Press

Third Rutte cabinet most likely after March Dutch parliamentary election

Rem Korteweg
20 January 2017
Sputnik News
"This is difficult to predict at the moment. But going by current polls, a coalition that does not include the PVV will need to have, at least, five parties. There could be a centrist coalition including VVD, D66, CDA, PvdA and a smaller party. Or a center-right coalition: VVD, D66, CDA, 50Plus and a smaller Christian party," Rem Korteweg, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told Sputnik, adding that any coalition formed after the election could be quite unstable and the Dutch may be asked to go to the ballot box again soon.

Is Theresa May's Brexit Plan B an elaborate bluff?

19 January 2017
Financial Times
"Threatening to walk away if you don’t get a good deal is a standard negotiating tactic, but if the threat is empty you look a bit foolish," says Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. "Everyone knows she is not an ultraliberal," he says, adding it is inconceivable that parliament would vote for big cuts to environmental, employment or social laws.

Back to 1971: She may not frighten Europe but the prime minister frightens me

18 January 2017
Open democracy
As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform notes, this is a hollow threat. If she tries to turn the UK into a low-regulation Singapore undercutting the EU, the prime minister will upturn the one set of positive changes she pledges for Britain after Brexit: robust workers’ rights and – perish the word – a European industrial strategy.

Briterne styrer mod totalt brud med EU

Sophia Besch
18 January 2017
Kristeligt Dagblad
Men selv det sidste er ikke entydigt, mener seniorforsker Sophia Besch fra den proeuropæiske tænketank Centre for European Reform (Centre for European Reform) i London. ”Briterne har sagt helt klart, at de ikke længere vil følge EU-Domstolen, og at de vil hente kontrollen tilbage til Storbritannien,” siger hun. Mens Theresa May er klar i mælet, når det gælder, hvad briterne ikke vil, efterlyser Sophia Besch meldinger om, hvad briterne er klar til give. ”Briterne er nødt til at give køb på noget, men hun har ikke løftet sløret og holder kortene meget tæt til kroppen,” mener Sophia Besch.

May praised for "Churchillian" vision as Europe talks tough on Brexit

18 January 2017
The Telegraph
Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, said that parts of the EU were worried that Mrs May was being deeply unrealistic and that - like David Cameron's bold promises to reform Europe during his Bloomberg speech of January 2013, was setting herself up to fail.

EU could take economic hit to deter Brexit copycats

18 January 2017
Sky News
As the Director of the Centre for European Reform, Charles Grant, says, Mrs May has put the restoration of UK sovereignty ahead of economics. She said herself when she campaigned to remain, that Brexit would hit the British economy.

Was Theresa May nicht gesagt hat - aber ansprechen muss

Christian Odendahl
18 January 2017
Der Tagesspiegel
Die britische Premierministerin Theresa May hat in ihrer Lancaster House Rede die zwölf Ziele der Briten in den kommenden Brexit Verhandlungen vorgestellt.

Wielka Brytania: Eksperci ostrożnie o planie May ws. Brexitu

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
17 January 2017
Gazeta Prawna
"Wystąpienie May potwierdziło wiele oczekiwań ekspertów, ale europejscy partnerzy docenią, że brytyjski rząd wreszcie przedstawił zarys swojego planu" - oceniła w rozmowie z PAP analityczka z londyńskiego think tanku Centre for European Reform (CER) Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska.

Amnesty warns EU values, rights slipping amid security clampdown

Camino Mortera-Martinez
17 January 2017
Voice of America
Brussels-based justice and home affairs expert Camino Mortera-Martinez, of the Centre for European Reform, agrees that emergency measures have escalated, deepening an old split between those supporting state intervention and others championing privacy and individual rights.
“The question for me is do these measures make sense, are they reasonable?” she says. “It’s not possible in the current context not to have invasive measures on civil liberties in fighting terrorism, because of the exceptional state in which we’re in.”

NPR: British Prime Minister Theresa May outlines plan to leave European Union

Rem Korteweg
17 January 2017
Rem Korteweg speaks to NPR about Theresa May's Brexit speech on the 17 January 2017.

Trade experts point to a problem with Theresa May's Brexit strategy

Rem Korteweg
17 January 2017
Newsweek
What's more, says Rem Korteweg, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank, even if Britain secured an agreement to reduce tariffs on EU-UK trade and smooth over some customs red tape, it may still fail to remove a major problem for British business after Brexit: checks on UK goods when they cross EU borders.

May's Maggie moment

17 January 2017
EU Observer
As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform put it, “governments and businesses in many parts of the world will understand the essence of May’s Brexit strategy to be this: what matters is limiting free movement of labour and the rulings of foreign courts, and the price to be paid – the result of lower levels of trade and investment with the EU – of slower economic growth, is too bad.”

What Theresa May's speech means for the Brexit economic outlook

Simon Tilford
17 January 2017
Fortune
Simon Tilford, deputy director at the Centre for European Reform in London, argues that a transitional deal, one that would run in theory from 2019 through 2022, will still be hard to nail down, as the EU will insist on a high degree of freedom of movement in that time. That would leave May unable to deliver a meaningful cut in immigration before the next election in 2020.

Donald Trump takes swipe at EU as 'vehicle for Germany'

16 January 2017
Financial Times
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: "These comments reinforce the view that transatlantic relations are heading for their rockiest period since world war two. His views on Israel, Iran, climate etc are bound to create a chasm across the Atlantic and the UK will be left trying to straddle the divide — and perhaps falling in."

Will Geert Wilders win the Dutch election? Latest polls for the Netherlands election 2017

Rem Korteweg
16 January 2017
The Express
Rem Korteweg, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform (CER), believes that there is an 80 per cent chance that the Mr Wilders will win. He said: “We have to take the polls with a grain of salt, but Wilder has really been able to create a significant lead over the past two months.” 

Europe readies for Nationalist tide

16 January 2017
The Wall Street Journal
Unless there is a Le Pen victory, the EU is unlikely to lose more members, said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a London think tank. But Mr. Grant said doubts about the euro could revive if Italy holds elections as some expect and voters back the antiestablishment 5 Star Movement, which wants a referendum on the common currency. Impediments to the 5 Star Movement’s ability to win on a national level include its refusal to form coalitions with more-established parties. “The chances that the euro will face an existential crisis about Italy are small but not zero,” Mr. Grant said.
CER podcast: 5 questions on Trade, Trump and TTIP

CER podcast: 5 questions on Trade, Trump and TTIP

Sophia Besch, Rem Korteweg
16 January 2017
Rem Korteweg explains what trade policy under Trump will look like, if and how European governments can save TTIP, and what to make of a US-UK trade deal.

Buoyant economy steels Brexiters' resolve on EU talks ahead

Simon Tilford
13 January 2017
Financial Times
“There’s no doubt that economic activity has held up better than most economists thought,” Simon Tilford, of the pro-EU Centre for European Reform think-tank, conceded. Mr Tilford notes that not all pro-EU economists missed the mark, and - like many - remains convinced that the Brexit pain will eventually arrive. But he worries that the smooth sailing in the meantime could create a false sense of confidence and shift public support toward a more extreme form of EU exit.“The fact that growth has held up over the last six months is a negative because it’s emboldened the Eurosceptics and those who think that the UK can flourish outside the single market,” he explained.

Tim Barrow, invisible ambassador

13 January 2017
Politico
“The British government saw Russia largely as a trade opportunity for much of the time he was ambassador,” said Ian Bond, a Russia expert at the Centre for European Reform think-tank in London. “[Barrow] is very knowledgeable, very capable and very hard-nosed.”

Užsienio diplomato kirtis: nelaikykite rusų milžinais, o lietuvių nykštukais

13 January 2017
TV3
Situacija Europos Rytuose pamažu karštėja. Auga Lietuvos išlaidos gynybai, žiniasklaidoje plinta netikros naujienos ir propaganda, o šalies lyderiai tautiečius gąsdina pasisakymais apie kaip niekada didelį Lietuvos pažeidžiamumą. O kaip visa tai atrodo stebėtojui iš šalies – ar tikrai esame pajėgūs apsiginti ir kada sulauksime didžiosios Rytų kaimynės griūties?
Į kasmet Užsienio...