Press quotes

  • Financial crisis roiled eurozone in 2010
    Voice of America, 07 December 2010

    Simon Tilford is chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. He says the financial crisis has left that vision in tatters. "Unfortunately, the necessary solidarity has been eroded by the financial crisis. The electorates of countries that have been asked to guarantee loans to the other member states are strongly resentful of that because they think why should we do that. We're rewarding them for their profligacy, or what have you.

  • WikiLeaks cables reveal secret NATO plans to defend Baltics from Russia
    The Guardian, 06 December 2010

    "Most of the information on this is not in the public domain. But the bottom line is that there is enough political will in NATO now to do defence plans for the Baltic states. The opposition has melted away over the past 18 months," said Tomas Valasek, defence analyst at the Centre for European Reform. … "The whole point is not to paint Russia as a threat. It is about reassuring those countries that are seriously worried. The debate is primarily about Poland and the Baltic. Geography has a lot to do with it," said Valasek.

  • Trichet aguanta el tirón (por ahora)
    El Pais, 05 December 2010

    Se romperá el euro, titula su trabajo Charles Grant, director del Centre for European Reform (CER), quien cree de todas formas que, a pesar de todas las dificultades, "es improbable que el euro se fracture". Y significa que "muchos anglosajones subestiman la fuerza de la voluntad política que lo sostiene". ... Simon Tilford, economista jefe del CER, no tiene ninguna duda de que la "unión fiscal" es imprescindible para reconducir la crisis. Insiste en que "la crisis de la deuda soberana de la eurozona es política, no es un problema económico".

  • Brussels summit to cement EU-Russia ties
    SBS Radio News, 05 December 2010

    "Russia's entry to the WTO would be very positive, but other issues are showing little progress," said Katinka Barysch of London-based think-tank, the Centre for European Reform.

  • Debt crisis forces Europe's currency union to change
    Hürriyet Daily News, 05 December 2010

    One solution might be to restructure those countries' debts now and allow them to get their economies in order under humane circumstances, said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. Such a simultaneous shock-and-awe move, Tilford said, might stop contagion and take pressure of Italy and Spain. "By going halfway, you're making everything worse," he said.

  • ECB 'climbdown' boosts markets
    The Guardian, 01 December 2010

    Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, said: "As it stands ... a number of member states are effectively insolvent and caught in a vicious circle. The collapse of economic growth has devastated tax revenues, while deflation threatens to push up the real value of their debts."

  • Lisbon treaty weathers stormy first year
    EU Observer, 01 December 2010

    Others say it is too early to judge the Lisbon Treaty, adding that many of Europe's current problems are unrelated to the document. "The Lisbon Treaty is not like a new US president, you can't measure its first 100 days," Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank, told this website. … "She has been starting from scratch so it takes time. It is quite an achievement to create an institution. … The EU is a little bit more democratic," said Mr Brady.

  • Europe's crisis widens
    The Wall Street Journal, 30 November 2010

    "By their actions, the Germans have unsettled the markets and brought about what they're hoping to prevent," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, a London think-tank.

  • Analysis: Is eurozone running out of time on debt crisis?
    Reuters, 30 November 2010

    "When it comes to EU politicians and the markets, there is definitely an asymmetry of arms," said Hugo Brady, a senior policy analyst at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. "One criticism has been that political leaders move incrementally, rather than in big steps, for understandable reasons," he said, pointing out that politicians have voters and other constituencies to consider, which markets do not. "In my view, the period of sending signals to the markets and seeing how they react has to end. It's not a game the politicians are winning.

  • Berlin reconciles itself to bailouts
    The Wall Street Journal, 30 November 2010

    "The Germans have accepted that there will be more bailouts," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank. "They have compromised on their demand that haircuts for bondholders should be automatic," he says.