Press

Bruselas, ¿te quiero? Preocupación por el pacto migratorio y los problemas financieros de la UE

Camino Mortera-Martinez
24 June 2023
En esta edición de "Bruselas, ¿te quiero?" debatimos sobre el pacto de asilo y migración de la UE en el contexto de los recientes naufragios en Europa en los que han perdido la vida decenas de migrantes.

Brexit has created raft of problems for Scotland, government paper asserts

23 June 2023
Holyrood
“Research by the Centre for European Reform paints an even gloomier picture, finding that the UK’s GDP was 5.5 per cent lower by the second quarter of 2022 than if Brexit had not occurred.
“It also found that UK investment was 11 per cent lower and trade 7 per cent lower than it would have been without Brexit.”

Brexit: Jacob Rees-Mogg versus Mark Carney

23 June 2023
The Herald
Centre for European Reform deputy director John Springford’s latest report on the impact of leaving the EU on the UK economy, published in December, estimates that Brexit had, by the second quarter of 2022, reduced the country’s gross domestic product by 5.5%.

Blaming Brexit is missing the point about why Britain’s inflation is high

22 June 2023
The Times
John Springford, at the Centre for European Reform, has produced a model that compares us today with a hypothetical Britain outside the EU. There have been substantive criticisms of his approach, which has been very pessimistic on Brexit. As of last spring, he suggested that the economy was 5.5 per cent smaller than if we’d remained.

Inflation, interest rates, net debt: Why is the UK's economy such a mess?

22 June 2023
Huff Post
Leaving the EU meant 330,000 fewer workers in the UK, according to the Centre for European Reform – that’s less than 1% of the UK workforce, but it still hit the transport, hospitality and retail sectors.

Why UK has Western Europe’s highest inflation rates (clue: it’s mostly about Brexit)

21 June 2023
iNews
John Springford, the deputy director of the Centre for European Reform in London, says Brexit is an obvious factor.
“While it’s very difficult to quantify, it must be part of it because if you impose trade barriers on yourself, then goods are going to be more expensive,” he says. “Inflation is likely to come down in Britain, but it’s just a question of how high interest rates have to go to get it.”

Is Brexit behind the UK's inflation shock?

21 June 2023
BBC News
The end of free movement means 330,000 fewer workers in the UK, according to one estimate from economists at the Centre for European Reform.

Bruxelles lance les grandes tractations sur le budget européen

21 June 2023
L'Agefi
«Cette estimation est fondée sur des multiplicateurs qui me paraissent complètement irréalistes. Pour faire simple, la Commission a enterré le fonds de souveraineté, tel qu’il avait été imaginé au départ, tance Sander Tordoir, du Centre for European Reform.

Poland cranks up quarrel with Europe after plan to impose £17,000 fee for each refugee a country fails to host

Camino Mortera-Martinez
19 June 2023
iNews
It is part of a growing number of battles that the Polish government is fighting with the rest of the EU. “Asking a question on migration in a referendum is a stupid idea,” says Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels office of the Centre For European Reform (CER). “It’s not going to solve any problem for anybody. They’re trying to play the blame game against Brussels.”

BBC Newsnight: Cost of Ukraine reconstruction

19 June 2023
Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the CER says "Lawyers differ on this, but there are at least precedents for state assets being taken and used for other purposes."

La reforma de los mercados mayoristas de la energía en Europa: ¿necesita más impulso?

16 June 2023
ES Global
Las propuestas de la Comisión Europea para reformar el mercado mayorista de la electricidad son modestas pero pragmáticas.

Vrekkige vier? Daar hoort Nederland niet meer bij

15 June 2023
NRC Handelsblad
Maar de onverbiddelijkheid waarmee Lindner nu inzet op harde schuldnormen is voor Nederland niet per se positief, zegt Sander Tordoir, als econoom verbonden aan de denktank Centre for European Reform. „Nederland probeert in de discussie vooral de handhaving te versterken. Maar omdat Lindner zich zo rigide opstelt en zich in een hoek vast schildert, wordt het voor Den Haag een stuk lastiger dat andere punt te maken.”

EU Commission wants the real deal

15 June 2023
EurActiv
Europe can withstand American and Chinese subsidies for green tech. John Springford and Sander Tordoir from the Centre for European Reform caution the EU not to go too far in its ambitions to out-subsidise the US or China in fear of losing out in green tech. They argue that for most of the green technologies, the geograhical distance to the US and China will impose such a cost on trade that it will be profitable to produce in Europe anyway.

Ukraine is struggling to break through to NATO

15 June 2023
Deutsche Welle
Currently, the most serious argument against Ukraine's membership in NATO is the difficulty in accepting a country that is under attack by Russia, and which does not control all its territory. However, there are ways to deal with it – explains Ian Bond in an analysis of the London-based Centre for European Reform. Bond cites the example of West Germany, which joined NATO in 1955 when, at least legally, it treated its western border as unregulated.

Newstalk: Push for far more energy independence for the continent

14 June 2023
Elisabetta Cornago from the CER spoke to Joie this morning on the show about the European Commission's hopes to break the link between wholesale gas and electricity prices and push for far more energy independence for the continent.

The case against Europe matching Biden’s green subsidy splurge

12 June 2023
Financial Times
There’s an interesting new paper out on EU subsidies from John Springford and Sander Tordoir at the Centre for European Reform urging restraint. They make a few key points: The EU is already pretty competitive in global green tech exports — less so than China but much more so than the US.

Letter: UK watchdog's tough stance on Big Tech should reassure MPs

12 June 2023
Financial Times
David Parker (Opinion, May 30) argues that if the UK Competition and Markets Authority stops big tech firms buying start-ups, entrepreneurs will avoid the UK.

Principles for Europe's relations with Russia after the war

11 June 2023
Eurodefense
Sooner or later, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine will end. What Western governments don’t know is what kind of Russia they will be dealing with at that point.

Giving Ukraine NATO membership is the best way to prevent World War III in Europe

10 June 2023
Encompass
When they met in Bucharest in April 2008, NATO leaders discussed the membership aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine and declared “these countries will become members of NATO”.

Erdogan's victory and the west

10 June 2023
Cyprus Mail
Erdoğan’s re-election as Turkish president means that Ankara’s relations with its Western allies will remain turbulent. The West should expect a bumpy ride.