Single market, competition & trade
What a Boris Johnson EU-UK free trade agreement means for business
05 November 2019
Johnson's EU-UK free trade agreement would increase friction and costs of trading with the EU. Many businesses would find adapting to a new FTA just as troublesome as if the UK had crashed out without a deal.
The EU budget needs climate-proofing
04 November 2019
Greenhouse gas emissions from Europe’s farms have been flat since 2005. The Common Agricultural Policy, which consumes 37 per cent of the EU’s budget, subsidises a sector that needs to clean up its act.
The EU should reconsider its approach to trade and sustainable development
31 October 2019
In specific circumstances, the EU should make trade concessions contingent on partner countries meeting international environmental and labour standards.
Choppy waters ahead for EU trade policy
30 September 2019
The strategic case for new EU free trade agreements is strong. But delivering them requires accommodating the European Parliament and winning over an inwardly focused agriculture lobby.
How would negotiations after a no-deal Brexit play out?
03 September 2019
After no deal, the EU would demand that the UK sign up to the provisions of the withdrawal agreement, but in exchange for an emergency deal that is far worse than the standstill transition.
What next for the EU's capital markets union?
01 August 2019
Europe needs deep and liquid capital markets. The best way to ensure that is to open up to global capital markets, including London.
Bulletin Issue 127 - August/September 2019
01 August 2019
- No-deal Brexit means trouble for Brits living in the EU, Camino Mortera-Martinez
- Von der Leyen's bumpy road to becoming Commission president, Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
- What next for the EU's capital markets union?, Jonathan Faull, Simon Gleeson
Now is the worst time for 'global Britain'
27 June 2019
Global trade integration has stalled since the financial crisis, and is unlikely to pick up steam any time soon. In that context, plans for ‘global Britain’ will do little to offset the costs of Brexit.
Bulletin Issue 126 - June/July 2019
04 June 2019
- The European Parliament elections: No grounds for complacency, Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
- The EU needs an effective common arms export policy, Sophia Besch, Beth Oppenheim
- Competition policy in the 21st century: Size isn't everything, John Springford
Competition policy in the 21st century: Size isn't everything
04 June 2019
France and Germany have proposed laxer EU merger control to help European companies compete with Chinese firms. But competition has been waning within the EU, and stronger merger rules may be needed.
Northern Ireland and the backstop: Why 'alternative arrangements' aren't an alternative
29 May 2019
Technical fixes for the Irish border will only work if created in conjunction with affected communities and businesses.
The cost of Brexit to December 2018: Towards relative decline?
30 March 2019
The UK economy is 2.5 per cent smaller than it would be if Britain had voted to remain in the European Union. The knock-on hit to the public finances is £19 billion – or £145 million a week.
Europe without the UK: Liberated or diminished?
13 March 2019
In 2016 the CER made ten predictions about the effect of Brexit on future EU policy. How do they stand up now, on the eve of the UK’s departure?
The lessons of Brexit: Annual report 2018
04 February 2019
The CER's annual report features an essay on the lessons of Brexit. It also describes some of the highlights among our events and publications during the year we celebrated our 20th birthday.
The cost of Brexit to September 2018
27 January 2019
The UK economy is 2.3 per cent smaller than it would be if Britain had voted to remain in the European Union.
Bulletin Issue 124 - February/March 2019
25 January 2019
- How to combat Europe's economic slowdown, Christian Odendahl
- Trump's foreign policy: Two years of living dangerously, Ian Bond
- Is Spain simply late to Europe's populist party?, Camino Mortera-Martinez
Conference report: The politics of slow growth in Europe
19 December 2018
A new CER report summarises its 2018 Ditchley Park conference, which brought together 50 leading economists to discuss 'The politics of slow growth in Europe'.
Bulletin Issue 123 - December 2018/January 2019
29 November 2018
- An effective UK trade policy and a customs union are compatible, Sam Lowe
- China and Europe: Buying hearts and minds?, Ian Bond
- What is Europe doing to fight disinformation?, Camino Mortera-Martinez
An effective UK trade policy and a customs union are compatible
29 November 2018
If the UK enters into a customs union with the European Union it will be able to operate an effective trade policy, but the political focus would need to shift away from headline-grabbing, comprehensive free trade agreements.
Why a woolly political declaration might help Theresa May get her Brexit deal through Parliament
05 November 2018
The political declaration on the post-Brexit relationship between the EU and UK will probably be vague and lack legal authority. This could work to Theresa May's advantage.