Research

UK's flagship post-Brexit trade deal worth even less than previously thought, OBR says

26 November 2023
The Observer
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said there was almost no prospect of a trade deal with the US. “There is no chance of one at the moment because Joe Biden does not like trade deals. And there is no chance of one if Trump were to return to the White House because he likes them even less than Biden.
CER Podcast: What does AI mean for Europe?

CER Podcast: What does AI mean for Europe?

Zach Meyers, Kai Zenner
24 November 2023
Zach Meyers and Kai Zenner discuss Artificial Intelligence.

La victoire de l’extrême-droite aux Pays-Bas assombrit les perspectives de l’UE

23 November 2023
L'Agefi
Geert Wilders dispose à n’en pas douter de vraies chances de décrocher la tête de l’exécutif, conviennent les différents experts. «Sa victoire est si large qu’il va être politiquement difficile pour les autres partis de l’ignorer pour la formation d’un gouvernement », explique Sander Tordoir, chercheur néerlandais du Center for European Reform.

« Un cauchemar » : pourquoi la victoire de Geert Wilders aux Pays-Bas donne des sueurs froides à Bruxelles

23 November 2023
Le Parisien
« Sa victoire est si large qu’il va être politiquement difficile pour les autres partis de l’ignorer pour la formation d’un gouvernement », explique Sander Tordoir, chercheur néerlandais du Centre for European Reform.

How Big Tech learned to love Britain’s libertarians

23 November 2023
Politico
For Zach Meyers, who specializes in competition law at think-tank the Centre for European Reform, the alignment is a “very pragmatic and opportunistic alliance,” rather than a meeting of minds.“The Big Tech firms have found an opening,” he said.

Aux Pays-Bas, une élection à haut risque pour l’Europe

22 November 2023
Le Parisien
S’il est difficile d’imaginer les Pays-Bas mettre en œuvre une telle disposition, les perspectives qu’offre le scrutin sont, plus globalement, loin d’être très réjouissantes du point de vue européen, selon Sander Tordoir, chercheur du Centre for European Reform. 
ZDF Heute: Rennen um Ruttes Nachfolge

ZDF Heute: Rennen um Ruttes Nachfolge

22 November 2023
Sander Tordoir spricht von "schwebenden Wählern". 63 Prozent wissen zwei Tage vor der Wahl nicht, wo sie landen, wo sie ihr Kreuz machen. Die Milieubindung sei in den Niederlanden schon länger noch geringer als in Deutschland: Weniger Kirche, weniger Gewerkschaften.
Opgepast: focus op nationale emissies dreigt Nederland in een wegkijkeconomie te veranderen

Opgepast: focus op nationale emissies dreigt Nederland in een wegkijkeconomie te veranderen

Sander Tordoir, Jesse Hettema
21 November 2023
de Volkskrant
Het maatschappelijk klimaat keert zich deze verkiezingscampagne tegen ‘vieze’ bedrijven als Tata en Chemours, zien Sander Tordoir en Jesse Hettema.
Dutch elections: The end of the EU's pragmatic dealmaker?

Dutch elections: The end of the EU's pragmatic dealmaker?

20 November 2023
Bertelsmann Stiftung
This week, the Netherlands heads to the polls. For the first time in 13 years, outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte is not on the ballot.

To EU’s leaders, poison released by David Cameron’s Brexit blunder has lost its sting

19 November 2023
The Sunday Times
Aspects of Britain’s relationship with the EU, including co-operation on justice and policing and the Good Friday agreement on Northern Ireland, are predicated on British membership of the convention, said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform. “It’s not just an emotional thing, it really matters to the EU,” he said.

Europe trudges ahead with beefing up its security and defence order

18 November 2023
Financial Times
But these efforts do not rise to the scale of the challenge Europe faces, fears Luigi Scazzeri of the Centre for European Reform. He argues that it will be difficult for governments to sustain the kind of increase in defence spending seen in recent years, given competing spending pressures and the rising cost of raw materials needed for weapons systems.

Britain's top court sinks Rwanda migrant deal

Camino Mortera-Martinez
16 November 2023
Voice of America
Attitudes on migration are hardening in the bloc, said Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels office of the Centre for European Reform.“The political consensus has been for a long time on the issues of increasing returns [of failed asylum-seekers] — which is one of the most tricky parts of any migration policy, and also border controls and the fight against irregular migration — ironically enough, the kinds of things that the U.K. government had been asking for for a long time when it was inside of the European Union,” she told VOA.

Why Spain's amnesty deal with Catalans is source of resentment

Camino Mortera-Martinez
14 November 2023
EU Observer
"There is sufficient evidence to understand that this law has been drafted by the direct beneficiaries of an amnesty for corruption crimes," Camino Mortera-Martínez from the Centre for European Reform (CER), a think-tank, told EU Observer.This violates the rule of law and the legal principle thatone cannot draft criminal laws ad hominem — but it alsohighlights that one cannot adopt "transitional justice laws,without social consensus", she added.

Josep Borrell: The EU’s undiplomatic top diplomat

13 November 2023
Politico
Borrell going beyond what EU countries agreed contributed to the perception that the EU is divided on the conflict, said Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform. At the same time, Borrell’s remarks have also helped signal to the Middle East that some Europeans are willing to be more robust in holding Israel accountable, said Scazzieri of the CER.

Israel-Hamas war stokes tensions in Europe

13 November 2023
NBC News
“The war is just deeply polarizing European societies,” Luigi Scazzieri, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank in London, told NBC News. “You have the mobilization of parts of the left, that which starts being in favor of Palestine, but kind of spills over into then being mobilization against the policies that the West is pursuing in relation to the conflict,” he said.

Cameron’s Brexit ‘blunder’ will forever be on his record, say EU figures

Camino Mortera-Martinez
13 November 2023
iNews
Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels office at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said Lord Cameron’s appointment was a surprise, but given what followed, he still compares well. “He started everything off, but his successors were so bad that he is probably perceived as something like one of the few adults in the room,” she said. “And he campaigned for staying in the EU, so I guess that counts for something.”

Kemi Badenoch’s booster strategy fails to cover the cost of Brexit on UK trade

09 November 2023
Financial Times
As John Springford at the Centre for European Reform pointed out, the drop in imports from the EU to the UK (while the rest of the EU’s have risen) points clearly to a Brexit impact on UK trade which is plausibly the result of the UK being slowly cut out of EU value-chains.
Judy Asks: Is the two-state solution feasible?

Judy Asks: Is the two-state solution feasible?

09 November 2023
Carnegie Europe
The war between Israel and Hamas makes the two-state solution less viable than ever before. Achieving peace requires political will, compromise, and initiative from the international community.
West underestimated importance of rule of law in Russia - former British ambassador to Latvia

West underestimated importance of rule of law in Russia - former British ambassador to Latvia

09 November 2023
The Baltic Times
In the 1990s, the West missed several opportunities to push Russia in a different direction, primarily by focusing too much on Russia's economic transformation and underestimating the importance of the rule of law.

China’s soaring Dutch imports signal stockpiling of ASML kit ahead of US-backed export controls

08 November 2023
South China Morning Post
“The stunning surge in Chinese imports from the Netherlands over the past few months is a result of Beijing’s buying spree of Dutch chip machinery company ASML before the drawbridge gets pulled up,” said Sander Tordoir, a senior economist at the Centre for European Reform.