Press
Channel 4 News: Brexit transition: Exclusive view of negotiating guidelines report
25 January 2018
Charles Grant told Gary Gibbon of Channel 4 News that the UK will have to accept the transition on the EU's terms.
Can Britain hit the reset button on Brexit?
25 January 2018
Bloomberg Businessweek
According to Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform, one of the goals of EU negotiators is to push May to explain the reality of Brexit to voters. “The second phase of the withdrawal negotiations, for the EU, is about forcing the UK to acknowledge the inherent trade-offs that come with Brexit,” says Lowe. “There is a hope that when and if they do come clean, then there will be a moment where the country goes, ‘Ah. Do we actually want to do this?’ ”
Swiss lessons on life outside the EU
25 January 2018
Financial Times
Forget “managed divergence”, the UK is better off striking a deal on goods after Brexit, write John Springford and Sam Lowe in their recent article 'Holding out hope for a half-way Brexit house', for the CER.
CER Bulletin podcast: Trade post Brexit; EU vs Poland; Trump's foreign policy
24 January 2018
In the CER Bulletin podcast, CER researchers brief podcast listeners on three of the most important topics for Europe this month.
Brexit briefing: Holding out hope for a halfway Brexit house
24 January 2018
Financial Times
“The UK is considering ‘managed divergence’ from EU rules, which the 27 will reject. A better strategy would be to remain in the customs union and single market for goods,” wrote John Springford and Sam Lowe at the Centre for European Reform.
Lord Mandelson secretly approached 'deeply committed' EU offering Brexit help
22 January 2018
The Express
Speaking last year at a Centre for European Reform event in Brussels shortly after the EU’s chief negotiator, Lord Mandelson said many Brexiteers wanted to move out of Europe’s sphere of influence and would be “very happy for Britain to become a regulatory satellite of the US” in the future. He said: “There is a political stand-off in the Cabinet between soft leavers and clean breakers and as a result, Mrs May is unable to get agreement to the negotiating guidelines that she needs for any future trade deal.
Macron sets out UK's Brexit options as businesses lean on May
22 January 2018
Bloomberg
“I think he [Macron] has - unwittingly or not - softened France’s position on future relationship,” Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said on Twitter. “UK can have a deal that is between full access to single market and a trade accord and this can include financial services.”
More calls to stay in the customs union
22 January 2018
Financial Times
As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform tweeted at the weekend: “The chances of UK staying in the CU are growing — and not just because of movement in the CBI and Labour Party. Several cabinet ministers remain keen and one Leaver cabinet minister told me recently that he could live with staying in CU, though that wouldn’t be his preference.”
CBI boss Carolyn Fairbairn calls for UK to stay in customs union
21 January 2018
The Telegraph
Sam Lowe, trade expert at the Centre for European Reform think-tank added the idea was one of the few “half-way house models” to have gained serious consideration on the European side. “Not only does it bind the UK to EU’s regulatory model in areas such as product standards and food safety, it also has the added benefit of resolving the Irish border conundrum.
France, Britain strike security pacts as Brexit tensions persist
19 January 2018
Voice of America
Britain is offering helicopters to help transport French troops deployed in the Sahel to fight Islamist terror networks — a welcome addition for France's military, which is undergoing spending cuts, said analyst Sophia Besch of the CER. "France is very keen to get other European partners on board to support it in its operations in Africa, in the Sahel," she said. "You can hear sometimes French officials say that, yes there is an EU army, and it's French.' So, there is this sense that the other Europeans need to step up, that all this responsibility can't just be on France. And if the UK is willing to do it, then that's great."
UE alarga para os Balcãs. Sérvia e Montenegro são os primeiros
19 January 2018
DN
"O alargamento para os Balcãs Ocidentais é importante para os países da região porque irão ganhar economicamente por serem incluídos no mercado interno da UE e porque irá assinalar o ponto final do longo processo de transição que começou com o colapso da Jugoslávia e as guerras civis dos anos 90", explicou ao DN Ian Bond, diretor de Política Externa do Centro para a Reforma Europeia.
EU need not fear new Russian gas pipeline
19 January 2018
EurActiv
Europe's continuing need for Russian gas – for reasons of proximity and price – is a reality, but it need not leave the EU over a barrel.
The transition period
19 January 2018
Lexology
The UK is aiming to enter into new bilateral FTAs that mirror the existing EU agreements. This useful paper from the Centre for European Reform explains the background, what has to happen, and why the UK is likely to need the EU’s help.
Of transition and trade deals
19 January 2018
The Financial Times
“This could easily result in a scenario in which UK exporters are no longer able to take advantage of the EU’s existing free trade agreements, but exporters located in countries with EU FTAs would continue to benefit from preferential access to the UK market on the same terms as now,” wrote Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform.
Europe survives Donald Trump's first year in office
19 January 2018
Deutsche Welle
"In the sense that we haven't yet had a nuclear holocaust I guess we have exceeded the worst expectations," quipped Ian Bond, director of foreign policy for the Centre for European Reform, pointing out more seriously that the tension around the Korean peninsula raises valid questions about the possibility of nuclear warfare. "People are still kind of shocked and horrified by what's going on in the US... but we've been having to get on with life and with Brexit and other things," Bond told DW, adding "there is still plenty of grounds for being extremely concerned about the situation."
BBC News at 1: Macron's visit to the UK
18 January 2018
Charles Grant, director of the CER spoke to the BBC News at 1 about Emmanuel Macron's relationship with Theresa May (from 4:16 mins).
Brexit 'transition' agreement talks will not be for faint-hearted
18 January 2018
The Irish Times
British ministers, will need to seek “authorisation” from Brussels to continue benefiting from EU trade deals the UK would otherwise fall out of on Brexit day. This could be a real difficulty, Sam Lowe writes in a report for the CER. When it leaves the EU in 2019, even though entering a period of transition, the UK will no longer be a signatory to some 40 free trade deals that the EU has negotiated. These FTAs are with states receiving 11-15 per cent of UK total exports.
CER podcast: A briefing on Nordstream 2
17 January 2018
Noah Gordon talks to Sophia Besch about the controversial Nordstream 2 pipeline – who is in favour of the project and who stands to lose out, what the EU is doing and what it should do, and whether Nordstream 2 is about business, geopolitics, or EU solidarity.
Guardian podcast: What does Poland want from Brexit? Brexit means...
17 January 2018
What does Poland want from Brexit and how will it affect Polish-British relations? Jon Henley discusses this delicate balancing act are three experts – we like experts on this show – Jakub Krupa, the UK correspondent of the Polish Press Agency; Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska of the Centre for European Reform think-tank; and the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent, Jennifer Rankin.
Tory MP slams EU plot for United States of Europe in brutal attack on Brussels
16 January 2018
The Express
But think-tank boss Charles Grant said that Germany will not let Juncker get away with his “delusional” EU vision, which includes allowing the richer northern Europe to pay for the poorer areas of southern Europe. Mr Grant, who is the Director of the Centre for European Reform, told BBC Radio 4: “[Juncker] believes that the Eurozone, in order to survive, needs to federalise. “That you need to have more integrated policy making system so that the richer countries, mainly Germany, transfer money to help the poorer countries like Italy and Greece and help them to flourish inside the eurozone.”