In the Press - EU pledges restraint as US moves to add tariffs
03 October 2019
The Wall Street Journal
“I’m not convinced the U.S. is seeking an immediate settlement” on the WTO case, said Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, a think tank. “This dispute, despite being legal, will spill over into the politics of the trade war.”
In the Press - Sturgeon's EU experts warn of disastrous slump after no-deal
03 October 2019
The Times
Charles Grant, another standing council member, said that EU states would take their lead from Ireland, making a deal on Mr Johnson’s terms almost impossible.He said the EU was concerned a return to checks at the border would “endanger the peace process and possibly provoke terrorism, and also damage the integrity of the EU single market by encouraging fraud and smuggling”.
In the Press - Boris Johnson's Brexit plan challenged in EU, Parliament
02 October 2019
Bloomberg
The compromise moves a step closer to a Northern Ireland-only backstop - something the European Union has long pushed for, said Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. “If the DUP and the Conservatives now accept the principle of some kind of border in the Irish Sea, it could be possible to get them to go the rest of the way,” he said.
In the Press - Boris Johnson's Brexit plan hits a wall in Brussels
03 October 2019
The New York Times
“On the parliamentary side, it is plausible that Boris Johnson could scrape a majority together,” said Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a research organization. “But on the European Union side, it is not a workable deal.”
In the Press - Customs (the one we knew about)
03 October 2019
Financial Times
The government's ideas for avoiding infrastructure by relying on yet-to-exist technology are still met with huge scepticism (Sam Lowe has done a brilliant mock-up of what it looks like, below). EU diplomats are quick to point out dangers of a porous border that will become a smuggler's paradise. Making it work means Brussels will have to effectively suspend its customs code. EU27 diplomats were told last night that the blueprint doesn't meet the three criteria needed to replace the backstop.
In the Press - Asking Hansa for help
03 October 2019
Financial Times
Christian Odendahl at the Centre for European Reform thinks Christine Lagarde's first task at the ECB will be to convince hawkish eurozone governments to start spending and to get Ursula von der Leyen to revamp the bloc's spending rule book.
In the Press - Boris Johnson: 'I love Europe' and here is my plan to leave it
02 October 2019
The New York Times
“British Conservatives need to think more about Irish politics,” said Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, a research group.
In the Press - Borrell's in-tray
02 October 2019
Financial Times
Ian Bond and Luigi Scazzieri at the Centre for European Reform advise the EU's incoming top diplomat, Josep Borrell, to ready his sharp elbows to fight off institutional rivalries over how to handle's the bloc's foreign policy: “If Borrell can see off attacks on his position and reinforce the institutional role of the HRVP, he can then turn to the difficult foreign policy dossiers that he will inherit. His two top, and interlinked, priorities should be the EU’s relations with the US and with China.”
In the Press - Leading Northern Irish business group slams 'unworkable' new Brexit proposals
01 October 2019
Yahoo Finance
Commenting on the proposals, Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform told Yahoo Finance UK: “If what is being reported is accurate – the UK is proposing to both create new infrastructure and impose new checks. Rather than engage constructively, the UK appears to be playing fast and loose with its obligations to Northern Ireland, and hoping that imposing checks 10 minutes away from the border instead of literally on it will make all of Britain’s problems go away. It is difficult to see the EU going along with this.“The viability of the proposals is also in doubt.”
In the Press - Choppy waters
01 October 2019
Financial Times
Sam Lowe at the Centre for European Reform warns of trouble ahead for Hogan and the EU’s drive to sign new trade deals in the face of a newly intransigent European Parliament and vociferous green lobby.