telecoms firm Huawei from 5G networks and ministerial condemnation of the democratic crackdown in Hong Kong. “That felt like a tipping point for me,” says Sam Lowe, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

Boris Johnson's government is 'gaslighting' Britain about the realities of Brexit, critics say

Sam Lowe
20 February 2021
CNN
"Politically, the government made a decision to prioritize regulatory autonomy over economic integration with the EU and the trade deal reflects that - it does little to facilitate trade," says Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

The Spectator Podcast: Boris’s climate conundrum

Sam Lowe
20 February 2021
While coronavirus has dominated the last year in politics, domestic issues are creeping back onto the agenda. Near the top of the list is reaching Net Zero by 2050 - not least because climate-conscious Joe Biden is now in the White House. Can Britain hit its target? Katy Balls speaks...

How performers lost out in ‘eye for an eye’ Brexit talks

Sam Lowe
18 February 2021
Politico
“It was a mixture of both sides talking past each other,” said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, as well as the UK being afraid “to the point of absurdity” of anything that sounded like freedom of movement. “Eventually, it got deprioritised,” he added.

Is Russia trying to fuel or fool Europe?

18 February 2021
The New European
Is it really possible that Russian could impact the continent's energy security by simply turning off the gas tap? In theory, yes, says Ian Bond, director of foreign policy and a Russia expert at the Centre for European Reform. "But that goes in both directions. The question is whether the EU will freeze before the Russians run out of money," he adds. After all, the Russian economy – around the same size as Spain's – is highly dependent on selling gas and oil to Europe.

After Brexit: The UK and EU risk a state of ‘permanent alert’

18 February 2021
Financial Times
There is frustration in Brussels that the UK has so far been reluctant to engage more deeply on broader issues such as security and defence policy, but Charles Grant, director of the pro-EU think-tank Centre for European Reform, argues that mutual interests on issues such as the Middle East and climate change will ultimately bring the two sides together.

The equivalence tussle is giving UK a lesson in Brexit power politics

Sam Lowe
17 February 2021
Financial Times
“The EU is on a land-grab,” says Sam Lowe, of the Centre for European Reform. “It is pursuing a strategy designed to try to lever over as much economic activity as possible and being quite blatant about it.” Some equivalence may still come “but it is now down to what is in the EU’s interests”.

Mario Draghi: What will a new technocrat-led government mean for Italy and the wider EU?

16 February 2021
Euronews
"Draghi's emphasis will be on firefighting," Dr Luigi Scazzieri, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER), told Euronews. "First is making sure that the vaccination campaign picks up speed. Second is ensuring that Italy's economy recovers quickly, by spending the money from the EU's recovery fund in ways that maximise potential growth."