Research
Trouble in the Med
01 July 1998
Most of the European continent is more peaceful now than at any other time in its history. Except, that is, for the Balkans, with Kosovo on the brink of a full-scale Serb-Albanian war - and Europe's south-eastern fringe where another conflict is imminent: Turkey and Greece, two NATO allies, could end up at war.
Integration or isolation? Restructuring Europe's defence industry
01 July 1998
As the states of the European Union draw closer together, their inability to unite and restructure their defence industries is becoming ever more anachronistic. Britain, France and Germany currently have separate defence industries. In a united Europe, such duplication is neither necessary nor economically viable.
Issue 1 - 1998
29 May 1998
- The unshocking truth about EMU, Charles Grant
- Trouble in the Med, Dan Bilefsky
- Integration or isolation? Restructuring Europe's defence industry, Alex Ashbourne
Weak dollar strong euro? The international impact of EMU
01 May 1998
The creation of the euro will be the most important development in the evolution of the international monetary system since the widespread adoption of flexible exchange rates in the early 1970s.
Britain & the new European agenda
02 January 1998
The European Union is changing. Faster than many in Britain imagine. In the next 12 months, the EU faces a series of interlocking decisions which are likely to define the future of the continent for the next generation.
Bridging the Atlantic: Domestic politics and Euro-American relations
05 December 1997
Is the transatlantic relationship an unhealthy dependency, a Cold War relic? That's the view of a growing number of people on both sides of the Atlantic who are increasingly questioning the relevance of the special link between Europe and America.
Saving our fish
11 July 1997
The European Union's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has been widely pilloried within Britain, particularly in the last two or three years, and cited as another example of Brussels' ineptitude and its prejudice against British interests.
A common agricultural fund
04 July 1997
Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is back on the table once again - not that it has ever been absent for long. With the inter-governmental conference out of the way, the European Commission is due to present a major package of reforms during the summer of 1997.
Tomorrow's Europe
06 June 1997
Describing the old Common Market, Walter Hallstein, the Commission's first President, remarked: "Anyone who does not believe in miracles in European affairs is no realist".
Europe and our future
07 March 1997
There is an almost daily diet of frenzied debate about the future of this country in the European Union. Why add to it? Europe is after all not the most vital topic which people see as affecting their everyday lives.
Britain and EMU: The case for joining
07 February 1997
As the deadline for the start of Economic and Monetary Union approaches, the British debate on the single currency is shifting. Theoretical discussions on the pros and cons of monetary union are becoming less relevant. Britain now faces an urgent and practical question: if, as seems likely, its principal trading...
Why Europe matters: A personal view
20 September 1996
Britain should play an active role in reforming the European Union, not out of starry-eyed idealism, but from hard-nosed self-interest. Ralf Dahrendorf offers ten guiding principles for improving the way the EU works, and argues that its most urgent priority should be to take in new members from Eastern Europe.
Can industrial Europe be saved?
13 September 1996
Pessimists claim that the European economy is sinking under the weight of an over-regulated labour market and a costly welfare state. Taking a hard-headed look at the facts, Olivier Cadot and Pierre Blime find that Europe's competitive position in manufacturing has declined, industrial Europe is facing declining market shares in...
Opening the door: The enlargement of NATO and the European Union
06 September 1996
Britain and its European allies are now committed to a radical redrawing of their continent's political and economic map.
Strength in numbers: Europe's foreign and defence policy
06 September 1996
The countries of the European Union need to speak with a common voice on foreign policy. They share similar fundamental interests, which are sometimes distinct from those of the Americans.
Reshaping Europe: Visions for the future
06 September 1996
Many Europeans are unhappy with the way the European Union works. How can it be remodelled? Neither old-fashioned federalism nor chauvinistic Euroscepticism offer the answer. In Reshaping Europe, five writers offer fresh ideas for the future.
Annual report - 2006
At the start of 2007 it was easy to be gloomy about the state of the European Union. Its governments cannot agree on the institutional changes that are needed to make the EU run better. The core euroland economies are stifled by a lack of structural reform. Externally, the member-states differ on how to deal with their large and worrisome neighbour, Russia. The Union’s underlying philosophy of openness and integration, and of co-operating and pooling sovereignty to solve common problems, has few eloquent proponents among European leaders.
Annual report - 2005
The European Union had a difficult year in 2005. Bitter arguments over the EU budget, the Common Agricultural Policy and the Doha round of trade talks fuelled an often poisonous atmosphere among EU leaders. More fundamentally, the poor performance of the core Euroland economies worsened many of Europe’s problems. Low economic growth and high unemployment make many people fearful of change, whether it comes in the form of new EU treaties, fresh rounds of enlargement or world trade liberalisation.
Annual report - 2004
The CER has always championed an outward-looking EU that is aware of its global responsibilities. In several ways the EU is evolving in the right direction: it has enlarged eastwards and still plans to take in more countries; it has started to develop its own security strategy and (albeit modest) military capabilities; and it has established a carbon emissions trading system that offers the rest of the world a model for tackling global warming.
Annual report - 2003
The past year has been one of the best ever for the CER. Whether success is measured by the impact of our publications, our visibility in the British and global media, or the number of opinion pieces that we write for the international press, we have had a fine year. A CER team won the Foreign Policy Association/Richard C Welden Foundation essay competition, for a piece on transatlantic relations. Colin Powell awarded the prize to the CER’s Steven Everts at the FPA’s annual dinner in New York in May.