Press

EU refuses to co-operate on security

Rem Korteweg
10 June 2013
The New York Times
“Apart from a very few countries, such as France and Britain, the Europeans have been very complacent about strategic affairs,” said Rem Korteweg, of the CER. "It’s as if the world outside does not affect them."

David Cameron: The good European

Katinka Barysch
10 June 2013
The New Statesman
The PM sees the EU as part of the solution, not the problem for the UK economy - a brave position to take as leader of today's Tory party... For more on that, and other rebuttals of the anti-EU case, I recommend this article by Katinka Barysch of the CER.

How to reduce the EU's democratic deficit

10 June 2013
The Guardian
The European Union has long suffered from a lack of legitimacy, but the euro crisis has worsened the problem. There is no silver bullet that can suddenly make the EU respected, admired or even popular among many Europeans.

Down so long that it looks like up

Simon Tilford
06 June 2013
The New York Times
"Policy-makers have a strong interest in the current strategy's appearing to work", said Simon Tilford of the CER. "Even the faintest glimmer of hope is interpreted as a sign of recovery." But Mr Tilford said it was clear that Europe was already trapped in the same kind of doldrums that becalmed Japan for several decades.

EU-Russia: Stale romance...

06 June 2013
The Voice of Russia (Radio)
We'll try to get a better understanding of why Russian-EU relations are running out of steam, and is the EU really likely to benefit from stirring ill feelings towards one of its biggest partners. We are discussing it with our guest speakers; Ian Bond, the Director of foreign policy at the CER, Eleonora Tafuro, Dmitry Suslov, and Dr Tatiana Romanova.

Unia Europejska krytyczna wobec Rosji

04 June 2013
Rzeczpospolita
A własność prywatna nie jest chroniona – tłumaczy „Rz" Ian Bond, ekspert Centre for European Reform w Londynie. UE wie, że tendencje w Rosji są bardzo niebezpieczne i w tej sprawie panują bardzo zbliżone poglądy. Skończył się czas głębokich podziałów w sprawach Rosji.

Eurozone retreats from austerity - but only as far as 'austerity lite'

Simon Tilford
30 May 2013
The Guardian
"I don't think anything has fundamentally changed in Europe as yet, although it probably will at some point. All they have done is take into account that when economies grow much more slowly there are obvious implications for tax revenues," said Simon Tilford of the CER.

Der Euro-Ausstieg liegt näher als wir denken

Simon Tilford
29 May 2013
Die Welt
"Die ungeheuren Konsequenzen eines Ausstiegs aus dem Euro haben bisher gegen einen solchen Schritt gesprochen", sagt Simon Tilford, Chefökonom am CER, einer Londoner Denkfabrik.

Tortuous EU move to arm Syria rebels highlights disunity

29 May 2013
Agence France Presse
"There is a strong case for training and equipping forces loyal to the Syrian National Coalition," said Ian Bond of the CER. "But there must also be a credible threat from leading NATO and Middle Eastern powers that they will launch military strikes against Assad's air and ground forces."

The EU's Court of Auditors: Europe's sleeping giant?

28 May 2013
E!Sharp
Veteran EU watchers consider the Union's budget as unreformable: a ritualistic doling out of public money into the pockets of farmers, MEP's expense accounts and the salaries of EU officials.

Ireland goes on offensive to counter US tax haven claims

28 May 2013
The Telegraph
"That was a blindside for Ireland Inc. because we always thought we were on the same page as Anglo-American capitalism. We thought it would stick up for us," said Hugo Brady, senior research fellow at the CER.

The collapse of the carbon market

Stephen Tindale
23 May 2013
Financial Times
In economic terms a carbon tax is clearly the most effective and simplest way of encouraging the shift to a low carbon economy. Of course the level of the tax matters. Stephen Tindale, in an excellent paper for the CER, suggests a floor price of 30 euros a tonne.

Les tensions s'avivent au sein de la "troïka"

Simon Tilford
21 May 2013
Le Monde
"Pour ces pays, c'est aussi scandaleux que d'imaginer les Etats-Unis réclamer l'aide du FMI pour sauver la Californie", pointe Simon Tilford du "think tank" européen, CER, basé à Londres. ... "C'est triste. Cela ne fait qu'accentuer l'euroscepticisme" conclut Simon Tilford.

Video interview on 'The working time directive'

Katinka Barysch
20 May 2013
Katinka Barysch discusses her recent policy brief 'The working time directive: What's the fuss about?'. The working time directive has had limited impact on British business. It has caused trouble in hospitals partly because the NHS relies so heavily on junior doctors.

Dublin fears rise in cross-border crime if UK opt out of EU rules

20 May 2013
Financial Times
"Police on both sides of the Irish Sea – as well as either side of the border – fear a return to the days when Ireland's supreme court would refuse extradition of terrorist suspects", says Hugo Brady of the CER.

Thinking the unthinkable: Quitting a currency

Simon Tilford
19 May 2013
The Wall Street Journal
"Just the sheer enormity of quitting the euro has so far militated against a surge in support to leave," says Simon Tilford of the CER. Once people feel there is no light at the end of the tunnel, however, "we'll probably start to see a more open debate about the costs and benefits of remaining in the single currency," he says.

Europa desgarra a los 'tories'

Philip Whyte
18 May 2013
El Pais
Philip Whyte, investigador del CER, discrepa de esa visión. En un estudio titulado ¿Perjudican los vínculos europeos de Gran Bretaña su prosperidad? concluye que muchos de los argumentos económicos euroescépticos son "engañosos" y que los problemas de la economía británica "no tienen nada que ver con las cargas burocráticas de la UE".

Recession causes grief for Hollande on election anniversary

Simon Tilford
17 May 2013
The Globe and Mail
"France's economy stacks up well among European countries", says Simon Tilford of the CER. Economic growth has been better than most eurozone countries since the financial crisis; productivity is higher, as is foreign investment.

Euro crisis mires continent in longest slump since war

Simon Tilford
16 May 2013
The Wall Street Journal
"Financial markets have become more sanguine than a year ago, but the underlying problems of the euro zone haven't been fixed," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER, a London-based think tank.

Coping with China's slowdown

16 May 2013
European Voice
Charles Grant, director of the CER, is certainly right when he says that EU negotiators have a poor record using their leverage as China's main trading partner in getting China "to do what they want", especially opening up its own markets to EU firms and combating intellectual property theft.