Bloomberg, 29 December 2006
EU rolls out welcome mat for two countries, yanks it from rest
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan charges that the EU hasn't lived up to its pledge to open trade links with the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus. Erdogan will spend the year campaigning for his own re-election in November, leaving him with little incentive to give in to the EU. "Erdogan wants to be seen as a strong leader in the run-up to elections,'' Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London, said in an interview. "For him to be upbeat and compromising with the EU might not work.''

International Herald Tribune, 27 December 2006
Russia strong-arms energy-hungry West
"It pains a lot of people here to admit that Russia is not 'like us,'" Katinka Barysch, chief economist of the Centre for European Reform, a research group in London, wrote in an electronic message, saying that Europe's energy interests would trump other concerns about Russia. "But unless the country slides into full-scale dictatorship or chaos, we will put our interests first."

Reuters, 24 December 2006
Germany faces diplomatic mine field as EU president
Germany has vowed to keep the substance of the existing treaty, but a more likely outcome may be the ‘‘mini-treaty’’ advocated by French presidential contender Nicolas Sarkozy. ‘‘A mini-treaty would look like a defeat for the Germans, but as long as you don’t call it that it could work,’’ said Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform in London. The constitution is one of a series of sensitive issues Germany will be tackling in the first half of 2007. It has ambitions to kick-start the long-dormant Middle East peace process as part of the ‘‘quartet’’ of mediators – a grouping of the EU, Russia, United Nations and United States.

Christian Science Monitor, 19 December 2006
At stake in Libyan HIV trial: EU relations
"The Libyans want to get closer to the Europeans," says Hugo Brady, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London. "When very sensitive issues arise, even judges tend to be aware of factors outside their courts."

International Herald Tribune, 18 December 2006
Metalworking union in Germany pushes for big raise
"It would be thoroughly good news for the euro zone if German wages were to rise a bit," said Simon Tilford, an economist with the Centre for European Reform in London. "That would make the adjustment that Italy and other countries need to make that much easier. If it does not happen, it's hard to see how other countries close the gap."

The Observer , 17 December 2006
Euro still shining in the east
While the accession countries are scrambling to get their economies in order and qualify to join, some politicians in Italy are beginning to think the unthinkable, and advocate crashing out of the single currency to reverse the dramatic deterioration in the economy's competitiveness since 1999. Analysts at think-tank the Centre for European Reform warned recently that without radical market reforms, the eurozone could be torn apart. And a run-in between the French government and the European Central Bank last week underlined growing anger that the ECB is mimicking the hawkish Bundesbank, depressing growth by keeping interest rates too high.

Le Monde, 16 December 2006
La "maison" européenne
Un an et demi après le non des Français au projet de Constitution, l'Europe ne donne aucun signe de pouvoir se relever, tandis que les menaces de "désintégration" s'additionnent semaine après semaine : abandon de facto de l'agenda de Lisbonne, recul du budget, échec de la directive sur les services, désunion sur l'énergie face à Poutine, montée du "patriotisme économique"... Les plus militants de la cause européenne avouent leur pessimisme. "La zone euro va-t-elle craquer ?", se demande même Simon Tilford, du très sérieux Center for European Reform.

L'Express , 15 December 2006
Europe: l'élargissement de trop?
Dans une note récente, Charles Grant, directeur du Centre for European Reform, met en garde: «S'il apparaît que la Bulgarie et la Roumanie sont incapables d'administrer les politiques et les programmes européens et qu'émergent des cas de détournement de fonds européens par le crime organisé, c'est le processus d'élargissement dans son ensemble qui en pâtira.» Les conséquences pour le reste des Balkans, qui attend de voir son sort fixé, pourraient être catastrophiques. L'Europe n'y gagnerait rien.

Business Week, 14 December 2006
New EU members experience strong growth
And in considering eastern Europe, some economists call for more optimism, stressing they should be judged by how far they have come since the collapse of communism in 1989 and not how far they have to go in catching up to London and Paris. "I remember when they were facing these huge challenges - all their industries were state-owned, there were no private property laws," said Katinka Barysch, chief economist with the Centre for European Reform, an independent London think tank. "They didn't have consultants, bankers, modern telecommunication. They didn't have anything," she said. "Just look what they've accomplished within 15 years out of command economies."

The Scotsman , 14 December 2006
EU's Franco-German motor sputters
She [Merkel] is likely to put national interests before those of Europe, something her predecessors Gerhard Schroeder and Helmut Kohl did not always do. "In the past, agreement between France and Germany was enough to get the other member states to go along. Now the EU is simply too big and too diverse," said Aurore Wanlin of the Centre for European Reform in London. "One can't talk about France and Germany as a motor any more."

Reuters, 12 December 2006
Enlarged EU shows growing pains, not paralysis
"EU decision-making has become more difficult because there are now obviously more interests around the table that have to be accommodated," said Hugo Brady, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform (CER) in London. ... Newcomers must learn that "if you use your veto over an agreement that took a long time to reach, you will lose some political capital and when you next need it, you may not receive the support," said CER's Brady.

The Yorkshire Post, 9 December 2006
Campbell flies the flag for Europe: Closer integration 'can work in national interest'
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell will make an audacious attempt next week to put pro-Europeanism back at the heart of his party's electoral appeal. In his first major speech on the subject since his election as party leader in March, he will challenge populist Eurosceptism by arguing that European integration can work in the national interest. "I'm going to argue the necessity of Europe," he said, of his upcoming keynote speech to the Centre for European Reform. "I'm going to argue that there are issues like climate change, immigration and terrorism where only closer integration with Europe will enable us to deal effectively with them."

Bloomberg, 9 December 2006
WTO hasn't made enough progress for summit, EU Says
Poor farmers in countries such as Mozambique, Ethiopia and Jamaica have an interest in seeing rich nation subsidies trimmed because they encourage overproduction of goods that are then exported to developing markets at prices below the cost of production, aid agency Oxfam says. "The problem is that the European and American offers on agriculture were interesting for Brazil'' but ``not at all interesting to very poor developing countries'' that already have preferential access to markets that, if opened to Brazil, would expose them to more competition, said Aurore Wanlin, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London.

International Herald Tribune, 8 December 2006
Turkey and EU flirt with disaster in a train crash that is about to happen
Charles Grant of the London-based Centre for European Reform warns of an upheaval in Turkish politics and, as a consequence, a drop in investor confidence in the country. "Nationalists and hardline Islamists would crow that the West could not be trusted," he said. The EU's reputation in the Islamic world would also suffer, reviving complaints Europeans are not keen on Muslims in their Christian club, he said. Also, "a breakdown in EU-Turkey relations would almost certainly end any hopes of reuniting Cyprus," Grant said.

Bloomberg, 4 December 2006
If Royal is answer, France asked wrong question
"The Socialist Party needed to come back to the center ground of politics,'' Aurore Wanlin, research fellow at the London-based Centre for European Reform, said in a telephone interview. "Just by saying we need new ideas, she has completely revolutionised the debate within the party.''

BBC News, 29 November 2006
EU push to influence neighbours
European governments are also divided on how to deal with the other neighbouring countries, as Charles Grant from the London-based Centre for European Reform, explains. "A lot of the EU member states don't like it, they fear that the neighbourhood policy could be seen as a stepping-stone towards enlargement. "So the French, the Dutch, the Spanish and others have intervened to make sure the action plans for the three Caucasus countries are very mean - no mention of how they can sign up to EU foreign and security policy, nothing about visa facilitation. "Of course, the countries themselves, the neighbours, have a poor record of implementing the action plans, they don't have the administrative capacity to implement them. "But the basic problem with the European Neighbourhood Policy is the structural flaw. I mean the carrots the EU is offering are not big enough and juicy enough to really give the political leaders in the countries concerned the incentives to carry out painful reforms."

The Guardian, 29 November 2006
Cyprus conundrum stalls Ankara accession
Analysts say a breakdown - although we are not there yet - in accession talks would have an immediate impact on Turkish politics. "The goal of EU membership has helped to ensure that two camps which do not trust each other - the secular "Kemalists" in the army, judiciary and bureaucracy, and the Islamists in the ruling AKP government - work together on a reform agenda," said Katinka Barysch and Charles Grant in a recent paper for the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank. "But the removal of that goal and the consequent recriminations could destabilise the political system."

The Guardian, 27 November 2006
Minister's remarks threaten to widen rift with Kremlin
A recent bulletin from the Centre for European Reform think-tank noted: "While energy experts are less concerned about Russia's willingness to sell energy to Europe, they worry greatly about its ability to do so. Oil output growth in Russia has dropped off sharply at a time of record oil prices. Similarly, Russia's gas output has been flat for years."

Bloomberg, 27 November 2006
Pope's visit to Turkey stokes tension over faith, EU membership
"I think the Pope stating a personal opinion is one thing, but at this particularly delicate time, he should not be expressing it,'' Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the London- based Centre for European Reform, said in a telephone interview. "The EU is a political club, an economic club, not a religious one.''

The Standard [China's business paper], 27 November 2006
NATO leaders get ready to tackle alliance's fate
For the French, turning NATO into a coalition of democracies with global ambitions would send a bad signal, particularly to Asia. "It would be very unwise to send such a message to the world, notably to China and India, that: `it is the West against the rest,"' said Daniel Keohane, defense expert at London's Centre for European Reform think-tank.

Time, 26 November 2006
Uncertain alliance - Once again, NATO finds itself on shaky ground. What is it supposed to do, and how?
Many European governments, France in particular, worry that "expanding nato into an alliance of democracies [could be] interpreted as 'the West against the rest,'" says Daniel Keohane, a security expert at the Centre for European Reform in London. The summit will endorse a mechanism for coordinating with out-of-area allies, but not the formal ties Washington has been hoping for.

Zaman [Turkey], 26 November 2006
Failed EU entrance could mean stronger ties to Russia
According to a British think-tank, the Centre for European Reform (CER), if EU membership negotiations were postponed, Turkey would look for a new alliance, perhaps in Russia. Known for its EU studies, the CER’s December-January bulletin reported that the European Union was capable of postponing membership negotiations with the Turkish government and that Turkey was capable of giving up on EU membership. “An angry and disappointed Turkey would spurn any partnership that fell short of full membership.” Rejected by the European Union, Turkey might turn its attention to alternative allies, the article said, commenting that trading and political ties between Russia and Turkey have burgeoned in recent years. Some senior figures in the Kremlin argue that both countries are outcasts from the European mainstream and should therefore stick together. The article explained that most of the European Union's gas imports came through pipelines running over Russian territory. The European Union wants to diversify for the sake of energy security. Almost all the alternative routes for Caspian or Middle Eastern gas entering Europe pass through Anatolia. CER Director Charles Grant and Chief Economist Katinka Barysch said that if Turkey turned away from the European Union toward Russia, the European Union could find it much harder to decrease its reliance on Russian energy and pipelines. The article also said the union’s ability to influence the Islamic world would diminish and it would be seen as a Christian club. “Turkey may continue to modernize and open its economy and consolidate its democracy. However, progress would be much slower and patchier than it would be if Turkey stayed on the path to EU accession”.

CNN, 24 November 2006
Dutch election shows up Europe's anxieties
"The Dutch have had to live with painful reform," Simon Tilford of the London-based Centre for European Reform. "In many European countries it can be an uphill struggle. They are asked to give up things they cherish and they see few benefits."

Le Monde, 23 November 2006
Le double défi de Moscou et d'Ankara
La Russie et la Turquie ont de nombreux points communs, comme le note Charles Grant, directeur du Centre for European Reform, un centre de recherches britannique, dans une étude récente. L'une et l'autre sont à cheval sur l'Europe et l'Asie, leurs capitales culturelles (Saint-Pétersbourg et Istanbul) penchant vers l'Ouest, leurs capitales politiques (Moscou et Ankara) plus tournées vers l'intérieur. L'une et l'autre sont issues de vastes empires multiethniques aujourd'hui démantelés. L'une et l'autre sont incertaines de leur identité européenne, défendue en leur sein par les cercles modernistes et rejetée par les milieux traditionalistes. Dans les deux pays, assure Charles Grant, un nationalisme exacerbé, sur la défensive, parfois paranoïaque, n'est jamais loin de la surface. Il s'accompagne d'une volonté de centralisation qui brime les droits des minorités ethniques, kurdes en Turquie, tchétchènes en Russie. Des "forces étrangères" y sont accusées d'encourager les séparatismes, durement réprimés. A Moscou comme à Ankara, des régimes autoritaires menacent les libertés publiques et font peu de cas des droits de l'homme, suscitant l'inquiétude des Européens. ... Depuis cinq ans, note Charles Grant, les liens entre ces deux pays, autrefois hostiles, se sont resserrés.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 23 November 2006
Energy, new co-operation pact to top EU-Russia summit agenda
Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform, argued that the EU should go slow on seeking to clinch a comprehensive new deal until the two sides had developed more mutual trust. For the moment, the focus should be on making the existing EU- Russia agreement work better and focusing on energy and human rights, she said.

The Prague Post, 15 November 2006
Missile base is no sure bet - US elections delay decision on Central European facility
"The Pentagon would've been thinking about this [election] for the last few months. I imagine it's been more of a priority than making missile defense decisions," said Daniel Keohane, a senior research fellow at the London-based Centre for European Reform. ..."The Russians perceive this in an almost paranoid way: 'This is NATO out to get us,' " Keohane said. Local opposition to a Czech base also appears to be growing, with some politicians calling for a referendum to decide on the issue. Still, it's not a matter of if, but when, the U.S. military will extend its missile defense system to Europe, Keohane said. "Certainly, a missile base will be going somewhere. The US has plenty of options."

Christian Science Monitor, 11 November 2006
Heat's on nuclear power - Europe's summer sparks a wave of cuts - and questions
In England, where opposition to nuclear plants has been intense, climate change worries may trump antinuclear feeling. "The jury is still out," says Simon Tilford, an analyst with the Centre for European Reform in London, where the summer heat brought scattered blackouts. "But I think the government has had some success at turning public opinion around because they argued the environmental case."

Financial Times, 8 November 2006
Blair set to feel icy blast of Bush defeats
Any inquiries [into the Iraq invasion] will make the headlines well after Mr Blair has left office. "But the findings could be embarrassing", said Mark Leonard, director for foreign policy at the Centre for European reform. "Congress will almost certainly look at the reasons for going to war and the lack of preparation for governing post-Saddam Iraq. This will probably bring out in detail how Mr Blair lacked real influence over what the Bush administration did." ... "Transatlantic tensions have always been higher when the US is feeling self-confident"; says Mr Leonard, "and they have been good when the US is feeling weak and introverted."

New York Times, 8 November 2006
World sees vote as rejection of Iraq policy
"It's a little bit difficult to see what impact it will have on Blair himself, as he is on the way out anyway", said Daniel Keohane, a specialist in defence and security matters at the Centre for European Reform. By contrast, he said, Gordon Brown, Mr. Blair's likely successor, has close links to the democrats "This would certainly encourage the view that the Democrats would have a chance of the presidency in 2008", he said. "From Brown's point of view, that's a good thing."

International Herald Tribune, 7 November 2006
No matter who wins, problems for EU
"Many in Europe would like to see Bush get a bloody nose in these elections and view the Democrats as closer to the European way of thinking", said Mark Leonard, a foreign policy analyst at the London-based Centre for European Reform."But there also are key differences between the Democrats and Europe that should not be underestimated", Leonard added... "Democrats believe that a strong Europe is good for the United States."

International Herald Tribune, 7 November 2006
Britain wins round over its longer workweek
For the British, there also are critical ideological and cultural principles at stake, said Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform in London."There is a strong sense in the U.K. that people should be free to work long hours if they so choose, and that curtailing this right will impair competitiveness and send the wrong signal to investors", said Tilford.

The Guardian, 6 November 2006
Catching the continental drift
Katinka Barysch, an analyst at the London thinktank the Centre for European Reform, believes the best-case scenario is that both the EU and Turkey will muddle through this difficult patch. "Nobody wants to upset the apple cart", she said. "But if the EU does something drastic like suspend the entry talks, then Turkey could walk away. Erdogan can court popularity by blaming the EU and say 'I've tried my best.'"

Newsweek International, 6 November 2006
Britain: The shadows of Suez
Mark Leonard of the CER, writing recently in the Spectator after interviewing key advisers, suggests that as prime minister Brown would "break with Blair's adventurism" and adopt a "more hard-headed brand of atlanticism ... reserving the right to be critical of American policy in public."

International Herald Tribune, 6 November 2006
Democrats could give allies an Iraq exit strategy
"If the Democrats sweep Congress, it will have a big impact on the debate in Iraq, putting pressure on all those European governments that have stood by Bush and strengthening the voices of those in favor of disengagement", said Daniel Keohane at the London-based Centre for European Reform.

US News and world report, 5 November 2006
In praise of long hours
To bring down unemployment, France in 2000 implemented a 35-hour workweek. It has not been a success. "It's coming under real pressure", says Simon Tilford, business analyst at the Centre for European Reform in London... Tilford expects that if Britain's opt-out is canceled, U.K. businesses too will find ways to carry on as before: "It won't make much difference. People will continue to work what they want, and it won't change things."

El Pais, 2 November 2006
La UE propone que las futuras ampliaciones requieran la aprobación de los ciudadanos
La ampliación de la UE a nuevos Estados (Balcanes Occidentales y Turquía) quedó seriamente afectada tras los noes de Francia y Holanda al Tratado Constitucional en 2005. "En Francia y en Holanda algunos de los que votaron no lo hicieron porque se oponían a la entrada de Turquía como miembro, aunque el Tratado no tenían nada que ver formalmente con Turquía", sostiene Charles Grant, del Centre for European Reform.

The Economist, 28 October 2006
Hard Currency, tight spot
Though it may seem far-fetched, some people believe that Italy might be pushed out of the eurozone. In a recent report ['Will the eurozone crack'] Simon Tilford, of the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank, puts the probability as high as 40 per cent.

Deutsche Welle, 25 October 2006
G6 Ministers Debate Terrorism Behind Closed Doors
Hugo Brady, a research fellow with the British-based Centre for European Reform, said the G6 format was beneficial because it was otherwise difficult to generate EU consensus. He said he was "not outraged" by the secrecy of the meetings. "Governments have been cooperating in Europe on internal security since 1923 when Interpol was founded and it's always been secret", he said. Brady expected the ministers to discuss expanding the small group of EU members that signed the Treaty of Prum in 2005, which provided for sharing fingerprints, DNA and bolstering police co-operation. "I know that Great Britain has the intention of joining and is kicking itself it wasn't in the negotiations to start with", he said.

The Independent, 21 October 2006
EU heads of State unite against Russia
But the extent to which Europe is hamstrung in its dealings with the Russians is underllned in a report by Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform, which says that bi-lateral trade has grown by more than 70 per cent in the last five years. "The EU looked on helplessly as the Putin administration exiled its critics, took over the big TV stations, harassed NGO's, re-nationalised the country's biggest oil firm, abolished regional elections and propped up self-serving seperatists beyond its borders. Upbeat statements after summits can no longer hide the fact that the two sides do not agree on what their partnership should look like", it stated.

International Herald Tribune, 20 October 2006
EU sees new export in energy plan
Simon Tilford, the head of the business unit at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based group, said the measures represented "an ideal opportunity for Europe to take the lead and set technological standards, even global standards" in the area of appliances. But Tilford said the measures would do little to change the fact that EU governments are largely free to set consumption limits for energy-intensive industries like power generation. Germany, France and Italy, among others, have set loose targets and it is not yet "worthwhile for businesses to invest in carbon abatement technologies", Tilford said.

The Guardian, 20 October 2006
On big issues the EU keeps muddling through

International Herald Tribune, 19 October 2006
Katinka Barysch, a Russia expert at the London-based Centre for European Reform, argued that the only way for Russia and the EU to overcome their mutual disillusionment was for Europe to accept that an increasingly self-confident Russia is no longer eager to align itself with European standards and values - as it did when it was politically weak and economically unstable after the fall of communism. Moscow, meanwhile, must recognize that an inward, autocratic-sounding Russia is not in its economic or strategic interests. "The EU has looked on helplessly as Putin has exiled his critics, renationalised the countries biggest oil firm and abolished regional elections", she said. "No amount of upbeat statements after summits can hide the fact that two sides do not agree on what their partnership should look like."

The Guardian, 19 October 2006
Governments pitch for 'European MIT'
Richard Lambert, now CBI director-general, and Nick Butler, head of strategy at BP, argued in a Centre for European Reform report this summer the EU would be better to strengthen the best universities that already exist - such as Cambridge and Oxford which already enjoy world rankings... Its [European Institute of Technology] location is yet to be decided though Andrew Duff, a Liberal MEP, has suggested Cambridge - part of his constituency and home to Europe's largest hi-tech "cluster," including Microsoft's European lab. But Mr Lambert and Mr Butler said in their CER report: "Such an institution would be extremely expensive and take years to establish. The politics of choosing its location and its direction would be a nightmare. Years of creative energy, much political goodwill and large sums of money could be wasted in the exercise."

Voice of America, 17 October 2006
EU backs limited sanctions on Iran
Despite the impasse, Daniel Keohane, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform in London, says the discussions were not a complete failure. "It was good to keep the Iranians at the table, to keep them talking. The problem was perhaps expectations were a bit high." Keohane also says the Iranian leadership is divided over how hard a line to maintain in the nuclear negotiations. The threat of sanctions might prompt some to decide President Ahmadinejad has gone too far.

International Herald Tribune, 17 October 2006
UK fights to retain workweek exemption
Simon Tilford, head of the business unit at the Centre for European Reform based in London, said that most British employees already worked hours similar to those of their Continental counterparts. And the "work addicts" in the investment banking and financial sectors "will continue to work hundred-hour weeks, with or without EU legislation, and whether they are in London, Frankfurt or elsewhere", he said.

Irish Times, 17 October 2006
Finns hope they have an answer to Turks' accession crisis
"Already you have seen a drastic drop in support for EU membership in Turkey. It has fallen 20 per cent in just two years", says Katinka Barysch, analyst with the think-tank Centre for European Reform in London. "At the start of the accession process Turkish people were happy to be part of it; now there is a real risk of disillusionment."

Washington Post, 13 October 2006
Events in arts, politics highlight Turkey's tangled ties to Europe
"I think there's a political message", said Charles Grant, head of the Centre for European Reform in London. "Pamuk is not popular even with the educated, liberal intelligentsia in Turkey, where there is a view that he is out of touch with his Turkish roots. And this is not going to make him any more popular... I think the French Parliament is absolutely ridiculous to pass a law about Armenian massacres. So many massacres have been carried out by so many people throughout history that to pass a law about one and not the others . . . is infantile."

International Herald Tribune, 10 October 2006
Announcement of nuclear test unites world powers in criticism
Daniel Keohane, a security analyst at the London-based Centre for European Reform, said universal condemnation of North Korea, including a joint statement of criticism by China and Japan and a rebuke by Russia, made it likely that Washington and the EU would find support if they decided to push for sanctions against Pyongyang. "It will be easier to find international consensus on North Korea than it has been on Iran because two of its closest neighbors, China and Japan, are united in their response", he said. "All six parties, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, are united in favor of North Korea abandoning nuclear weapons."

Institute for war and peace reporting, 10 October 2006
Crossfire over enlargement confuses Balkans
"The EU does need to bring its own house in order, as the institutional structure now meant to deal with 27 members was originally designed for six", Katinka Barysch, of the London-based think-tank Centre for European Reform, told Balkan Insight... Barysch said people in the older member countries take an increasingly dim view of eastward enlargement, "worried about what it means for their jobs and security." Barysch citing a common perception in the "old EU" that bringing in more members in the East means cheaper labour costs and higher crime... The constitutional debate should not make much difference to the others [the other Balkan countries], either. "There is not much political capital to be gained from blocking the progress of Western Balkan countries." While the EU is becoming stricter on criteria when it comes to enlargement, "member states understand the need to keep the ball rolling where the Western Balkans are concerned", she added.

Helsingin Sanomat, 9 October 2006
Halfway through the term, Finnish EU Presidency wins cautious praise
"One of the greatest challenges is to keep going with the negotiations over Turkey's accession to the EU. While it is not known as yet whether or not it will succeed, Finland has a good opportunity to achieve this goal", considers Charles Grant of the London-based Centre for European Reform.

International Herald Tribune, 9 October 2006
Letters: NATO's future
The article is inaccurate in its representation of EU-NATO relations. Official dialogue has been hampered by a Turkish-Cypriot dispute, but cooperation on joint operations has developed and improved immeasurably over the last year. For instance, the article says that the European Commission has refused to help NATO in Afghanistan. In fact the commission has been funding civil parts of provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan (in concert with NATO) for a year. I also object to how my comments were presented in the article. They were used to suggest that the relationship between the EU and NATO is purely negative. These quotes do not reflect my views, which are that the EU and NATO have been working more closely of late and should develop their cooperation further. Daniel Keohane, London Senior research fellow Centre for European Reform

Turkish Daily News, 8 October 2006
Weakened Merkel faces new leadership tests
"If she runs a successful EU presidency it won't harm her domestic standing but it won't match the foreign policy boost she got from her initial appearances", said Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. "The expectations are very different now."

Financial Times, 6 October 2006
Divergence in competitiveness already exists in EU
Sir, Simon Tilford makes a persuasive case that diverging trends in competitiveness within the eurozone threaten its stability ("How to ensure the eurozone does not unravel", October 4). His case would have been all the more persuasive had he noted the large dimension of the divergence in European competitiveness that has already occurred. Since 2000, Italy and Spain have lost as much as 20 percentage points in wage competitiveness to Germany. As a result, both these countries are now running external current account deficits in excess of 8 percentage points of gross domestic product. The very size of this loss in competitiveness makes its correction more difficult than Mr Tilford intimates. This is particularly the case since his proposed structural reforms to improve labour market flexibility must be expected to have a short-run depressing effect on output that would not be opportune for either Italy or Spain. The dire state of Italy's public finances would be worsened by any further slowing in Italy's economic growth, while Spain's housing price bubble would almost certainly be punctured by any loss in Spain's growth momentum.Mr Tilford's suggestion that the circle be squared by having Germany promote higher real wage growththan it has to date is curious. One would have thought that the European Central Bank's less than 2 per cent inflation target would highly limit any contribution that higher German real wage growth could make to narrow Germany's competitiveness differential with Italy and Spain.

International Herald Tribune, 4 October 2006
EU and NATO bound in a perilous rivalry
"NATO and the EU could do so much more to help each other", said Daniel Keohane, a defence analyst at the Centre for European Reform in London. "At a time when both are being called upon by the United Nations to provide troops, whether to Lebanon or Afghanistan, they should be talking to each other. Frankly, the dialogue in Brussels is truly dreadful." ... NATO has repeatedly asked the EU for more civilian and humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, particularly since both organisations say security cannot be attained without economic development and jobs. But the European Commission has refused.  "The Commission put its foot down largely because of opposition from some of the member states", Keohane said... "The outlook for EU defence will be different in about 10 years", with the bloc set to acquire the A400M military transport aircraft and Eurofighter jets, both manufactured by European Aeronautic Defence & Space, parent company of Airbus, and the Galileo satellite navigation system being developed in Europe... Turkey (a member of NATO) objects to Cyprus and Malta (members of the EU) sitting in on joint EU-NATO meetings. Turkish diplomats say this is because Cyprus and Malta, unlike other neutral EU members, are not members of NATO's Partnership for Peace Program, which allows for some intelligence sharing. But analysts say the dispute provides a cover for those countries, including France and Belgium, that want the EU's defence role to remain distinct from that of NATO. "This is a ludicrous situation, Cyprus insists it wants to be treated equally as an EU member and so should be allowed sit in on the meetings. When it does sit in on such meetings, then issues such as Afghanistan, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism cannot be discussed because they involve NATO issues."  

"The indigestion from that biggest-ever enlargement is putting the whole enlargement process at risk", says Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform... Hugo Brady draws parallels with a "difficult period" which followed the accession of a "somewhat belligerent and nationalist" Greece in 1981, not long after it emerged from dictatorship. The period did not last long, he says. EU membership helped to seal the country's full transition to democracy, and it quickly became a valued member of the union.

International Herald Tribune, 22 September 2006
News analysis: Brown keeps low profile in U.S. visit
"I think Brown realises he has everything to gain from things being relatively calm", said Mark Leonard of the Centre for European Reform, an expert on British foreign policy. "If he looks like he is campaigning, it legitimises other people speaking out against him."
 
Voice of America, 22 September 2006
French, German, Russian leaders to discuss Iran nuclear issues
Katinka Barysch, an energy expert at the Centre for European Reform, in London, says there are other problems when it comes to Russian gas."What the Europeans are concerned about - and should be concerned about - is that Russia, in the future, might not produce enough gas to both supply the gas we need in Western Europe, and satisfy fast-growing Asian markets that Russia is now focusing on", she said.

Radio Free Europe, 21 September 2006
"From an outside European perspective, what is going on in Hungary is kind of puzzling for us, because in our minds, Hungary has always been a very stable and solid country", says European affairs analyst Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform. "It was the poster boy of transition for many years, it's not a country which in our minds is associated with instability," she adds. "It was very difficult to understand. Apparently there must have been a lot of frustration bubbling away under the surface which is now coming out." ... Barysch calls parallels between Hungary and Ukraine's Orange Revolution far-fetched. "I don't see that [same situation as in Ukraine] happening [in Hungary]. I do believe that Hungary is a much more stable, and a country where democracy is consolidated", she says. "The Ukrainians went through a decade of watching an utterly corrupt and cynical political establishment at the top, in Hungary that's not the case. There might be a certain amount of disillusionment with the political class after the prime minister admitted of having lied to the public. But I don't see any kind of political meltdown, still... It is obvious that this comes at a very sensitive point in time and the EU is having a debate about such issues as enlargement fatigue and should more countries be coming in, and, is Bulgaria ready, and should we be taking in the western Balkans [countries], with all their political problems, should we take in Turkey that in many ways is still a backward society, so it comes at a very sensitive time", she says.

Financial Times, 21 September 2006
Germany's EU fatigue ruffles feathers among Brussels elite
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said: "There has been a secular trend over the last 15 years for German political leaders to be less dewy-eyed about Europe, but there remains a deep-rooted view that greater European unity is in Germany's national interest."

Evenimentul Zilei [Italy], 21 September
Uniunea monetara europeana, in pericol - Centre for European Reform: sunt 40% sanse ca Italia sa renunte la euro
Uniunea monetara europeana risca sa deraieze si sa submineze piata unica comunitara, daca cele 12 state care au adoptat moneda euro nu trec la reformarea radicala a economiilor lor, sustine un raport al institutului Centre for European Reform (CER), citat de EU Observer. Documentul de analiza, realizat de specialistii unuia dintre cele mai respectate si influente grupuri de reflectie pe probleme europene, avertizeaza ca amanarea si chiar ignorarea reformelor economice nepopulare, mai cu seama in Italia, pot duce la esecul uniunii monetare, considerata alaturi de extindere una dintre cele mai importante realizari ale Uniunii Europene (UE). "Desi economia italiana se indreapta catre o perioada de probleme serioase, nimeni nu constientizeaza existenta unei crize nationale", avertizeaza expertii CER, care atrag atentia ca lipsa concurentei in sectorul serviciilor coroborata cu un nivel scazut al investitiilor fac din Italia cea mai putin competitiva dintre cele 12 economii europene care au aderat la uniunea monetara. CER estimeaza ca sunt 40% sanse ca Italia sa se vada nevoita sa renunte la moneda euro, pentru ca in prezent costurile unei eventuale iesiri a Romei din uniunea monetara sunt mai mici decat cele ale ramanerii in zona euro. Studiul CER sugereaza guvernului italian sa combata productivitatea scazuta a economiei si inflatia prin re-formarea sistemului de gestiune bugetara, liberalizarea sectorului serviciilor pentru intarirea competitivitatii si flexibilizarea pietei fortei de munca. Masurile au sanse in proportie de 20% sa redreseze economia italiana, insa timpul in care acestea trebuie aplicate este pe sfarsite. CER face si o analiza a scenariului iesirii Italiei din uniunea monetara, argumentand ca o astfel de decizie din partea Romei ar putea antrena si alte tari, precum Spania sau Portugalia, sa faca acelasi lucru. In fata concurentei unei economii italiene dezbarate de restrictiile si regulile zonei euro, Madridul si Lisabona ar putea decide la randul lor sa renunte la euro, in timp ce Berlinul si Parisul ar putea reactiona prin impunerea de restrictii la importurile italiene. Conform scenariului CER, in cazul in care Comisia nu va bloca asemenea restrictii, acesta ar putea fi inceputul sfarsitului pentru piata unica europeana.

Világgazdaság Online [Hungary], 20 September 2006
Széteshet az eurózóna - Ennél is erosebb reformok kellenek?
Kulcsfontosságú reformok végrehajtása nélkül - amire elsosorban Olaszországban lenne szükség - már a közeljövoben széteshet az eurózóna, veszélybe sodorva az egységes piac fennmaradását is - írja egy tanulmányban a londoni Centre for European Reform. A jelentés szerint a monetáris unió megszületése ahelyett, hogy a tagsághoz szükséges reformokra ösztenezte volna a kormányokat, éppenséggel hanyaggá tette oket. Olaszország számára az euró megtartása már-már költségesebb, mint a kilépés lenne az eurózónából, így utóbbi esélyét a jelentés 40 százalékra teszi.

Bloomberg, 20 September 2006
Romano Prodi Versus Telecom Italia - Italy Loses
"What happens in Italy is crucial to the euro area, because of its political and economic significance,'' Simon Tilford, head of the business unit at the Centre for European Reform in London, said in a telephone interview. " The cyclical pickup in the European economy has probably been the very worst thing that could happen to Italy because it has emboldened the people who are opposed to reform.''

Reuters, 20 September 2006
Germans sceptical as MPs set to OK Lebanon force
"One can't forget that sending troops abroad is quite a recent phenomenon for Germany," said Daniel Keohane, a security expert at the Centre for European Reform in London. "In the longer term, if the situation in Afghanistan, Congo or Lebanon becomes more dangerous, one has to wonder whether public opinion would hold."

The Glasgow Herald, 19 September 2006
Poll changes shape of 'Swedish model'
Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank in London said Persson's defeat by centre-right leader Fredrik Reinfeldt showed the Swedish model did not deliver on all the promises. "It has been held up as an example to be followed somewhat uncritically," he said.

Business Week, 18 September 2006
Sweden's Turn to the Right - The win by conservatives could boost business and reduce Sweden's heavy tax burden. But Fredrik Reinfeldt still respects the welfare state
But the impact could be limited by Sweden's small size and Reinfeldt's gradualist approach. "It's not likely they will be a Thatcherite government," says Simon Tilford, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform in London.

Financial Times, 15 September 2006
Say it loud, I'm European and I'm proud
The "European" veneer at Ryder Cups is thin. Daniel Keohane, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank, says: "It's interesting that in the last few holes, when a European makes a putt, they take out their national flag and go off to celebrate with their national supporters." And yet Europatriotism exists. A "Eurobarometer" survey for the European Commission last year showed that 63 per cent of Europeans feel "proud" to be Europeans. Britain scored lowest, with 44 per cent. However, proud Europeans are also almost all proud of their own countries. Europatriotism doesn't replace national pride. It supplements it. And though Europatriotism is a widespread sentiment, it's a weak one. Nobody has ever run drunken out of his house waving the EU flag. That's why Romano Prodi, then president of the European Commission, got nowhere with his suggestion that European teams in the Olympics fly the European flag beside their national ones. "It was kind of laughed out of the room," says Keohane. Brussels will have to accept that Europatriotism is a weaker emotion than real patriotism. Then it might consider adopting the Ryder Cup as a model. Keohane notes that the European team was created not out of love but out of pragmatism. It was accepted as the only way to compete with the outside world. That is probably how most Europeans regard the European Union.

European Voice, 15 September 2006
Immigrants hijack agenda
I can't see the passerelle working since the incoming presidency is so against it", says Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank. ..."There are real things in this [Finnish] dossier about important issues happening at the moment," says one EU official. "This is the return to real politics," says Brady.

International Herald Tribune, 15 September 2006
EU to hold talks with Palestinian Authority
Mark Leonard, a foreign policy expert at the Centre for European Reform in London, said the combination of American sticks and European carrots could create tensions, but he did not foresee a serious rift. "There is always chatter in Washington about the EU being too soft or appeasers, but there is something to be said for the 'good cop, bad cop' routine," he said.

The Economist, 14 September 2006
Stormier weather ahead
All this seems bizarrely at odds with the growing belief, particularly in London, that Italy may risk falling out of the euro. A study [Will the eurozone crack?] being published shortly by a London-based think-tank, the Centre for European Reform (CER), puts the odds of this happening at a daunting 40 per cent.

International Herald Tribune, 11 September 2006
5 years later, solidarity and skepticism
Daniel Keohane, foreign policy expert at the Centre for European Reform in London, said that common global concerns such as the war against terrorism, fears over Iran's nuclear program and the recent war in Lebanon were helping to bridge the differences between the United States and its European allies. But he said a wide gap remained between political leaders' grudging support for Washington and the wariness among the European public. Nowhere has this been more pronounced than in Britain, where Prime Minister Tony Blair's outspoken support has caused his popularity to plummet and inspired intensifying pressure for him to leave office. ..."While people remain empathetic about Sept. 11, that does not erase their unease with the way Bush conducts America's foreign policy or with European governments that support him," Keohane said. "Europeans remain wary of Bush and of his division of the world into 'us' and 'them', which they don't think is conducive to solving global conflicts."

Financial Times, 11 September 2006
Issues that come home to roost
Mark Leonard of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, argues that Mr Brown will try to develop a distinct philosophy of "Britishness". This would involve a tough line in Europe and an attempt to create a distinctive British way of tackling terrorism.

L'Express, 9 September 2006
Europe et Asie veulent sortir du tout-économique
"Intéresser les Européens, particulièrement les petits Etats membres, à penser de manière politique à l'Asie, et non pas simplement à un marché, est vraiment difficile parce que beaucoup de pays européens n'ont pas de tradition d'implication en Asie", souligne Charles Grant, le directeur du Centre pour les réformes européennes (CER), qui vient d'organiser plusieurs séminaire sur le thème des relations entre l'UE et l'Asie. ..."Les Chinois nous voient vraiment comme un partenaire stratégique", explique Charles Grant, qui pense que les Européens sont désormais prêts à franchir aussi le pas. The Guardian, 8 September 2006
How Brown would mark his entrance
In a Spectator article last month speculating about the impact of a Brown premiership on foreign policy, Mark Leonard, a foreign affairs specialist at the CER,with close links to the Foreign Office and the Labour government, wrote: "Instead of seeing Britain as a 'bridge between Europe and America', Brown will try to bridge the pursuit of the British national interest with a moral focus on the world's poor. Above all, his intimates suggest that Brown will break with Blair's adventurism."

New York Times, 1 September 2006
Europe Is not ready to impose sanctions on Iran
"Sanctions are not on the cards for the time being, so the E.U. is trying to use a mix of carrots and sticks", said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform. "The EU is also fed up with being strung along by Iran, but for now the only real option is to keep on talking."

Le Temps [Switzerland], 1 September 2006
Europe, Etats-Unis: la peur du déclin
En Europe, la peur du déclin se lit dans la crise de confiance envers ses institutions académiques. Selon une étude* réalisée par Richard Lambert et Nick Butler, publiée par le Centre for European Reform, un des think tanks les plus influents de l'Union européenne, la prospérité de l'Europe fout le camp. Que disent-ils? Que les universités européennes, à l'exception de certains établissements anglais, ne jouent plus en première ligue. Que ces mêmes universités manquent cruellement de moyens financiers, qu'elles sont trop nombreuses et ne poursuivent aucune stratégie de différenciation. Le tableau brossé par ces deux experts (Richard Lambert est le nouveau patron des patrons britanniques et Nick Butler le vice-président de BP) est accablant par la longue énumération des chiffres et comparaisons avec les universités américaines, qui continuent de former l'élite mondiale. Ainsi, quels que soient les classements établis sur la base des publications, l'Europe est systématiquement à la traîne. Sur les vingt meilleures universités du monde, dix-huit sont américaines. Dans ce panorama d'ensemble, seule la Suisse s'en sort plutôt bien, notamment grâce à ses deux écoles polytechniques qui parviennent à se hisser dans le classement des meilleures institutions académiques.

Financial Times, 31 August 2006
Cult hero who finally swam against the tide
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, who chronicled the Delors era in his book Inside the House Jacques Built, said: "He wasn't close to the French government, far from it. He was an ayatollah for a federalist state." Mr Grant says Lamoureux's acerbic and intellectual style often left colleagues traumatised, but: "He worked phenomenally hard yet always gave unlimited time to people he respected."

Christian Science Monitor, 29 August 2006
Polish leaders at odds with EU mainstream
Experts say they detect a nationalism in Warsaw's new foreign policy that could make things very difficult for a Union grappling to forge a common energy policy and new constitutional treaty. The brothers "are very parochial in their foreign policy", says Charles Grant, of the Centre for European Reform in London. ...The Kaczyinski brothers' deep skepticism of Russia - which provides the majority of Poland's gas supply - could make it difficult for the EU and Russia to agree on a common, mutually beneficial energy policy, says Mr. Grant. But the true test of EU readiness will come in the middle of next year, when the European Union decides what to do with the constitution that French and Dutch voters torpedoed in public votes last year. Grant foresees problems for Poland if they push national interests ahead of Europe. "If Poland decides to be [stubborn] in that negotiation", he says. "Then it will soon be very isolated."

Le Monde, 24 August 2006
Faiblesses diplomatiques, par Thomas Ferenczi
Tout le problème de la diplomatie européenne est résumé par cette dernière phrase : même lorsqu'ils parviennent à adopter une position commune, les Européens ont ensuite beaucoup de mal à la faire valoir sur la scène internationale. Pour tenter d'y voir plus clair, deux chercheurs britanniques du Centre pour la réforme européenne, Charles Grant, directeur de cet organisme d'études, et Mark Leonard, responsable pour la politique étrangère, se sont efforcés, sur la base d'un séminaire organisé à Stockholm au printemps dernier, de recenser les faiblesses de l'Union dans ce domaine. Ils ont dénombré cinq gros handicaps.

New York Times, 21 August 2006
Bush urges swift deployment of Lebanon force
Daniel Keohane, a defence specialist at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based research institute, offered another view of why the French may have stepped back. "The French don't want to be seen occupying a Muslim country, particularly because of their history in Algeria", he said. "Shooting at the Israeli Defence Forces also would not go down well with the French Jewish community"; He added that the Germans had similar anxieties about deploying ground troops. Mr Keohane said the Italians "have less baggage than the French"; because there are fewer Jews in Italy and because there was less history of Italian colonial occupation in Muslim countries.

The Guardian, 21 August
Europe balks at Lebanon troop commitment
"It's pretty self-evident that nobody wants to send troops if they think they are going to have to do peacemaking rather than peacekeeping, or if they think they are going to get caught in the crossfire,'' said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank. "And given how many French soldiers died in Lebanon in the '80s, I think that kind of reluctance is understandable.'' ...Grant, of the Centre for European Reform, said Europe's slow response was reasonable. "I don't think the fact that Europeans are unwilling to send forces unless certain conditions are met means they're wimpish or not in favor of a European defense policy or foreign policy. It just means they're being prudent and sensible,'' he said. "I think there's going to have to be a peace to be kept, or nobody - Europeans or anybody - is going to want to send troops.''

Newsweek, 21-28 August 2006
Universities Branch Out - From their student bodies to their research practices, universities are becoming more global
According to 'The Future of European Universities: Renaissance or Decay?' published by the Centre for European Reform a devastating recent critique by Confederation of British Industry Director General Richard Lambert and Nick Butler, Chief of Strategic Planning at British Petroleum, European governments have systematically weakened their top universities, once the pride of the world. They have invested too little in research, spread limited resources across too many institutions, expanded enrollments without increasing faculty and refused to allow universities sufficient autonomy, the report says. To flourish, they need to concentrate more resources in the hands of the strongest universities and allow them to generate revenue by charging tuition fees like their US counterparts — and awarding financial aid to those in greatest need.

Easy Bourse, 19 August 2006
Europe aversion to send troops to Lebanon fuels staid image
"It's pretty self-evident that nobody wants to send troops if they think they are going to have to do peacemaking rather than peacekeeping, or if they think they are going to get caught in the crossfire", said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank. "And given how many French soldiers died in Lebanon in the 80s, I think that kind of reluctance is understandable." ... Grant said Europe's slow response was reasonable. "I don't think the fact that Europeans are unwilling to send forces unless certain conditions are met means they're wimpish or not in favour of a European defence policy or foreign policy. It just means they're being prudent and sensible", he said. "I think there's going to have to be a peace to be kept, or nobody - Europeans or anybody - is going to want to send troops."

International Herald Tribune, 11 August 2006
Solana, EU's 'good cop,' takes stage
Analysts like Daniel Keohane, foreign policy expert at the Centre for European Reform, based in London, say it is unfair to pin the blame for the EU's foreign policy shortcomings on Solana, because his role is severely circumscribed. "Solana may have the hardest diplomatic job in the world because he can't do anything when the EU member states don't agree, which is often the case", Keohane said.
 
Christian Science Monitor, 10 August 2006
Nuclear power's green promise dulled by rising temps
"The jury is still out", says Simon Tilford, an analyst with the Centre for European Reform in London, where the summer heat brought scattered blackouts. "But I think the government has had some success at turning public opinion around because they argued the environmental case."

European Voice, 3 - 30 August 2006
Do G6 meetings help or hinder EU policy
Hugo Brady, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London says that in the absence of serious co-operation between EU states on justice issues those interested in moving forward should be allowed to do so. "It creates a dynamic in what is not a dynamic area", he says... Brady adds that G6 meetings and similar gatherings are good forums for justice ministries, which are generally highly conservative and protective of their powers. "These meetings take place on a loose basis where ministers are more comfortable to come to the table. They are often suspicious of the Commission's motives on justice and home affairs.. It would have been better to have had everyone in from the start but European intergration has never been a perfect science."

Bloomberg, 8 August 2006
Deport or welcome? Immigrant children pose French vote dilemma
"France has successfully assimilated large numbers of immigrants in the past, but they don't believe in their ability to do it again", said Simon Tilford, an economist at Centre for European Reform, a London-based research institute.

International Herald Tribune, 7 August 2006
Lebanon crisis puts France back in the diplomatic spotlight
"France wants to show that it is still a big player with a global vocation in foreign policy", said Daniel Keohane, international security expert at the London-based Centre for European Reform. "It also wants to show that isn't just the U.S. that decides things in the world or the Middle East."

The Guardian, 4 August 2006
New European movements
Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, believes that Europe will have hard lessons to learn once the crisis passes. Germany will emerge unscathed but Britain will be criticised. "It is a kneejerk response that no German chancellor can criticise Israel. That has been the case for half a century and nobody is saying that should change. We should be indulgent of the Germans. The British position is less excusable because we are not in the same sensitive historical position as Germany. Britain is seen as scampering after the US. This is preventing a united European approach and is damaging British soft power in the EU, let alone in the Middle East."

Defense news, 4 August 2006
Doubts grow over Ukraine's NATO entry under new prime minsiter
It is very unlikely that there will be a membership action plan for Ukraine agreed at NATO's Riga summit (this November)", said Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank in London. "Some European governments will be relieved, because they were afraid that America was going to try to push Ukraine into NATO sooner than most Europeans would be comfortable with. Particularly France and Germany."

Expansión, 4 August 2006
Cómo hacer que la Complutense pueda llegar a ser igual que Harvard
Según el Centre For European Reform, Reino Unido es un ejemplo de lo que está en juego en la UE. Con el actual sistema, sus universidades no disponen de incentivos financieros para atraer estudiantes de, por ejemplo, Polonia, quienes, antes de su ingreso en la UE, accedían en las mismas condiciones económicas que los ciudadanos británicos.

International Herald Tribune, 1 August 2006
Letter From Europe: European leaders face knife's edge in Mideast
"Britain is completely overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan", said Charles Grant director of the Centre for European Reform.

Irish Times, 1 August 2006
EU seeks united voice while Middle East death toll rises
"When two big states such as France and Britain don't agree on a policy, then the EU has little influence. You have the same situation as in the war against Iraq", says Daniel Keohane, an analyst with the Centre for European Reform (CER) in London... Institutional weakness is another factor which impedes Europe's foreign policy, and particularly its ability to speak with a single voice, according to CER's Daniel Keohane. "Solana is no foreign minister. He is a type of chairman with less power. His influence also depends on how well he gets on with the presidency", he says.

Financial Times, 26 July 2006
Polish purge of pro-Europe officials prompts fears
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said the purge was highly damaging for Warsaw’s EU policy. “Swieboda has been a dominant figure in Poland’s relationship with the EU in recent years”, he said.

New York Times, 25 July 2006
After reaching outward, Poland looks back to its roots
In the West, ever since the rejection by France and the Netherlands of a proposed constitution that was supposed to put enlarged Europe into its next phase of integration, there seems to be no energy and no political will directed toward what used to be enthusiastically called the European project. Instead, the European Union is experiencing what the Centre for European Reform in London has called an unprecedented malaise, signaled by a retreat into a narrow defence of national interests.

The Daily Telegraph, 24 July 2006
Free market storms Europe's left-leaning citadels - for now
"As recently as the early 1990s, cross-border mergers simply didn't happen in Europe", said Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform. "The wave of protectionist rhetoric this year is a convulsive spasm, a sign that these takeovers are really biting. The French can huff and puff but there is not a lot they can do. For all their protectionist instincts, they have never actually flouted EU competition law."

Aujord'hui, 20 July 2006
Vers la fin de la politique européenne de voisinage
Charles Grant, directeur du Centre pour les réformes européennes, cité par le "Guardian" qualifie un tel scénario de "grave erreur". Pour cet expert, "les problèmes de l'Afrique du Nord sont tout aussi importants que ceux des pays d'Europe de l'Est."

International Herald Tribune, 19 July 2006
Envoy says EU is 'ready to help' end fighting
"The EU is based on consensus and has a hard time responding during crises", said Mark Leonard, foreign policy expert at the Centre for European Reform, in London. "And it is now floundering because all the previous givens and consensus on the Middle East have become obsolete."

Christian Science Monitor, 18 July 2006
US mission: missile defense base in Europe
"Because of Iran and North Korea, the United States was bound to start exploring its options in Poland, the Czech Republic, in Britain even", says Daniel Keohane, a defence expert at the Centre for European Reform in London. In Europe, regional missile defence has not been a major agenda topic since Sept. 11, 2001, when counterterrorism became a higher priority. That's going to change, say experts like Mr. Keohane: NATO is expected to release a new report on trans-Atlantic missile defence during its summit in Riga, Latvia in November. European governments, Keohane says, "will want convincing that [a missile defence base] can work, but they will want to be involved. They'll want to explore their options as much as possible. This is an exploratory time for this issue."

The Guardian, 17 July 2006
EU to downgrade relations with Middle Eastern partners
"The problems of North Africa are just as important to the EU as those of eastern Europe. It is wrong to tell North Africa that because they are Muslims and live in sandy places, they can't be integrated", said Charles Grant, the director for the Centre for European Reform.

Bloomberg, 17 July 2006
G-8 leaders set conditions for halt to Middle East violence
"It's a little bit of something for everyone, which is a good thing. It looked at one point as if there could have been a rift between the major powers because Bush seemed reluctant to criticize anything Israel was doing,'' Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London, said in a telephone interview. She called the agreement "as much as we can expect'' given tensions in the region.

Christian Science Monitor, 13 July 2006
In Europe, universities struggle to compete and adapt
"Over time, they will have to change to compete", says Richard Lambert, director general of the Confederation of British Industry and author of a new report on the state of European higher education for the Centre for European Reform.

Voice of America, 7 July 2006
EU official: Nuclear talks with Iran constructive
Analyst Daniel Keohane, of the Centre for European Reform, in London said the new, upbeat mood may reflect a shift in Iran's position in the standoff. "My sense is that the Iranians have begun to realize that they may have overplayed their hand over the last few months - that they were not able to split the UN security council as easily as they had expected," he said. "That the EU and the United States have worked hard to keep Russia and China on board and to get the Iranians back to the table. And I think that's why the European Union in particular is more upbeat on the fact the Iranians have come back."

Associated Press, 5 July 2006
Muted reaction to Gaza offensive highlights shift in EU Mideast policy
The election of Hamas has obviously changed the dynamics of the problem and ended the almost automatic solidarity with the Palestinians," said Mark Leonard, a foreign policy analyst at London's Centre for European Reform.

Focus News [Bulgaria], 4 July 2006
Kosovo unstoppable on its way to conditional independence
According to Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform. London will encourage Serbia to focus its efforts on the progress of its EU integration. He assessed as wrong the verbal skirmish between Serbia and Brussels commenting on Vojislav Kostunica's statement that Brussels' policy is unproductive. The analyst pointed out that the gloomy atmosphere in the EU with regard to the enlargement has nothing to do with Serbia, Turkey or Macedonia but is due to inner conditions related to the discarding of the constitution and the bad state of the European economy. Europe has temporary difficulties also in dealing with the consequences from the last expansion in 2004 and from the forthcoming accession of the two new members – Bulgaria and Romania. And because of this feeling of overcrowding the EU is not in a hurry to accept new members, Grant points out.

The Birmingham Post, 3 July 2006
French politicians doing little to prevent foreign takeovers
With President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin slumping in the opinion polls ahead of next year's elections, the government may be accepting it is too weak to fight battles with the market. "I don't think there was anything really solid behind it," said Aurore Wanlin, a policy researcher at the London-based think-tank, Centre for European Reform. The government is going to play its anti-liberalisation card but that doesn't mean in practice that it will translate into concrete action," she said.

The Guardian, 1 July 2006
Whatever happened to ... Radovan Karadzic?
In May, the EU called off talks with Serbia over closer ties because of its failure to hand over the general. "He is almost certainly being protected by the Yugoslav People's Army," says Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform.

Le Monde, 30 June 2006
La diplomatie communautaire à l'épreuve
Le chercheur britannique Mark Leonard estime, dans une récente publication du Centre for European Reform intitulée Can EU diplomacy stop Iran's nuclear programme ? ('La diplomatie européenne peut-elle stopper le programme nucléaire de l'Iran ?', novembre 2005), que la politique de l'Union a déjà produit des effets positifs. Même si les conversations sont dans l'impasse, les Européens n'excluent pas un revirement des dirigeants iraniens.

International Herald Tribune, 28 June 2006
Barroso takes aim at policing
Some analysts, said Europe's experience with terrorism could help persuade many governments to make the changes. "People realize that improving such EU powers are justified to combat terrorism and are not an attempt to turn Brussels into an EU superstate," said Mark Leonard, an analyst of EU policy at the Centre for European Reform in London.

Newsweek International, 26 June 2006
New Europe: Eastern disillusion
"The new members have benefited hugely from integration with the larger and prosperous economies of Western Europe", says Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform.

New York Times, 22 June 2006
Bush, facing skeptics in Europe, defends his Iraq policy
"I don't think Europeans are ever going to learn to love George Bush", said Mark Leonard, of the Centre for European Reform. But, he said, "I think there has been a remarkable honeymoon between governments."

Bloomberg, 22 June 2006
De Villepin's influence wanes following outburst, setbacks
"UMP lawmakers are getting increasingly worried that de Villepin is becoming more of a liability", said Aurore Wanlin, of the Centre for European Reform. "They would rather he kept as silent as possible and avoid another CPE [Contrat Premiere Embauche]. I don't know whether that's in his character."

CNN, 20 June 2006
Europe, friend or foe?
"He and his chief advisers like Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, have made a big effort to adopt a softer, calmer more moderate tone. That means not to lecture us, to hector us, but actually to talk to us about common issues and not simply to try to impose their views on us", says Charles Grant from the Centre for European Reform.

The Daily Mail, 14 June 2006
Hoon mission to hail value of EU
A new mission to explain the value of the European Union to the British public is to be announced by Europe minister Geoff Hoon. Years after successive Tory and Labour leaders vowed to put the nation at the heart of Europe, Mr Hoon is effectively saying it is time to put Europe at the heart of Britain. He is using his first keynote speech since becoming Europe minister - for the second time - to set out a new agenda explaining how and why the EU is central to tackling many major concerns of the public, including climate change. In an address at a London seminar hosted by the Centre for European Reform, he will say it is now vital to revive interest in what the EU does, adding: "An inability to see how events in Brussels affect life and work in the UK is magnified by the effect the continuing debate on the future of Europe has on the British public. "My aim is to restart the debate in this country - and in particular to rekindle interest in the European Union. "We need to show the British people that the European Union can and does make a difference to their lives. And more importantly - show that the EU is not only setting out a new agenda which tackles the issues people really care about, but is central to solving many of the most pressing problems of the 21st century." The speech comes as the EU continues to struggle with the aftermath of French and Dutch referendum rejections a year ago of the proposed new constitution, designed to shake up the EU institutions and make decision-making easier in an expanded 25-nation bloc. A "period of reflection" following the setback has now been extended amid genuine puzzlement in Brussels over what to do next - apart from promise to listen more carefully to an increasingly disenchanted public across the Union.

New York Times, 13 June 2006
European Union takes first steps to include Turkey and Croatia
"The political price of stopping the process of enlargement now is very large", said Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform. Another important factor is that "the process of accession can virtually transform a country", Ms. Barysch said, using as examples the transformation of the economy in Poland and other East European countries.

Newsweek, 12 June 2006
Where the future is a dead end
From grade schools to universities, Europe's underfunded, antiquated education systems are failing a new generation
A scathing report comes out this week from London's Centre for European Reform. A "grim" educational "malaise" grips higher learning in Europe, the authors conclude. Most of its best universities are "clearly in the second division," they say, worsened by an "exodus of academic talent."

Bloomberg, 12 June 2006
Turkey, seeking to join EU, faces warning on rights, Cyprus
"Cyprus right now is the only issue over which the EU might halt the talks and I can't really see a way out", Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London, said. "If that issue flares up, we might get more economic instability in Turkey."

Bloomberg, 12 June 2006
Europe's currency won't work as rich man's club
"This is not about Lithuania", said Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. "It is about Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, and whether a precedent should be set for them to bend the rules as well."

Scotland on Sunday, 11 June 2006
Universities of strife
A report on the future of European universities released last week by the Centre for European reform, a UK think tank, found that 18 of the world's top 20 universities are in the United States.

Financial Times, 6 June 2006
Chancellor reveals planning overhaul
Speaking at a Centre for European Reform seminar in 11 Downing Street on European universities, Mr Brown said: "What is clear to me is that spending in the order of 1.1 per cent on higher education, given the dsignificance that we attach to universities and university research fot the future of the economy as a whole, is not a figure that can stay at that level."

Voice of America, 5 June 2006
Iran to get nuclear 'Incentives' Tuesday
Daniel Keohane, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London, says Mr. Solana's trip is as much about dialogue than about the incentive package itself. "The first point is to keep the pressure on the Iranians," said Keohane. "The U.S. has basically made it clear it wants dialogue. Up until then, the Iranians had been complaining that the Americans weren't interested in dialogue. So Solana is trying to keep the pressure on the Iranians to try and be constructive." Keohane says the US offer for talks has strengthened the Europeans hand as it pushes for negotiations to end the dispute. The offer also pressures two other parties in the talks, Russia and China, to be more flexible in dealing with Iran. Both countries have been reluctant about imposing United Nations sanctions, if Tehran does not give up its nuclear program.

MSNBC, 5 June 2006
French Muslim businessman bucks the trend
Aurore Wanlin, of the Centre for European Reform, said unemployment is so pervasive for all young French adults partly because they spend a long time in education, thus entering the job market later. But youths in the suburbs face a further set of challenges."These young people in the banlieus are stuck in a vicious cycle because they want to integrate, to get jobs, but they are unable to do so — with no car, no driving license and less opportunities to education", she said, adding that rigidity in the employment market was hampering job growth for everyone in France, not just for young minorities.

Newsweek, 4 June 2006
Where the future is a dead end
A scathing report comes out this week from London's Centre for European Reform. A "grim" educational "malaise" grips higher learning in Europe, the authors conclude. Most of its best universities are "clearly in the second division," they say, worsened by an "exodus of academic talent."

Reuters, 1 June 2006
US move on Iran is win for EU, but risks remain
"If Iran rejects this package, then the problems start, and we'll see if it's possible to hold the coalition together," said Mark Leonard, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform. "The chances still are it's not going to work," he said, noting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had gained popularity at home by taking a hard line on the nuclear issue. Leonard, who has followed the EU-Iran negotiations closely, said even among European countries, there would be divisions over anything more than symbolic sanctions such as visa bans on officials involved in the nuclear programme. "What the Americans are really interested in is an investment freeze. That is difficult to sell within Europe and even more difficult with Russia and China," he said.

CNS news.com, 1 June 2006
Court ruling on US-EU passenger agreement not seen to affect ties
However, Americans would probably "smile a bit ruefully" at the complications involved in dealing with the E.U., said Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform in London. The European Court of Justice decision was based on a technicality: the Luxembourg-based tribunal said the two-year-old agreement was not "founded on an appropriate legal basis." ...The required details include names, addresses and credit card information, but also less obvious information. "For example, PNR data would let them know who checked in very late, did they check in baggage at the last minute, what kind of meal did they eat, and did they pay cash," Brady explained. "And all these things would trigger the kind of defenses put in place by customs and immigration officials and they'd be waiting for that individual when he or she lands." ...There's no doubt that the agreement does not operate on the basis of reciprocity," said Brady. The Europeans were "not getting the same information from the US." "The traffic is of people wanting to go to the United States under the visa waiver program and therefore the onus is on the European countries to provide the information."

CNBC European Business, June 2006
Bring on the Balkans
"There were more caveats than commitments, and for the first time the issue of [EU] absorption capacity was raised, but nothing positive emerged. If we can't offer the countries a perspective of eventual membership, it is difficult to demand things from them," says Katinka Barysch, enlargement specialist at the London-based think-tank, the Centre for European Reform. Next door, uncertainty over the future status of Kosovo has put Pristina's relationship with Brussels on hold. Bosnia-Herzegovina is stable but, as Barysch suggests, still resembles a protectorate rather than a country. To the south, reforms in Albania inch forward, although the country's negative image is holding back much needed FDI, something Brussels could also influence if it so desired. "Serbia is in a recovery phase and still needs substantial investment in its institutions, its infrastructure and the like. But at the end of the day this – like all the other countries – is small and EU assistance would go a long way," says Katinka Barysch.

Cinco Dias, 30 May 2006
La UE se despide del sueño constitucional
Mark Leonard, del instituto de estudios londinense Centre for Europea Reform, apunta también a la supresión de la presidencia semestral de la UE y a la unificación de la política exterior comunitaria (ahora en manos del secretario general, Javier Solana, y de la comisaria de Exteriores, Benita Ferrero-Waldner) como dos de las reformas que deberán acometerse en el nuevo Tratado...En todo caso, el abandono de la Constitución no disipará los problemas de ratificación. Mark Leonard, del Centre for European Reform, advierte que los últimos referéndum "han aumentado la presión política para que se celebren otros aunque los cambios que se introduzcan en el Tratado sean modestos."

AFX Europe, 30 May 2006
Poland scores worst in meeting EU's Lisbon objectives - World Bank
Citing a "Lisbon scorecard" compiled by the London-based Centre for European Reform, the World Bank said "Poland had the lowest ranking, followed by Slovakia ...While Slovakia struggles with liberalisation of the telecoms market, Poland is facing serious problems in the areas of employment, research and development, transport, financial services, state aid and the social protection system", it said."Poland's and Slovakia's R+D spending have declined since 2004. The European Commission estimates that it will take Poland and Slovakia approximately 50 years to reach EU25 innovation performance." New members' performance in meeting Lisbon's technology innovation goals also varied widely."Slovenia almost reached the EU 15 average of 53 percent of households having internet access whereas Lithuania is among the worst performers with only 16 percent", the report said.

Voice of America, 30 May 2006
EU court rules air passenger information deal illegal
Hugo Brady, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform, says security officials hoped to create profiles of passengers based on small details."That includes how you paid for your ticket, what kind of meal did you request, where did you ask to sit", he said.  "And U.S. border officials want to run these kinds of details through a list of indicators for suspicious behavior, like boarding an aircraft."

Le Figaro, 29 May 2006
Un an après le non, l'Europe avance, cahin-caha
"L'élargissement et les réformes économiques sont les deux grands perdants de l'après-29 mai", déplore Charles Grant, le directeur du Centre for European Reform (CER), un centre d'études de référence, établi à Londres. "Le vote français a été interprété comme un non à la mondialisation, au modèle anglosaxon, à la remise en cause des avantages acquis : du coup, tout est bloqué!"

The Economist, 27 May 2006
Stuck in the doldrums - One year after the French non and the Dutch nee, it is time to bury the EU constitution
Yet the EU's real failing is not a democratic or institutional deficit - it is what the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank, has terment a "delivery deficit".

Financial Times, 26 May 2006
How Europe's new double act is setting an agenda for reform
"The fact that Barroso is close to Merkel means he can't be written off in Paris any more as a British secret agent", says Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform.

Washington Post, 26 May 2006
Blair and Bush are duo Even in descent
"One of the reasons Blair is unpopular, even in his own party, is because he has been so close to Bush", said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London. He said that in Bush's second term, the administration has worked hard to repair relations with European allies. But he said that while the European foreign policy elite was aware of the change, the general public was not -- and impressions of Bush had hardened."The thing public opinion focuses on is Iraq, which is still there", he said.

Mail & Guardian, 23 May 2006
Montenegro vote opens separatist Pandora's box
Tim Judah, a Balkans specialist, who wrote a report for the Centre for European Reform based in London said regional stability depended far more on Kosovo - "the final act in this 15-year drama" - than on Montenegro. "Compared to Kosovo, Montenegro is easy", he said, stressing that "Kosovo is a much, much bigger problem."

San Jose Mercury News, 19 May 2006
Support for European Union constitution gains new momentum
"The mistake was asking the people if they wanted the constitution", said Hugo Brady, an expert on EU issues for the London-based Centre for European Reform. "Individuals don't easily see the advantages of a multinational organisation. It's not a popular opinion, I suppose, but I don't see why a popular vote on a European constitution was a good idea."

International Herald Tribune, 18 May 2006
Questions for Merkel on Congo
Daniel Keohane, defence analyst at the Centre for European Reform in London, said Merkel wanted to strengthen the EU's ability to play a more active security role outside Europe.  "And once the UN asked the EU to help, it was very difficult to say no", Keohane said.
 
International Herald Tribune, 17 May 2006
EU gives a qualified yes to two in East Europe
"The lesson of this accession is that you don't give the carrot away before the conditions for membership have been fulfilled", said Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform, a think tank. "Now the EU is trying to introduce uncertainty, but the EU has lost a lot of its leverage to keep them on their toes."

Irish Times, 16 May 2006
Slovenia likely to become the first accession state to join eurozone
"The whole debate about Lithuania isn't about Lithuania", said Katinka Barysch, economist at the Centre for European Reform. "It's about Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary."

Voice of America, 16 May 2006
EU delays decision on Romania, Bulgaria Accession
Experts like Katinka Barysch, of the London-based Centre for European Reform, say the EU has long been prodding Romania and Bulgaria to speed up political and economic reforms."It is an attempt by the EU to introduce an element of uncertainty into the accession process of Bulgaria and Romania, simply because the EU had done something that it has never done before: It basically said to these countries, 'We are going to give you a date for entry no matter what.'" By injecting this new uncertainty, Barysch says, the EU is trying to increase pressure on both countries to crack down on political corruption and crime, among other problems. Neither country is likely to be upset about the delay."For them it is still good news because the EU did not say, 'No, you cannot come in; no, you have to wait until 2008'" she said."It said , 'Yes, you can come in, but you have to continue doing your homework.'"

Bloomberg, 15 May 2006
Romania, Bulgaria may get EU approval by advancing crime battle
"It has always been political and it always will be political", said Katinka Barysch chief economist at the London- based research group Centre for European Reform. "If I was an investor, I wouldn't focus too much on all the ups and downs.''

Le Monde, 13 May 2006
La mauvaise idée de l'Europe-plateau, par Eric Le Boucher
Charles Grant, directeur du CER (Centre for European Reform, www.cer.org.uk) de Londres, propose un "manifeste" réhabilitant les "avant-gardes" de pays autour de politiques à la carte. Pour redresser la croissance, noeud du problème européen, il souhaite une politique monétaire moins rigoureuse mais une application beaucoup plus déterminée de l'agenda de Lisbonne (recherche et développement et libéralisation des marchés publics).

Washington Post, 6 May 2006
With smear scandal, France near paralysis
"The problem in France is that the political and diplomatic and official elite are stuck in a time warp of believing in l'exception française", said Charles Grant director of the Centre for European Reform in London, referring to a belief that France is in a class of its own.

The Washington Times, 6 May 2006
US can't count on European support in Iran war
"Diplomacy has got a long way to run," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London. "But a few years down the line, we may have a serious trans-Atlantic rift over Iran." ..."I don't think Europe is likely to split on this," Mr. Grant said. "Europeans would not agree to support military action. Not even the British would or could join a U.S. military action against Iran because of Iraq."

CBS news, 6 May 2006
European elections show 50/50 Divide - Voters want reform, but not too much, recent results show
"Europeans want change but they are scared of it. They realize the status quo is unsustainable, but they are frightened that reforms will hurt them," says Mark Leonard, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform. ...They are often not willing to ride roughshod over people's fears," says Mr. Leonard. "But at the same time, few major parties in Europe run on a platform of simply maintaining the status quo. So there is an underlying similarity of approaches between the left and the right: Different parties just play different mood music about how the reform should be done," he says.

Le Monde, 4 May 2006
Clarifier les objectifs de l'Union, par Thomas Ferenczi
Une étude du Centre pour la réforme européenne, un think tank britannique, confirme ce jugement. Son auteur, Katinka Barysch, estime que l'élargissement a été bénéfique à l'Europe dans son ensemble. Des milliers d'emplois ont été créés en Europe centrale et orientale grâce aux investissements venus de l'Ouest. Des délocalisations ont eu pour conséquence, il est vrai, de supprimer des emplois en Europe occidentale mais elles ont aussi permis, selon l'auteur, d'en préserver ou d'en créer d'autres, à plus haute valeur ajoutée, au prix d'une nouvelle division paneuropéenne du travail, qui aidera l'Europe à affronter la compétition mondiale.

Voice of America, 3 May 2006
EU suspends talks with Serbia over Mladic
Every Balkan country except Bosnia and Serbia has such a special EU agreement that provides closer political and economic ties.Serbia wants such an agreement as well, says Katinka Barysch, an EU enlargement expert at the Centre for European Reform in London.  "They have a couple of very difficult questions coming up this year, the final status negotiations in Kosovo, and there is a referendum coming up in Montenegro, which might split the current federation of Serbia-Montenegro", she said.  "So the Balkan countries generally believe that in order to overcome all these tricky questions of nationalities and boundaries they need to have a common European destiny." Barysch believes Europe is right to take a tough line with Serbia.  For one thing, the European Union is only allowed to negotiate agreements with countries that are democratic and uphold human rights, and Serbia's failure to hand over Mladic poses a critical problem. Barysch says Brussels has been enormously successful at forcing other Eastern European countries to adopt reforms in the past."You only have to look at countries that have joined the European Union in 2004", she added.  "They generally have very well functioning democracies.  The objective of EU accession served as a real anchor for the democratization process and also for economic reforms." Barysch says that when the European Union has been less tough, it has been less successful.  That is the case of EU candidate countries Romania and Bulgaria, which have both been slow to implement economic and political reforms.

International Herald Tribune, 3 May 2006
Support wanes for potent EU court
Those cases represented "a pretty big land grab by the court", said Hugo Brady, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, a research concern based in London. "Governments like the British and Dutch are unhappy about the court's rulings because they think criminal sanctions should be a national matter only."

Christian Science Monitor, 3 May 2006
In Europe, too, a 50/50 political divide
"Europeans want change but they are scared of it. They realize the status quo is unsustainable, but they are frightened that reforms will hurt them," says Mark Leonard of the Centre for European Reform... With the short-term losers from welfare or labor reforms more easily identifiable, and more vocal, than the potential long-term winners, governments have been reluctant to take the electoral risk that reform represents."They are often not willing to ride roughshod over people's fears", says Mr Leonard. "But at the same time, few major parties in Europe run on a platform of simply maintaining the status quo. So there is an underlying similarity of approaches between the left and the right: Different parties just play different mood music about how the reform should be done", he says.

Turkish Daily News, 2 May 2006
EU sees two years of enlargement as success
Katinka Barysch, chief economist of the Centre for European Reform, said the process really began as far back as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, when the former Soviet bloc began to crumble."The countries of central and eastern Europe have benefited hugely since the beginning of the 1990s from the integration of their economies with the larger and more prosperous ones of western Europe."... "The economic impact of enlargement has also been positive for the old member states, if much more modestly so", said Barysch in a study published last Friday, noting that the newcomers represented only 5 percent of the gross national product of the 15 older member states.Western companies, which invested more than 150 billion euros in the new eastern members since the beginning of the 1990s, now see their investment as a way to "remain competitive in the face of global competition," she wrote."Enlargement has facilitated the emergence of a new pan-European division of labor which in turn will help the EU economy to remain competitive in a globalized world economy", especially in the automobile and electronic sectors... Barysch does not deny that there are losers. "But many more jobs have been saved or created by this new division of labor", she stressed.

Bucharest Daily News, 2 May 2006
EU enlargement: an economic success
Talking about the process launched after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Katinka Barysch, chief economist with the Centre for European Reform, says "Central and Eastern European countries have benefited a great deal in the 90's from the integration of their economies with those of the larger and wealthier Western European countries"... Companies from Western countries, which invested over 150 billion euros in Eastern Europe from the beginning of the 90's, have found in these countries ways "to stay competitive in spite the global competition", Barysch believes.

Washington Post, 30 April 2006
League of dictators?
Although European liberal interventionists such as Mark Leonard criticize China's willingness to offer "unconditional political support, economic aid and weapons to autocratic regimes that might otherwise . . . be susceptible to international pressure", one wonders why in the world the Chinese should do otherwise.

China Post, 29 April 2006
New Polish coalition government could tarnish country's image in EU
In Brussels and other European capitals "people are obviously very apprehensive that if you have a Euro-skeptic coalition partner, it might make matters worse", said Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform in London.

The International Herald Tribune, 28 April 2006
EU constitution not on June agenda
Analysts said Barroso's approach faced big challenges, given the backlash against globalization on the Continent. "An adapt or die narrative will not sell," said Katinka Barysch, at the Centre for European Reform, based in London. "We have had too much gloom and doom."

Time, 24 April 2006
The right-wing Polish government picks fights that please its base but worry others in Europe
"That's a very symbolic gesture, and a bad signal", [the legal challenge against the UniCredit merger] says Aurore Wanlin, a fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London. "It's much better to simply talk through the problem. The government has a lot to learn."

Kommersant [Russia], 20 April 2006
Europe deactivated - Gazprom gives Europe an ultimatum
The possibility of reaching a political agreement with the European Commission is very small. It is interested in direct access to Central Asian gas without Russia's intermediacy, which goes against the whole integration scheme. Katinka Barysh of the Centre for European Reform in London says that, as the energy market is about to be liberalized, interest in energy assets by European companies is poorly received, never mind interest from other companies. Relations with the U.S. are rapidly deteriorating. Washington is constantly reminding Europe of the dangers of energy dependence on Russia.

Polonia, Polskie Radio, 19 April 2006
EU watches Lepper
Polish pig farmer turned populist politician Andrzej Lepper has been keep to join the conservatives in power ever since they won the election last autumn. Since the minority cabinet has been having problems in Parliament, a coalition with Lepper's Samoobrona, or Self-Defence party, now looks very likely. But there's a snag. As a radical leader of farmers unions, Lepper is remembered as Poland's biggest populist. There are worries that Lepper in government might upset the European Union. On the face of it, Lepper could even look like a reenactment of Austria's Jorg Heider debacle. But according to observers, Lepper is not exactly Heider. He may be a populist, but he's never used racist or fascist rhetoric. Katinka Barysch from the London based think tank the Centre for European Reform doesn't think that the EU may be in store for yet another Heider incident. "It all depends on the domestic acceptability of these people. Lepper in Poland is still a fringe personality and has managed to get plenty of the protest vote. Heider had to moderate his stance to become more of the political mainstream.'But according to some, the EU might still have cause for concern. Warsaw is the largest newcomer already skeptical over the EU constitution. "Many people in the old member states are a bit cautious when it comes to Poland because Poland has behaved in a somewhat uncompromising manner in the past". But has the populist Andrzej Lepper, possibly to become deputy Prime Minister learnt from his mistakes of being an uncompromising Eurosceptic and fearful of free market reforms? Political analysts Marek Matraszek from CEC government relations believes that even with the prospect of Lepper's party joining the cabinet, the Polish economy is placed on strong enough footing to experience problems. "In the past several weeks the currency is strong and investments are coming in …. As along as that doesn't change I don't see any lack of confidence." Coming back to easy comparisons between Austria's infamous Jorg Haider and Poland's populist Andrzej Lepper, one thing is clear. Because of his inability to change, Heider has effectively become a has been. Lepper keeps evolving. He appears to have already won some acceptance in Polish politics. Foreign observers appear ready to watch and wait how he performs in government, if he gets there.

Bloomberg, 19 April 2006
Chirac will seek Egyptian pressure on Hamas after Tel Aviv bomb
"I'm sure Mubarak would have preferred to see Europeans keep up their aid to Hamas", Daniel Keohane, a senior researcher at the Centre for European Reform in London, said in an interview April 13. "They have no hope of being a good government without aid...They have a clear common interest in stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons", Keohane said. This week's talks could cover "what happens down the line with sanctions',' he said. "I doubt they would talk about military strikes."

The Washington Times, 18 April 2006
Paying the bill for goofing off
"The political leaders of all these countries know what needs to be done, and it's not rocket science," Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London, tells Richard Bernstein of the New York Times. "The Lisbon Agenda lays out the objectives. But as Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, has said, 'everybody knows what reforms we need to implement but nobody knows how to implement them and win an election afterward.'?"

Business Week, 14 April 2006
'Economic patriotism' casts doubt in EU
If anything, the patriotic talk shows that the single market is alive and kicking, according to Katinka Barysch, chief economist with the London-based Centre for European Reform. European mergers and acquisitions have meanwhile shown strong growth, she points out. "If you didn't see a counter-reaction, that would be a sign that nothing was happening," Barysch said. She also cited recent EU dumping duties on shoe imports from China, which have taken a softer approach than last year's quotas imposed on Chinese textile shipments - retracted weeks later after it became clear that the mounting piles of blocked goods at docksides were doing more economic harm than good. "Europeans have learned a lesson from that," Barysch said.

New York Times, 14 April 2006
Europe stalls on road to economic change
"The problem is a lack of leadership and an intellectual climate that is extremely hostile to economic liberalism in much of Continental Europe", Mr. Grant said from London, using the word liberalism in the European sense, as a movement in favor of free markets and economic deregulation."The anti-liberal clerisy has basically won the intellectual argument in much of Europe", Mr. Grant said. "They've fostered the view that liberal economics leads to a kind of Dickensian vision of child labor and old women crying in the streets."

Houston Chronicle, 14 April 2006
'Economic Patriotism' casts doubt in EU
If anything, the patriotic talk shows that the single market is alive and kicking, according to Katinka Barysch, chief economist with the London-based Centre for European Reform. European mergers and acquisitions have meanwhile shown strong growth, she points out. "If you didn't see a counter-reaction, that would be a sign that nothing was happening", Barysch said.She also cited recent EU dumping duties on shoe imports from China, which have taken a softer approach than last year's quotas imposed on Chinese textile shipments - retracted weeks later after it became clear that the mounting piles of blocked goods at docksides were doing more economic harm than good. "Europeans have learned a lesson from that", Barysch said.

Financial Times, 13 April 2006
Prodi victory finds warm reception in Paris and Brussels
No matter what Prodi wants, the EU constitution isn't going to be revived and the only thing that Italy is going to change on Iraq is the pace of its pull-out", said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London. "Italy has always punched below its weight, because they tend to have weak governments". He says it will be hugely significant to learn whether the new government will be capable of structural reform - a test he fears it will fail. "Unless there's a real effort to reform soon, a serious debate will start on whether Italy should stay in the euro and that's something that's very important for the EU."

Reuters, 13 April 2006
Iran, Congo seen as tough tests for Merkel's Germany
"If we don't find a diplomatic solution [with Iran] over the next few years, then we may be looking at military strikes and that would put Germany in a very difficult position", Daniel Keohane, an EU defence and security expert at the Centre for European Reform. Germany has very different causes for concern as it prepares to lead an EU military force to the vast central African country of Congo, which is scheduled to hold its first democratic elections in decades in June. "It's hugely significant for the Germans in symbolic terms", Keohane said, adding that this war-torn region of Africa was neither stable nor safe. "The danger is real. God forbid if there are casualties. I don't know how the Germans would react... If all goes well, it shows the EU can be a force for good and Germany can lead it. If it goes wrong, then it would raise all sorts of questions."

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, 13 April 2006
Europe: Protests show Europeans' resistance to change
"Because it's so complicated to hire people, because you have so many contracts, and it's so complicated to fire them and you end up in the courts - that's partly why there's such a high unemployment rate in France," says Aurore Wanlin, an expert with London's Centre for European Reform. "[It's been] around 10 per cent for over 20 years, and in particular for the young people, for the last 20 years unemployment rates for young people have been about 20 per cent." ..."You can't ask people to be happy that you're introducing flexibility and that you're going to make it easier for companies to fire them," Wanlin says. "In the short term you'll have more pain, there will be more people losing their jobs and you'll have resistance to that, that's normal. The problem is we have weak leadership who aren't explaining to people that, yes, there is short -term pain, but in the long term it will be better."

Reuters, 13 April 2006
EU's economic ambitions stumble
Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform concedes that governments which are part of the eurozone do not have to worry so much now about being punished for such failure by financial markets...But what may happen with time, Barysch says, is that failure to adapt policy will erode confidence in Europe as a place to do business - especially for multinationals that look at the world map when deciding where to locate a factory or a R&D laboratory."They may vote with their feet" she says.

San Francisco Chronicle, 12 April 2006
France in a quandary in hiring new workers
"There are very anxious, heated debates about this in many other European countries", said Simon Tilford, an economist at the Centre for European Reform in London. "It's more obvious in France because a lot of French politics seems to take place on the streets."

The Herald, 12 April 2006
Prodi declares victory by knife-edge
Prodi's return to power in Italy represents a realignment around the European table.
"Europe's old friends of France, Spain, Italy and Germany will be back together", said Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform.

The Guardian, 12 April 2006
Italy's knife-edge election results are a symptom of this age of stalemate
"Too often the alternative to neoliberalism is just conservatism, like those French students who want to keep the world the way it was" says Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform.

Wall Street Journal, 11 April 2006
Italian vote brings likely gridlock to Parliament
"I'm not particularly hopeful that either of the two [candidates] would make a big difference to the economy", said Katinka Barysch, chief economist of the Centre for European Reform. "Berlusconi, obviously, had five years to make a go at it and he didn't, so there's nothing to make us believe that he'd do much better in a second term."

San Francisco Chronicle, 11 April 2006
France in a quandary in hiring new workers - Job-for-life promises leave little room for first-time job hunters
"There are very anxious, heated debates about this in many other European countries," said Simon Tilford, an economist at the Centre for European Reform in London. "It's more obvious in France because a lot of French politics seems to take place on the streets."

Bloomberg, 11 April 2006
French unions, students to press fight on labour rules
"For de Villepin's government it will be very difficult to do any reforms", Aurore Wanlin research fellow at the Centre for European Reform said. "The government of De Villepin is very weak. It has lost the support of the public but also the president, who let him go after supporting him only last week."

Financial Times, 11 April 2006
Setback for Brussels pledge on reform
Aurore Wanlin, a research fellow at the London-based Centre for European Reform, said the impact of the French setbacks would be limited for other countries in Europe."I think there is a particular French problem. It is particularly difficult to get reforms through [there]."

Reuters, 10 April 2006
Oils-led European stocks end higher, Italy shines
"The previous Prodi government did rather well. That would suggest they should do better (than Berlusconi). The problem is to see whether Prodi will survive as leader of coalition for longer than two years. If he goes, there will be a huge leadership battle" said Daniel Keohane, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London.

The Observer, 9 April 2006
Italy's winner will find la dolce vita is still a long way off
"I think they have intractable problems they need to deal with rather urgently", says Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform... "'Italy hasn't done very well out of the euro, they've been losing competitiveness massively within the eurozone"...Barysch says that the idea of Italy crashing out of the eurozone is misguided because, notwithstanding nostalgia for the days of the lira, the consequences would be dire: "There would be meltdown. Who on earth would want to hold the Italian lira? The new currency would fall through the floor."

The Economist, 8 April 2006
Stability v flexibility - Another sorry chapter in Europe's chronicle of unintended consequences
Each spring, the Centre for European Reform in London publishes a "scorecard" assessing what EU countries have done to implement the Lisbon agenda of reforms - everything from innovation to liberalising services to labour-market flexibility. Year after year, countries that have done the most to stabilise their public finances do worst on the reform scorecard (this year, they include Poland, Italy and Portugal); whereas countries that do best on the scorecard have done little on the macroeconomic front (admittedly, this may be because their fiscal deficits are under control to begin with).

Journalo, 6 April 2006
No Winner in EU Budget Deal
But according to Aurore Wanlin, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London, this was never a possibility. "The parliament is aware of the limits of what it can ask. It wasn't going to happen."

Houston Chronicle, 5 April 2006
France becoming a tale of divided society
"The discontent is based on a system that hasn't delivered for many years, particularly in youth unemployment", said Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform. Chirac "has failed to make a convincing case for reform", Brady added.

The Times of Malta, 31 March 2006
Heroes and villains
In their report on the Lisbon scoreboard, the Centre for European Reform said the EU's better regulation agenda was not only about curbing red tape. Businesses, it said, could not take full advantage of the single market if key legislation was not properly implemented throughout the EU. It was crucial that member states implemented EU legislation in a timely and efficient manner.

De Volkskrant, 29 March 2006
Europeanen protesteren tegen verandering
De plannen verschillen van land tot land, maar volgens Hugo Brady van de Londense denktank Centre for European Reform hebben de protesten wel iets gemeen: 'Het is een conservatieve backlash, een protest tegen verandering, niet vóór verandering, zoals in het revolutiejaar 1968.' Hij bemerkt een diep gevoel van onzekerheid over de toekomst, een gevoel van hopeloosheid. 'De protesten zijn heel emotioneel.' ...Flexibilisering van de arbeidsmarkt, langer doorwerken, hervorming van de pensioenstelsels, het zijn recepten die Barroso graag zou toepassen om Europa gezond te houden. Maar volgens Brady zit het hem niet mee. 'Het tempo van de hervormingen wordt opgehouden door het verzet van het publiek in landen als Frankrijk', constateert hij. Toch is Brady ervan overtuigd dat het tij zal keren. 'We hebben dat eerder gezien. In de jaren tachtig verzetten de Britse vakbonden zich met hand en tand tegen de hervormingen van premier Thatcher, maar uiteindelijk is het Britse politieke landschap compleet veranderd.' En ook Nederland heeft zich uiteindelijk bevrijd van de Dutch disease. 'De kuur was pijnlijk, maar het heeft wel groei en banen opgeleverd.'

Bloomberg, 29 March 2006
Villepin panned by own party as protests against Labor law grow
"He bulldozed ahead without thinking about the fact that if you want to change things, you need to have people's backing", said Aurore Wanlin, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London. "He has lost political capital and is in a situation where it will be almost impossible to recover.''

European Voice, 23-29 March 2006
Danes are heroes
Denmark is the 'hero' and Poland the 'villain' of Europe in terms of competitiveness, according to the Centre for European Reform (CER) which published its sixth Lisbon scorecard on Monday (20 March). The CER praised Denmark's high level of social security coupled with a flexible labour market and said that Poland's long-term employment and shift in government made reforms difficult.

TurkishPress.inc, 28 march 2006
Centre For European Reform: Rightists in the EU want to exclude muslim Turkey For cultural reasons And leftists fear that cheap labour will put blue-collar workers on the dole
BRUSSELS - A report released by the Centre for European Reform (CER) indicated that a large portion of the right in the EU wanted to exclude Muslim Turkey for cultural reasons while much of the left wanted to exclude Turkey for economical reasons.The CER released the report on 'Democracy in Europe: How the EU can survive in an age of referendums?'. "The fear of enlargement is growing in countries like Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands. Several lobbies have formed in the EU against further enlargement. Federalists fear that a wider Europe will be incapable of 'deepening'. Much of the right wants to exclude Muslim Turkey for cultural reasons. Much of the left fears that cheap labor from the east will put blue-collar workers on the dole. Because enlargement creates economic winners and losers, it is forging new political alignments", Mark Leonard said in the report. "Of course, it is referendums that have made the biggest difference to EU politics. In the future any move to widen or deepen the EU will require referendums. The next time a new treaty is negotiated, national leaders will find difficult not to put it to a popular vote. And France has changed its constitution, so that all future enlargements - after Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia - will be subject to a plebiscite. Austria has also pledged to hold a vote on Turkey's accession" it said. The report added "some countries have opted out the euro and the Schengen agreements. New members have been temporarily excluded from receiving full common payments (stemming from agricultural policy), and the free movement of labor. In the future, integration within the EU is likely to be driven by pioneer groups rather than treaties. A series of clubs, co-operating more closely for practical reasons rather than the ideology of ever-closer union, will drive integration in a series of different areas. As the EU enlarges, there could be an 'a la carte' offer for new members. For example, Turkey is being threatened with 'permanent safeguards' on the free movement of people, and could perhaps be forced to accept less than a pro-rata distribution of votes at the European Council. Equally, some new members could be excluded from the eurozone for many years, even if they wanted to join."

De Staandard, 27 March 2006
Belgian commentary examines EU's current stalemate, leadership crisis
Respected think tanks like Breughel or the London Centre for European Reform already called last year's restart of Lisbon a new failure. Even the idea of Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to create a European Institute of Technology, at first glance an inspiring idea, received no more than a polite mention from the leaders.

Czech Business Weekly, 26 March 2006
Regional roundup
Poland was labeled this year's 'villain'; in a scorecard of EU states's; competitiveness from the London-based Centre for European Reform (CER). The annual scorecard assesses countries progress on the Lisbon Agenda, aimed at making the EU the world's most competitive economic bloc. Poland scored poorly due to long-term unemployment, protectionism and its slow pace of reforms. Malta was last on the list because of incomplete data. Denmark, Sweden and Austria were at the top of the list. Italy was the previous holder of the villain position.

SanDiego Union Tribune, 25 March 2006
French use the street to air their woes – and increasingly, to stymie reform
"The French passion for protest is a form of political culture. You don't have a culture of compromise and negotiations" said Aurore Wanlin, a French researcher at the Centre for European Reform in London... Wanlin said the French protests don't just stall reforms – they also stall reasoned debate. "This protesting style is making it hard for the French to find national consensus" she said.

International Herald Tribune, 24 March 2006
A new round of EU feuds
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, based in London, argued that the creation of the euro and the EU expansion to the east had deprived the union of a single, unifying project it desperately needs. "The possibility of the union going backward, for example through an increase in protectionism in some member states, is real," he said.

Bloomberg, 23 March 2006
EU set for summit clash over protectionism in energy
"The commission is right to be proposing a new European dimension of energy policy,'' Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform, said by phone two weeks ago. "The European angle is secondary for member-states like France, which is sad. It will take time to make progress.''

Reuters, 22 March 2006
Danes offer Europe a hard act to follow on jobs
Germany at least has a tradition of consensus in industrial relations, like Denmark and unlike France or Italy. "German trade unions may threaten to strike or go into the streets. But more often than not, they sit down and work out a deal with the employers federation," says Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. "In France, people expect unions to go for conflict."

The Financial Times, 22 March 2006
France chews over its changing role
Charles Grant, director of the London-based Centre for European Reform, says the debate in France is rapidly acquiring a British flavour. "The reason why the French have a problem is that Europe used to be run by them and projected the French image into the wider world but now it is controlled by other people and Europe is something done to them by others," he says. "This is what the British have thought about Europe for years, but the French are increasingly thinking the same and do not like it."

The Times, 22 March 2006
How free trade pioneers are busy manning the barricades
Katinka Barysch, the chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, said that government efforts to stop companies falling into foreign hands were symptomatic of the economic fear stalking Europe. "We've had several years of slow growth and stubbornly high unemployment and we're digesting Eastern European enlargement," she said. "For most people, enlargement and globalisation are part of the same thing — low-cost foreign competition that threatens their social model."

Irish Independent, 22 March 2006
Reforms driving us up EU competition charts
IRELAND is "climbing rapidly" up the EU economic charts as reforms are helping the country improve its competitiveness, claims a new independent report. Although many problems are highlighted - such as the poor access to broadband internet connections - Ireland is ranked in seventh place overall this year.This is a rise of three places, according to the 'Lisbon Scorecard' produced by the Centre for European Reform.Amongst the positive points noted in the detailed report are the low costs to starting business in Ireland, the flexibility for pension funds to invest in venture capital funds and progress in reducing State aid. But it says many of the new member states are already leaving Ireland well behind in the race to introduce broadband internet connectivity. Other concerns deal with social, environmental and energy issues. It also complains about the slow pace of liberalisation in the electricity field. Although prices in general are lower than in 1997, the "pace of liberalisation has varied enormously between states. Consultancy Copenhagen Economics reports that Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the UK are the leaders in market opening, while Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg "form the rearguard". The report complains that Ireland is failing to live up other commitments, like curbing carbon dioxide emissions, with liitle chance of meeting targets.

Invest in Denmark [Ministry of foreign affairs of Denmark], 22 March 2006
Denmark's strong economic performance is the talk of the EU
Denmark is ahead of all other EU lands in fulfilling the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy, reveals an annual report – entitled The Lisbon Scorecard VI – from the London-based Centre for European Reform (CER). The Lisbon Strategy resulted from a meeting of Europe's heads of state and government in Lisbon, Portugal in March 2000, which declared the intention to make the EU "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion" by 2010.

Business Week, 21 March 2006
Latest economic scorecard of EU nations
An economic scorecard published by the London-based Centre for European Reform before this week's EU summit shows only marginal improvements in meeting reform guidelines agreed to by EU leaders in years past. EU leaders promised in 2000 to take action to make the region the world's most dynamic economy by 2010, creating millions of new jobs and boosting economic growth to overtake the United States and Japan. They face an uphill task. Unemployment is high and growth is only slowly picking up. 18.5 million EU citizens, or 8.3 percent of the working population, were unemployed in January.A reluctance to reform labor markets and slow economic growth in some of Europe's largest economies have set Europe back. Average GDP per head in the EU's 15 "old" member states was 27 percent below the United States in 2005 -- exactly the same level as in 2000.

The Financial Times, 21 March 2006
Brussels plans fast track for company start-ups
The time for starting a business varies widely between member states. The Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank, reports today that start-up times vary from less than two weeks in Denmark, Finland, France, Italy and the Netherlands, to 54 days in Portugal and up to 60 days in Slovenia.

Poland.Pl, 21 March 2006
Poland criticized for "slow pace of reforms" but Poles happy with EU
A report prepared by London's Centre for European Reform, assessing economic growth and employment strategies, puts Poland at the bopttom of the list of EU countries. The report is especially critical towards Poland's low employment rate (52 percent in 2004), and the unemployment rate, which is twice as high as the EU average. At the same time opinion polls show that Poles begin to trust the EU. The results of a poll conducted almost two years after Poland's EU entry show that ordinary Polish citizens are not disappointed with being part of the EU. Poles have ceased to be the biggest malcontents, they are even more optimistic than other nations from the region. Rising prices are cited as the largest risk factor in the lives of Polish citizens.

Monsters and critics, 21 March 2006
Report: Denmark economy is Europe's best
Denmark tops all European countries for creating jobs, the London-based Centre for European Reform says. "The flexible Danish labour market, in which it is easy to fire and hire, combined with a high level of social security, makes Denmark a role model for other EU countries," wrote the CER's Aurore Wanlin. Wanlin's report is expected to focus attention on Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen when he speaks Thursday about Denmark's 'flexicurity' model at a European Union summit in Brussels, the Copenhagen Post said Tuesday. Rasmussen has previously defined the Danish model as 'creating income, not jobs.' The CER says Denmark has both one of the highest growth rates in the EU and an unemployment rate of under 5 per cent. Following closely on Denmark's heels were Sweden and Austria. The CER called Denmark a 'hero' when it came to innovation - a key ingredient in the prime minister's globalization strategy - and gave it high marks for support to entrepreneurs, promotion of railway liberalisation and modernisation of the social welfare system.

Polish News Bulletin, 21 March 2006
Poland - Black Sheep of Economic Reform
In a report prepared by London's Centre for European Reform (CER) assessing the implementation of economic growth and employment strategy, Poland came last among all EU countries. "Poland causes the most concern among the new EU members," reads the report, which especially grieved over Poland's low employment rate (52 percent in 2004). "Despite a slight improvement in 2005, the unemployment rate is twice as high as the EU average, while the employment indices for the long-term unemployed and young people belong to the worst in Europe," says the report. The CER also mentioned barriers for foreign investors in Poland, limited competition, a complicated tax system full of loopholes and poor infrastructure discouraging potential investors. Last year, Poland placed 22nd, but now it is ranked 26th, behind Bulgaria and Romania, which are to become EU members next year. Malta was further behind Poland, but only due to lack of sufficient data.

Warsaw Business Journal, 21 March 2006
Poland stops EU becoming the most competitive economy in the world
According to the competition ranking of EU countries published on Monday by the Centre for European Reform, Poland found itself at the very end of the list. The country will most likely contribute to the largest extent in the failure of the EU becoming the most competitive economy of the world by 2010. The main accusations against Poland include a high unemployment rate and the largest number of barriers to foreign investors. The fiscal system is complicated with a high number of exceptions, while the bad condition of infrastructure is increasing the cost of doing business. "The populism of the new minority right-wing government means that controversial reforms will not be on its agenda," read the report in the part dedicated to Poland. Since 1999, expenditures on R&D have dropped in Poland and the country is far behind in terms of IT investments in governmental authorities. Poland is only highly appraised in terms of raising its qualifications, as a comparatively high number of young people are beginning higher education. Poland is second last only ahead of Malta.

Weiner Zeitung [Austria], 21 March 2006
Towards the head of the class
Austria has been ranked third among the 25 EU member states in competitive efficiency. That´s according to the Centre for European Reform (CER) in London which carried out the report for the European Commission in Brussels. Only Denmark and Sweden had a higher rating than Austria, which overtook the Netherlands in the latest listings. The CER praised Austria for female employment levels, energy efficiency and the high rate of general education. In contrast, the CER said Austria lagged behind in implementing the Kyoto Protocols on reducing greenhouse gases and in helping older workers find employment. The CER report is part of efforts by the EU to achieve goals set forward in 2000 to make the EU more competitive with both the United States and Asian economies.At the other end of the spectrum, Poland was at the bottom of the Centre´s efficiency rankings, behind Portugal, Spain, Italy and Malta.

Copenhagen Capacity, 21 March 2006
Denmark is leading in economic reforms
Denmark is the leader among the 25 EU countries when it comes to carrying out reforms to promote economic growth and employment.This is the result of the annual analysis by the think tank Centre for European Reform according to Ritzau's Bureau. The think tank headquartered in London pinpoints that economists in the whole region are now trying to copy the Danish model. The model is characterised by a well-developed welfare system, which may well be combined with economic progress. The decisive thing is to invest in education and research, states Centre for European Reform. At a summit later this week, the EU is to discuss exactly what to do to speed up the Lisbon process whose purpose is to strengthen Europe's international competitiveness.

The Korea Herald, 21 March 2006
Europe rethinks energy security amid disputes
"In particular, the EU needs to engage much more closely with Russia, which is likely to be the main supplier of oil and gas to Europe for decades to come. Plans for a 'common economic space' should be advanced and the EU should actively promote Russia's accession to the WTO," said Nick Butler, chairman of the Centre for European Reform.

The Copenhagen Post, 21 March 2006
Nation's economy best in EU - The Centre for European Reform has named the Danish economy as the best in the EU at creating growth and employment
Denmark's economy is the best in Europe at creating jobs and growth, according to a report from the Centre for European Reform, A London-based think tank devoted to improving the quality of the debate on the future of the European Union. The centre's report makes it likely that all ears will be on the prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, when he speaks about the Danish flexicurity model on Thursday at the EU economic summit in Brussels to discuss. 'The flexible Danish labour market, in which it is easy to fire and hire, combined with a high level of social security make Denmark a role model for other EU countries,' concluded report author Aurore Wanlin.

AP Worldstream, 20 March 2006
EU Commission President criticizes Polish move to challenge EU bank merger decision
When at least in terms of perception the autonomy of the central bank is put in question, this is certainly not the best way to show engagement with our European model," Barroso said. "When, for example, you launch a procedure in the European Court of Justice against the European Commission because you think the Commission is applying the competition laws, this is not the best way," he said at a debate organized by the Centre for European Reform think-tank.

The Los Angeles Times, 20 March 2006
EU criticizes Polish challenge to merger
Warsaw and Brussels have sparred over Poland's refusal to clear part of the UniCredit-HVB deal, which the Polish government claims could damage the nation's banking market. The EU says it had sole authority to approve the deal last October. "When at least in terms of perception the autonomy of the central bank is put in question, this is certainly not the best way to show engagement with our European model," Barroso said. "When, for example, you launch a procedure in the European Court of Justice against the European Commission because you think the commission is applying the competition laws, this is not the best way," he said at a debate organized by the Centre for European Reform think-tank.

The Financial Times, 20 March 2006
The sick man of Europe - but it need not be fatal
Indicators of structural reform are also poor. Regulation of product markets is rated as the highest in the pre-enlargement EU, though employment protection legislation is no longer so stringent. A recently published "Lisbon Scorecard" from the Centre for European Reform put Italy as low as 23rd out of the 25 EU members, plus Bulgaria and Romania. Italy, in sum, is the sick man of western Europe. Worse - unlike Germany - neither government nor business has used its period of slow growth and growing crisis to improve competitiveness.

EU Observer, 20 March 2006
Poland 'villain' on economic reform scorecard
The CER's Lisbon Scorecard is a yearly document issued by the London-based think- tank assessing member states' progress on the so-called Lisbon Agenda – the bloc's aim to become the most competitive economy in the world. The scorecard is set to be presented on Monday (20 March) to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso. Denmark and Sweden are once again this year's numbers one and two on the scoreboard, while Austria has climbed from place five to place three, Aurore Wanlin, researcher at the CER told EUobserver.

TMC.net, 20 March 2006
When national interest matters more than size
Katinka Barysch, an economist at the think-tank Centre for European Reform, said: "As economic competition increases and the pace of change accelerates, governments are trying to tighten their grip on what levers they have." For Ms Barysch, Europe's anxiety over globalisation is as much about the EU's eastwards expansion to Poland and other former communist countries as about China, and the fact that the older, wealthier EU members now fear cheap competition "from within". "You can put anti-dumping duties on Chinese shoes but not on Polish furniture," she said.

Xinhua [China], 20 March 2006
Denmark tops EU members in improving competitiveness
Denmark, Sweden and Austria top the list on this year's scorecard to measure European Union (EU) states' efforts to boost competitiveness, according to a think-tank from the region. The result was released on Monday by the CER, a privately-funded think-tank which aims to promote new ideas and policies for the EU.

The Guardian, 16 March 2006
Colour revolutions fade in Russia's shadow
"No one seriously doubts, especially not the opposition, that the election outcome will be fixed," wrote Charles Grant and Mark Leonard of the Centre for European Reform.

Reuters, 15 March 2006
Britain woos Iranians amid tension with government
"Britain wants regime change but they want it to be done differently from the U.S," said the Centre for European Reform's Daniel Keohane. "Britain says it has to be done from within."

Reuters, 13 March 2006
Merkel to avoid protectionism debate with Chirac
"Merkel is against French protectionism, but she will not do anything to embarrass the French" said Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London.

Reteurs, 13 March 2006
Takeover tensions expose frailty of "Europe Inc"
"As economic competition increases and the pace of change accelerates, governments are trying to tighten their grip on what levers they have," says Katinka Barysch an economist at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank in London. For Barysch, Europe's anxiety over globalisation is as much about the EU's eastwards expansion to Poland and other former communist countries as about China, and the fact that the older, wealthier EU members now fear cheap competition "from within". "You can put anti-dumping duties on Chinese shoes but not on Polish furniture," she says.

The Observer, 12 March 2006
Is it springtime for Germany?
Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, says there are reasons to hope 2006 will be different: "I would be quite confident that we will see a pick-up in consumer spending this year". For one thing, the anticipation of a promised 3 per cent increase in VAT next year could persuade the notoriously thrifty Germans to buy a new car or computer now, rather than in 2007. There is also the World Cup. "Not only will there be tourists spending lots of money, and Germans buying bigger TV screens to watch the football, but every time they turn their televisions on they will see their beautiful countryside," Barysch says. "That should help." She says there is no reason, apart from fears about the future, for German households not to splash out: "They're sitting on piles of cash which could be spent". This is particularly true if unemployment continues to fall, helping to cement consumers' confidence, and real wages stabilise after recent declines... "Germans don't borrow, anyway" remarks Barysch. But there is a worry that the ECB could spook investors by moving too far, too fast..."It really all depends on the German consumer," says Barysch. "Confidence is quite a woolly thing."

International Herald Tribune, 10 March 2006
Opening trade to close the gap
Lamy's star took off when he went to Brussels in 1985. For 10 years he was chief of staff to Jacques Delors, the commission president, during the heyday of European integration. According to people who knew him then, Lamy was efficient and tough, even charmless, in enforcing Delors's writ. "He was absolutely crucial for Delors's success," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform and Delors's biographer. "Delors was a kind of foreign minister and did the high politics, but Lamy ran the house."

European Voice, 9 March 2006
Aiming for a common defence research fund
According to Daniel Keohane from the London-based Centre for European Reform, an agreement on force protection would be another significant victory, following on from success in drawing up a code of conduct on procurement. "This would create a joint defence research fund which we have not seen before," he said. For now the EDA is holding its cards close to its chest. While the French government has argued for a research fund of €200m, the EDA has shied away from talking figures, waiting to judge the political mood in the member states.

International Herald Tribune, 9 March 2006
EU urges an energy pact with Russians
"All you have to look at is how much energy Russia supplies to Europe," said Katinka Barysch, energy expert at the Centre for European Reform, a pro-European research organization in London. "This shows you cannot exclude Russia." "The Polish view seems to be a contingency view," Barysch said. "If the EU cannot reach a deal with Russia, then the Poles seems to be saying Europe needs alternative plans. But it is clear several member states will not want to exclude Russia. Germany has already made that clear to Poland."

Reuters, 7 March 2006
EU newcomers wary of euro group's growing role
The London-based Centre for European Reform suggested adding a new entry criterion for joining the single currency -"whether the euro zone has the capacity to absorb that country"... At the euro zone's inception, only 5 out of 12 future members met the public debt criterion - many still do not - while some countries used creative accounting to show a budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP. "Just because the EU made this mistake in the past does not mean it needs to make it in the future" commented Katinka Barysch, analyst at the Centre for European Reform.

AllAfrica.com, 6 March 2006
Research is key to Namibia's success
Mark Leonard, Director of the Foreign Policy Centre for European Reform, said: "By 2026, China's economy will be bigger than America's, and India's will be much larger than that of any European country."

International Herald Tribune, 2 March 2006
EU to consider sharing some costs on defence
"We have never had a common defence research fund in Europe, so this is very new", said Daniel Keohane, a defence expert at the Centre for European Reform in London. "Choosing a project to protect forces in the field is pretty uncontroversial, so this might succeed as an area on which governments feel it's O.K. to collaborate"... The European Defence Agency wants member-states "to agree on the principle of a common fund, then if it's a success, the argument may grow stronger for more money for other projects."

Bloomberg News, 1 March 2006
Europe needs power supplies, not power politics
"The mood is against integration right now'', Katinka Barysch, an economist at the Centre for European Reform in London, said in a telephone interview. "Politicians have taken worries over the security of energy supplies and capitalised on them.''

European Voice, 23 February 2006
Capitals snub Lisbon, warns Polish think-tank
Aurore Wanlin from the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank, agreed that the fact that the majority of plans were not discussed in national parliaments, was a bad sign and noted that very few of them were linked to the national budget. "It's all very well to say you will spend more on research but if you don't say how you will do that then it's very likely to remain rhetoric", she said. But Wanlin said that the reports were still a "good step" for the Lisbon Agenda and that some member states - notably the Nordic countries, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Baltics - had been taking their reform agenda seriously. Poland, Greece, Portugal and Italy are lagging behind.
 
International Herald Tribune, 17 February 2006
EU antitrust chief threatens energy suppliers with investigations
Katinka Barysch, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform in London, said there was "a resurgence of economic nationalism with energy seen as a strategic sector".  Barysch cited the example of Éléctricité de France and of E.ON in Germany. "They are highly protective of their position in the market but are quick enough to use their strength to buy outside their own countries."... She said one reason for the reluctance was that the new members feared that Gazprom, Russia's state-owned gas monopoly, would buy up their assets, leaving them even more dependent on Russia as a supplier of gas - and increasingly oil - to this part of Europe.  "Given the recent experience in which Gazprom cut off supplies to Ukraine, there is a debate taking place in the region about whether market liberalization would create more or less energy security."

EU Observer, 16 February 2006
Public opinion could delay EU entry of Romania and Bulgaria
Katinka Barysch, policy expert at the Centre for European Reform, said the effect of entry delay would be hard to predict. "The EU generally has more leverage to exert influence when a country is outside, but in this case, the countries would know that they would enter a year later anyway, so there's no real stick."

Reuters, 15 February 2006
CNS news.com, 6 February 2006
Boycott Russian-hosted G8 meeting, McCain urges
Daniel Keohane, a security expert at the Centre for European Reform in London, said McCain's criticism was not surprising, given U.S. and European concerns about some of the directions Putin was taking. Europe's reticence to address the subject was more striking, he said. "You have a kind of a scramble for Russian affection between the French, the Germans, the British and the Italians, particularly when it comes to business - particularly when it comes to support on the war on terror, particularly when you're looking at issues like gas and oil, and also when you're looking at Iran," said Keohane. "The Europeans want Russia's help on a number of issues and basically have not been as quick, collectively, as the U.S. to criticize the Russians," he said. Keohane added, however, that Russia was also less likely to listen to European criticism while it needed America's help on a number of issues, "so maybe the U.S. has a freer hand here to tell the Russians what they think." ...Trying to find agreement over NATO and its role has become a major issue in transatlantic discussions. "Most countries accept the principle that there are times when NATO has to carry out peacekeeping operations," said Keohane. "The problem is when should that be? Is it only after the U.S. has invaded a country, for example? Is NATO only about peacekeeping? There's the basic question as well - what is NATO for?" ... On Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors voted to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council, which could at some future point impose sanctions. Passed by a vote of 27-3, with five abstentions, the resolution had the support of the U.S., European nations, Russia, China and half of the developing nations on the 35-member board. "Whatever [the differences] about NATO, whatever about Iraq, there is at least complete agreement at the moment about Iran," said Keohane. "Iraq divided the Atlantic, and Iran has reunited it. I think that's something the Iranians didn't expect. That's something they underestimated and the fact the Russians and the Chinese are supporting that position is hugely significant," he added.

Los Angeles Times, 5 February 2006
Cross-Border Takeovers Face Growing Opposition in Europe
Katinka Barysch, chief economist of the London-based Centre for European Reform, argues that protectionism in general has been on the rise since the EU took in 10 new member states — mainly in poorer central and southern Europe — in 2004. Barysch even questions whether, in the current political climate, EU member states would be ready to reaffirm their support for the "four freedoms" — of capital, goods, services and people — enshrined in the European Union treaty. "If we were to write a new treaty today," she said, "would we be able to get those clauses accepted? I am not sure."

Reuters, 2 February 2006
Poland flexes muscles in East-West EU stand-off
The stand-off showed the EU's founders and heavyweights and Brussels establishment could ill afford to ignore the newcomers' interests and sensitivities, analysts and diplomats said. "That episode reinforces the message that, yes, now we have 10 new members who are willing to fight for their interests," said Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform London-based think-tank.

The Times, 1 February 2006
Growing pains tax New Europe's patience
The significance of this weeks row is that it shows the desire of the new member countries to make themselves heard. "They are saying, 'Don't mess us around'," said Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.

Newsweek, 30 January 2006
The Empire Strikes Back - A confident Kremlin is throwing its weight around
"Russia is a very different place from the way we saw it just three or four years ago," says Katinka Barysch of London's Centre for European Reform.

The Financial Times, 27 January 2006
Chastened leaders need some concrete policy successes
The Centre for European Reform recently proposed a workable programme for streamlining foreign policy-making, R&D policy, defence procurement policies, European patent procedures, and Balkan enlargement. Flexible co-operation, in which not all states take part, is working well in counter-terrorism and might be extended to tax and fiscal co-operation.

The Muslim News, 27 January 2006
Turkey in EU: Tugs of war
While Mark Leonard of the Centre for European Reform is right to argue that Turkey has its work cut out for it if it hopes to re-brand and sell Europe the image of an industrialised and modern state when the reality is a largely agrarian based economy. So will it be a steep challenge to sell the idea of a country that reflects a happy marriage between its professed secularity and its Muslim faith.

Bloomberg, 26 January 2006
European Union Can't Afford to Go Soft on Iran
"The EU has become pretty cynical about sanctions,'' said Mark Leonard, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform in London, in a telephone interview. "That is partly because there are so many important economic interests at stake. But it is also because the EU is not convinced by the idea that sanctions can bring about real change.'' ...Iran remains an important export market for European companies. "What the EU should be doing is looking at smart, targeted sanctions.''

United Press International, 24 January 2006
Marty: US outsourced torture, EU knew it
Daniel Keohane, terrorism expert at the Centre for European Reform in London told UPI via telephone there was not necessarily much new to Marty's report, but added that any findings will likely be "investigated heavily and taken very seriously."

United Press International, 23 January 2006
Analysis: Merkel - no challenge to Chirac
"Whatever they do, their stance is only credible if they move as a team. The Europeans can only be effective if they have a unified stand," said Katinka Barysch, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform, in London. "If they're splintered..then obviously their credibility will be gone. That's why it's so important that Chirac and Merkel agree on where to go forward from here." Barysch also viewed Monday's meeting as a last-ditch attempt by Merkel to continue on the negotiation path -and to ensure that Russia and China support, if possible, the European and U.S. stance on Iran. "There is just this last-minute attempt perhaps to bring Russia on board, to bring China on board," Barysch said. "The threat to take Iran to the Security Council is only credible if there is a threat of sanctions behind it. And at the moment, Russia and China won't stand for that." ..."Merkel has actually reestablished Germany very quickly as a credible foreign policy actor," Barysch added. "Which is why she is now quite well placed to mediate in the Iran issue, where there are quite conflicting positions."

Bloomberg, 19 January 2006
Chirac Says Nuclear Arms Can Deter Terrorist WMD Use
"Chirac is reminding the Iranians that they really should rethink what they are doing,'' said Daniel Keohane, a senior researcher at Centre for European Reform in London. "In a way Chirac is almost comparing Iran with Islamic terrorists. It will be interesting to see how the Iranians respond.''

Financial Times, 18 January 2006
Protectionism on the rise in a more hostile EU
Katinka Barysch, chief economist of the London-based Centre for European Reform, argues that protectionism has been on the rise since the EU took in ten new member states - mainly in poorer central and southern Europe - in 2004. "The nature of the single market and competition has changed since enlargement," she says, pointing out that the much wider gulf between high-wage and low-wage countries has fuelled fears among workers in states such as Germany, France and Austria. Ms Barysch even questions whether, in the current political climate, EU member states would be ready to reaffirm their support for the "four freedoms" (of capital, goods, services and people) enshrined in the European Union treaty: "If we were to write a new treaty today, would we be able to get those clauses accepted? I am not sure."

Associated Press, 16 January 2006
European Nations urged to harmonize laws
Half a dozen nations, including Germany, have yet to ratify a decision to let Europol _ the EU police cooperation agency _ assist in joint criminal investigations."EU governments think criminal sanctions should be a national matter only," said Hugo Brady, a research fellow at the London-based Centre for European Reform. Quick changes aren't expected at a time when public support for the EU is feeble, as evidenced by the defeat of the proposed EU constitution in last year's Dutch and French referendums. But given the terrorist threats facing Europe, "they recognize deeper EU co-operation remains essential," Brady said in a recent report.

CNS News, 13 January 2006
German Chancellor and Bush Agree on Iran, Disagree on Guantanamo
Europe now has to stand by its word and get tough with the Iranians," said Katinka Barysch, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London. "But for the Europeans, it is also important to maintain their good ties with the Russians and the Chinese. The cooperation or the lack of obstruction you see from Russia and China at the moment is from the fact that the Europeans gained credibility in the past by going down the negotiations path," Barysch said. ...Germany's critical view of the methods America uses to fight international terrorism remains one of the foremost issues of disagreement. "The two countries co-operate on terrorism but German public opinion is very sensitive about certain tactics that the Americans are employing," said Barysch. ..."Germany had a balancing function not only in European politics but in the European Union, between Britain and France, between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, and between Europe and the United States," said Barysch. "What Merkel is trying to do is to restore to some extent that balancing function within Europe and between Europe and the U.S.," added Barysch. She said both sides have a lot to gain from improved relations. Both leaders will gain credibility on foreign policy issues and the Bush administration will also gain good will "in showing Europe and other countries that it does care about having friends around the world."

Kommersant [Russia], 8 January 2006
Russian-European Foxtrot
The Russian-EU trade and economic co-operation is still a faltering giant despite the impressive indicators cited above. "Energy and asymmetry are the two key words to define the nature of this co-operation," as an economist at London-based Centre for European Reform put it. ...The last but not the least, Russia and the EU border on the region which is often called Big Middle East. "We used to say that the Balkans start on the outskirts of Vienna, now the Middle East starts in the suburbs of Paris, London and Moscow with their large Muslim communities," says Carl Bildt, former Swedish prime minister, now a member at the council of the Centre for European Reform.

Radio Free Europe, 3 January 2006
Russia: Gazprom's Message To Kyiv Backfires In Europe
Katinka Barysch, chief economist of the Centre for European Reform in London, says Russia can't have it both ways: "Now [Russia] cannot on the one hand say it wants to make a big contribution to global energy security and at the same time then use energy supplies as a political trump card. The European Union is in no position to tell Russia how much it should charge its neighbors for gas supplies. But because Russia made such a blatant demand on Ukraine overnight, it's very clear that there must be more than an economic rationale to this, and that has hugely damaged Russia's reputation at a time when the country wants to show that it is a reliable supplier."

Abhaber.com [EU-Turkey News Network], 3 January 2006
EU Term President Austria will struggle to regain public confidence
"The EU has lost its sense of purpose," according to a recent joint study by the London-based Centre for European Reform and the Paris-based Institut Montaigne, two generally pro-EU think tanks. "The union has helped to bring peace across the continent and wealth for most of its inhabitants," the study said. "But citizens are hardly aware of these benefits. Most EU policies directly benefit only a small number of people, such as farmers or exchange students. "For many others, the EU has become a problem ... It appears cumbersome and opaque. It adds layers of bureaucracy. It seems to make competition for jobs fiercer by embracing low-cost countries," the study said.