Press

Germany demands NATO show greater commitment to nuclear disarmament

Tomas Valasek
14 October 2010
The Guardian
"France wants no language on nuclear disarmament," said Tomas Valasek, defence analyst at the Centre for European Reform. "France and Germany are very very far apart on this."

Wilders' impact felt as Dutch coalition sworn in

13 October 2010
Financial Times
"The Dutch used to be considered an 'old reliable' when it comes to funding the EU – that may now be changing," says Hugo Brady, researcher at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank.

Turkey seeks support for EU bid, but France gives little

Katinka Barysch
13 October 2010
The Wall Street Journal
There is no sign of the EU moving to open up to Northern Cyprus, while Mr Erdogan is unlikely to risk losing face by moving to open Turkish ports ahead of elections next June, said Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank, attending the seminar. "I don't see any way out," she said.

Turnout high for French protests against government

Simon Tilford
12 October 2010
Voice of America
Analysts like Simon Tilford, of the Centre for European Reform in London, say the reforms are crucial. "What we are seeing is essentially a very powerful group of special interests resisting reforms that would be in everyone's interest and which provide one of the least painful ways of reassuring investors about France's public finances," he said. Tilford believes European governments must take more painful measures than simply increasing retirement age.

Saving the euro: Tall ambition, flawed foundation

Katinka Barysch
11 October 2010
Financial Times
Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, contends that the Germans are in no mood to compromise. "Perhaps for the first time since the second world war, they are allowing themselves to be defiant and proud. Their export-oriented, stability-obsessed economic model is not up for discussion."

Schwarzenegger to check out the Russian Silicon Valley

Katinka Barysch
10 October 2010
The Moscow News
"It depends how you define success," deputy director at the Centre for European Reform Katinka Barysch told The Moscow News. "If the government thinks it will create the physical infrastructure for international business then I think that yes, given how much money they have thrown at the project, it will be a success.

The EU leader who sees quietness as a strength

09 October 2010
The International Herald Tribune
"His overall approach is one of solid intellectual analysis and modesty about what he can achieve," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a research institute. "He has analysed where Europe is and where it needs to go. He doesn't always get his way, but he is respected by many heads of government."

NATO chief backs defence deal between Britain and France

Tomas Valasek
08 October 2010
The Guardian
"There's a pattern," said Tomas Valasek, a defence analyst at the Centre for European Reform. "France and the UK have the same problems, both with nuclear forces and the full spectrum of military capability. They face the dilemma of dramatic spending cuts while trying to retain European superpower status. If they don't want to reduce capabilities they need to seek savings through collaboration.

Europe praises choice of Liu for Nobel

08 October 2010
Los Angeles Times
"Europe still wants a closer, tighter commercial relationship with China," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London. "The Chinese think we're obsessed with human rights when in fact we're not. Southern Europe — Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal — are not too concerned about pressing China on human rights." Even in Northern Europe, he said, "human rights is seen as something you mention occasionally but shouldn't let intrude in your commercial relationships."

Panel wants EU regional payouts centralised in Brussels

Simon Tilford
08 October 2010
EurActiv
Simon Tilford of the UK-based Centre for European Reform think-tank declared himself skeptical about better-off regions getting money, even if they are relatively poorer in their own countries. "National regional policies need to be rethought, ... I don't see the case for depriving poor countries of needed funds when rich nations have failed to redistribute wealth within their own territories."

Bosnia and Herzegovina still divided 15 years after war

Tomas Valasek
07 October 2010
CNN
Tomas Valasek, of the London-based Centre for European Reform, said the war in Bosnia has continued by other means, such as politics. "When I return to Mostar I'm surprised by how little healing as taken place. Speaking to the locals you realise there is a great deal of animosity. For example in the Croat part of Mostar there is an unusually tall church tower and locals say it was built to compete with the minarets [on the mosques] in the Muslim side of the city," he told CNN.

EU risks making a bad situation worse

Simon Tilford
04 October 2010
New York Times
"Poor economic growth prospects, not high deficits, lie at the heart of the eurozone crisis," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform think tank. ... "The eurozone can only avoid permanent crisis by convincing investors that growth will be strong enough for the hard-hit members of the currency union to service their debts," Tilford wrote in an essay entitled 'How to save the euro.' "As things stand, it is hard to see how they can grow their way out of trouble."

Why Germany is now happy to punch its weight

Tomas Valasek
03 October 2010
BBC
Tomas Valasek, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, says in recent times Germany has often shocked its partners by forcefully pressing its demands, leading to all kinds of "recalculations" within both the EU and NATO.

NATO document addresses nuclear disarmament

Tomas Valasek
30 September 2010
New York Times
"NATO can hold on to nuclear weapons and at the same time support calls for disarmament," said Tomas Valasek, a security expert at the Centre for European Reform in London who was an adviser to Mrs Albright.

EU unveils deficit sanctions as unions protest

Simon Tilford
30 September 2010
Sydney Morning Herald
"Unless there is a rethink, the eurozone risks permanent crisis, with chronically weak economic growth across the region as a whole and politically destabilising deflation in the struggling member states," Simon Tilford, chief economist of the Centre for European Reform, said in an essay.

EU economic reforms fall short on growth

Simon Tilford
30 September 2010
Financial Times
The European Commission announced proposals for reform of eurozone governance on Wednesday, calling for closer monitoring of member states’ public finances and tougher penalties for alleged fiscal ill-discipline.

Union protests put pressure on EU leaders

Simon Tilford
29 September 2010
Time
"Poor economic-growth prospects, rather than fiscal ill-discipline, lie at the heart of the currency union's problems," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank. "But the EU's inadequate policy response ignores this and risks condemning the eurozone to permanent crisis."

Austerity protests may curb eurozone reform

28 September 2010
Reuters
"The danger of social protest is real but more subtle," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think tank. "I don't think it will lead governments to fall, but it is changing the intellectual climate in Europe to make further moves toward market liberalisation less likely, and hence the long-term stability and survival of the euro less likely ... Social protests reflect a shift in the Zeitgeist (mood of the age) that will damage economic efficiency and productivity and lead to slower growth in Europe," Grant said.

EU faces threat to migration principle

28 September 2010
Financial Times
"Free movement is a bit like the euro," warns Hugo Brady, a fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a think tank, recalling the single currency's recent troubles. "It's a thing the EU created and then forgot about, thinking it would never be problematic thereafter. … Free movement is such an accepted part of Europe today that Brussels policymakers don't even think of people relocating from one EU country to another as migration ... But to the man in the street, what the EU calls 'free movement' is in fact intercontinental migration."

How to fix the eurozone

Katinka Barysch
27 September 2010
International Herald Tribune
A recent European Union meeting to review blueprints for better management of the euro got overshadowed by a noisy row over France’s decision to send scores of Roma – or gypsies – back to Bulgaria and Romania.