Press
Free lunch: Germany's incredible shrinking surplus
09 December 2015
Financial Times
There is certainly a problem in insisting on running a large surplus while simultaneously wanting others to reduce their deficits. But then the best way to resolve that contradiction may be to leave the deficits in place. If that again means Germany will fund reckless loans to the euro periphery (the CER’s Simon Tilford has calculated that Germany has lost half a trillion euros on its foreign investments since 2000), so be it.
Euro regime is working like a charm for France's Marine Le Pen
08 December 2015
The Telegraph
Simon Tilford, from the Centre for European Reform, said President Francois Hollande is almost certain to ditch EU fiscal targets after the weekend shock. “There is not going to any fiscal tightening before the elections,” he said.
World reaction to Donald Trump's proposal banning Muslims: Befuddlement
08 December 2015
The New York Times
Charles Grant, the director of the CER said Mr Trump was anathema to many Europeans because his populism had edged toward fascism and conveyed a willingness to preach an open hatred of religious minorities that many far-right leaders, from Ms. Le Pen in France to Nigel Farage of the euroskeptic UK Independence Party in Britain, tried to temper as they fought to move their parties into the political mainstream.
Premier W. Brytanii chce przekonać Warszawę do swych postulatów wobec UE
08 December 2015
Wyborcza
"Osiągnięcie szybkiego porozumienia jest niemożliwe, ale Londynowi zależy na zbliżeniu stanowisk z Polską" - mówi PAP Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska z think tanku Centre for European Reform.
French far right victory brings Eurozone disaster closer
07 December 2015
Fortune
Whatever the outcome, the latest vote shows a bigger-than-ever disconnect between the French élite, which has always wanted more European integration (if only on its own terms), and the population, which is now “firmly against any further integration,” says Simon Tilford of the CER.
Europe will stumble before it learns to stand tall
06 December 2015
Financial Times
As Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform has argued, the worst-paid Britons have been made worse off, too. Their real incomes have fallen, and an inadequate supply of housing has pushed up accommodation costs.
Denmark's 'No' holds a lesson for Cameron - Beware complacency
04 December 2015
Reuters
"The chances of Brexit (Britain leaving the EU) have gone up because there is a small chance - small but greater than zero - that there won’t be a deal because Cameron asks for something the rest of the EU cannot give him," said Charles Grant, director of the CER. "If Cameron can't get a deal then he can't recommend Britain stays in and in that case Britain would vote to leave the EU."
Europe and Turkey need each other
04 December 2015
Anadolu Post
Rem Korteweg, a senior research fellow with the CER, told Anadolu Agency that last Sunday's EU-Turkey summit showed that the European Union needed Turkey as much as Turkey needed the EU. "For Europe these days all roads lead to Ankara," Korteweg said, adding that Turkey was the "key country" for matters ranging from the refugee crisis to counter-terrorism measures, and from the Syrian civil war and energy security to relations with Russia.
EU-kilde efter dansk nej
04 December 2015
Politiken
Den danske folkeafstemning er »den dårligst timede folkeafstemning i folkeafstemningernes historie«. Det siger Camino Mortera-Martinez, der er advokat og ekspert i EU’s retspolitiske samarbejde ved tænketanken Centre for European Reform i Bruxelles.
David Cameron 'will campaign to leave' if EU leaders don't agree to in-work benefits demands
02 December 2015
The Telegraph
Charles Grant, the director of the CER warned that Downing Street was risking a major miscalculation about the extent to which key EU countries would bend in order to keep Britain in.
Encogerá el espacio europeo sin fronteras Schengen?
01 December 2015
El Espanol
Para Camino Mortera, analista del laboratorio de ideas CER, lo sorprendente es que "sería la primera vez que se aplicaría esta idea de la Europa a dos velocidades para ir hacia atrás". "Normalmente, las cooperaciones reforzadas de grupos de países se utilizan para avanzar en temas que no son populares en otros Estados miembros, pero esta idea parece que es para expulsar a los malos alumnos de Schengen", explica Mortera.
Cameron digs heels in over plan to scrap benefits for eastern European workers
28 November 2015
The Telegraph
"Even if the Visegrad nations can be persuaded politically to accept this, anybody can go to the ECJ and say 'I'm being discriminated against'," said Charles Grant, director of the CER, a pro-European think-tank.
Profile: France – and its future relationship with the EU
26 November 2015
Conservative Home
In Charles Grant's words, "The future of the EU means fixing the euro, and the French have a plan, and the Germans reject it. Nothing else, e.g. Brexit, matters a lot. The French understand that the euro may be doomed unless the Germans shift their position, which they are not doing."
What can Moldova's crisis teach the EU?
22 November 2015
Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty
"These countries suffer from oligarchic, corrupt systems which have held back their development over the last 20 years, and one question is whether the kind of relationship the EU is offering them gives some kind of leverage to those who like to see cleaner government," says Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the CER.
Paris attacks: The crisis of Europe's borders
18 November 2015
BBC News
The Centre for European Reform argued that: "Europe should not dismantle Schengen, but improve it, by processing refugees more effectively, deploying many more border guards at Europe's outer borders and improving sharing intelligence among the member-states."
The European unicycle
16 November 2015
NIESR
I attended the annual Centre for European Reform conference at Ditchley Park earlier this month, with the topic 'Has the euro been a failure?'. The conference was attended by a fairly impressive list of British and continental European economists and policymakers.
IS militants trying to inflame West-Muslim relations
16 November 2015
Voice of America
Charles Grant, director of the CER, sees a congruence of interests between far-right anti-immigrant politicians and the Islamic State. Grant argues that jihadist militants want to provoke far-right politicians like Le Pen, leader of France's National Front, who even before the attacks was riding high in opinion polls.
Paris attacks put dagger through heart of liberal Europe
14 November 2015
The Telegraph
Charles Grant, director of the CER warned that Islamic State wanted its attacks to bolster far-Right politicians like Marine Le Pen, the National Front leader who looks poised for a major victory in France's regional polls this December.
Why politics will keep rattling the eurozone
13 November 2015
The Wall Street Journal
At a weekend conference organised by the CER, most participants argued that the European Central Bank’s policies are too restrictive and the bloc’s rules don't leave enough scope for governments to stimulate demand through budget policies.
Eurokrise: Endlich Erholung! Welche Erholung?
12 November 2015
Der Standard
Irland profitiert vor allem davon, dass die Wirtschaft in den USA und in Großbritannien boomt, beide wichtige Handelspartner aus irischer Sicht. In Spanien und Portugal haben die Lohnkürzungen dafür gesorgt, dass Unternehmen billiger produzieren können, sagt Simon Tilford, Ökonom am Londoner CER.