Press

Fünf gegen Boris

Sam Lowe
15 December 2019
Die Welt
„Es ist in Trumps Interesse, dass sich die britische Regierung dem Regel- und Zollwerk der EU entzieht. Vor allem im Bereich der Lebensmittelvorschriften“, sagt Sam Lowe, Handelsexperte am Centre for European Reform.

After thumping victory, Boris Johnson focuses on swift Brexit, boost to public spending

Sam Lowe
13 December 2019
The Wall Street Journal
Breaking with the EU may slow Britain’s economic growth in coming years, said Sam Lowe, a researcher at the Centre for European Reform, a London think tank. “But with the majority he has he can probably afford some economic pain,” he said, while adding that a hit to the economy would make it harder to for Mr. Johnson to satisfy his new cohort of working-class supporters.

Path to a softer Brexit? UK PM's win gives him leeway

Charles Grant, Sam Lowe
13 December 2019
France 24
"With a big majority, Boris Johnson can ignore ERG and go for a softer Brexit if he wishes," noted Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform (CER) think tank.

Tok FM: "Miejmy w końcu ten Brexit za sobą" - dlaczego Boris Johnson wygrał wybory w Wielkiej Brytanii?

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
13 December 2019
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform talks to TOK FM about the UK elections.

Polityka Insight podcast: O przełomowym szczycie i brytyjskich wyborach

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
13 December 2019
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform talked to Polityka Insight about the UK elections.

BBC News - Newshour: UK election result

Sam Lowe
13 December 2019
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform spoke to Newshour about the general election result. 

WTO's uncertain future: Invasion of the appellate body snatchers

Sam Lowe
12 December 2019
The Finacial Times
As the redoubtable Sam “Big Sam” Lowe of the Centre for European Reform points out, an EU-UK bilateral negotiated by end-2020 won’t look much different for most companies than a no-deal Brexit. Trade Secrets is 1-0 up, and the game’s into self-inflicted injury time.

UK heads towards Brexit as Johnson on course for decisive win

12 December 2019
Reuters
“With a big majority BJ can ignore ERG and go for a softer Brexit if he wishes,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform.

'Low-hanging fruit' and the politics of perception: Five takeaways from the Paris summit on the war in Ukraine

Khrystyna Parandii
10 December 2019
Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty
These agreements are "largely low-hanging fruits strategically," Khrystyna Parandii, a fellow at the London-based Centre for European Reform, said in a tweet. ...But she added that they have "important humanitarian implications" - something Zelenskiy had stressed in comments before the talks on a war that has killed more than 13,000 people, displaced millions, and left many remaining residents of the war-torn areas living in dire conditions.

Bullets have been flying in world trade, but as of today there’s no sheriff in town

Sam Lowe
10 December 2019
Financial Post
Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, adds: “The U.S. is no longer the benevolent hegemon of the rules-based system, it is now actively trying to disrupt it and return to a period when all that mattered was size.”

Pressure from Macron and Merkel on Russia is crucial to ending the war in eastern Ukraine

Khrystyna Parandii
09 December 2019
The Independent
Five years after Russia and its proxies invaded eastern Ukraine, a fresh peace initiative is raising hopes of a solution to the Donbass conflict that has claimed 13,000 lives and left more than 30,000 injured.

Johnson vow to implement Brexit deal by December 2020 in doubt

Sam Lowe
09 December 2019
The Financial Times
Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, said: “We are talking about a big bureaucratic exercise here.” He said something similar to the transition period would have to continue while new systems were put in place.“While it may be possible to have inked a free trade agreement by the end of the year, you would still have to implement it,” he said. “That would require an extension of the status quo, otherwise there would be chaos.”

What the death of WTO's 'Supreme Court for global trade' means for the UK and beyond

Sam Lowe
08 December 2019
The Telegraph
Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Centre for European Reform, adds: “The US is no longer the benevolent hegemon of the rules-based system – it's now actively trying to disrupt it and return to a period when all that mattered was size.”

Der lange Weg zum Frieden in der Ostukraine

Khrystyna Parandii
07 December 2019
Wiener Zeitung
Sie sollten allerdings darauf bestehen, dass die Wiederherstellung der "Souveränität und territorialen Integrität der Ukraine" ein Ziel bleibe, schreibt Khrystyna Parandii in einer Analyse für die Denkfabrik CER (Centre for European Reform), die ihren Hauptsitz in London hat. Sie argumentiert, dass das beste Ergebnis der Zusammenkunft in Paris wäre, wenn sich die Parteien auf einen umfassenden Vertrag einigen könnten, der auf dem Minsker Abkommen basiert und zentrale Fragen wie die Entwaffnung paramilitärischer Gruppen regeln würde.

Face of the next phase

Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska
07 December 2019
The Week
Her [von der Leyen] green deal for making the continent carbon neutral by 2050 is contested, her aim to fast-track foreign policy decisions by dropping consensus is unrealistic and her desire for more capital-markets integration is controversial. Predicts EU expert Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska: “Her biggest challenge will be to show she can be assertive vis-a-vis the member-states.”

Can a comprehensive Brexit deal be done by the end of 2020?

Sam Lowe
06 December 2019
The Guardian
Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, is one who believes it is possible. “The single biggest underpriced thing in this whole debate about Brexit is that Johnson and the EU might actually get a trade deal done by 31 December 2020,” he said. “It’s not that I am pushing this as a likelihood, I just think it’s possible and it could catch people off-guard.”

Can Europe overcome its paralysis on Palestine?

Beth Oppenheim
05 December 2019
Haaretz
When Federica Mogherini took office as the EU’s high representative for foreign policy in November 2014, she declared that a two-state solution could be reached within her five-year term.

“Get Brexit done”? It’s not as simple as Boris Johnson claims

Sam Lowe
05 December 2019
The Economist
Yet Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform, another think-tank, says the sole practical option in such a short time would be a bare-bones deal that covered goods trade alone. Such a deal might avoid the need for parliamentary ratification. But it would do nothing for services, which make up 80% of Britain’s economy and half its trade. It would not cover security, data and much else.

CER podcast: Where is Turkey going?

Luigi Scazzieri, Beth Oppenheim
04 December 2019
After Turkey’s recent offensive in northern Syria, Ankara’s relationships with the EU and US have been badly strained.

Nato at 70: Not 'brain dead', but needs shot in arm

03 December 2019
EU Observer
What a difference a decade makes. Nato's 60th birthday celebration in 2009 was a show of confidence, sprinkled with the stardust of Barack Obama's first official visit to Europe and culminating in a 62-paragraph declaration covering everything from the Arctic to Africa.