Press

“What is new today is that the United States in particular, but also the UK, Russia, and others, often contrary to their own interests, are trying to go it alone more often—whether by pulling out of international agreements, leaving international organizations, or annexing territory in violation of international law. It is too early to say, however, that multilateralism is on the wane: that depends on how the rest of world responds to these moves,” said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform.

Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the CER think-tank, said Merkel has become more isolated on the European stage but her patience and experience could ensure her political survival. “She is fighting various fires in Europe. She has the Dutch and the northern and Scandinavian countries on her side, but she is certainly not strong enough to be called the undisputed leader of Europe as she might have been," Besch added. “She’s great at surviving these things, in part because of her calm approach, which is in stark contrast to the posturing in the CSU and the ‘Merkel must go’ faction of the CDU."

“Dominic Grieve’s last-minute amendment focuses on a no-deal scenario. It does not give Parliament the opportunity to reject a bad deal, which is what the Lords’ original amendment arguably intended,” says Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, a senior analyst at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. The final vote itself, she argues, is less important than the leverage it gives MPs to pressure the government to change its negotiating stance.

“When MPs vote on Tuesday they should stick to their guns and pass the Lords amendment. It gives them an opportunity to transform parliament from a bystander into an active player in the Brexit talks,” wrote Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in The Times.

Sam Lowe, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said: "The UK backstop makes a US trade deal difficult for two reasons. "First, while in place it would prevent from the UK from lowering its agriculture tariffs, which is a precondition of any deal with the US. "Second, if the backstop really is to remove the need for a border in Ireland, it will also require the UK food standards remaining fully aligned with the EU. "This is something the US will demand to be changed in the event of an any UK-US free trade agreement."

Ian Bond, director of foreign policy for the Centre for European Reform, suspects some of Trump's insistence that NATO isn't doing enough is because he doesn't understand how the alliance works. "NATO is not going to start picking up random people who've been radicalized on the internet and want to blow themselves up," Bond told DW. "You're not going to deploy NATO's rapid-reaction force to a guy with a van and some knives on London Bridge. NATO is not the answer to most of the kinds of terrorism that western countries are now facing."

In an email forum, three experts chime in on the German chancellor’s proposal for the eurozone.