Press quotes

  • Economic crisis triggers loss of trust in members of EU
    The Times, 04 September 2010

    Hugo Brady, of the Centre for European Reform, said: "I have never known the EU not to be in some kind of crisis but trust in politicians is extremely low and it is probably coming home to people that Europe is in decline."

  • Can Montenegro shake off crime hub image?
    BBC, 31 August 2010

    "The rules for membership are now being applied more strictly, with greater attention to detail," says Charles Grant, from the Centre for European Reform. "But there is a risk of a vicious cycle whereby without the beacon of EU membership modernisers start losing out to conservatives."

  • Kosovo independence ruling watched around the world
    Voice of America, 25 August 2010

    "Basically, what the court's ruling means is whether secession is legal or not, is largely a political question. It comes down to whether enough countries recognise the entity that has seceded," said Valasek with the Centre for European Reform in London.

  • The downsides of German growth
    The Prague Post, 18 August 2010

    "It is wrong to argue that Germany is the growth engine of the European economy, which is what we have seen argued in recent days," said Simon Tilford, chief economist with the Centre for European Reform.. "It is right to argue that it is a drag." This year's German trade surplus topped $ 77 billion through May, about 60 percent of that occurring within Europe.

  • Cameron's first 100 days
    Politics.co.uk, 17 August 2010

    "The question," Whyte says, "is whether this is the calm before the storm". Two ominous-looking clouds are gathering on the horizon: financial regulation and the EU budget... London is the largest financial centre in Europe. So ministers face a "difficult balancing act", according to Whyte, in which they want to clamp down on banks while avoiding damaging London's competitiveness. The hedge funds directive was a case in point. Then, Osborne accepted defeat. It may not always end the same way.

  • Cameron's EU budget calls undermined
    Politics.co.uk, 13 August 2010

    Philip Whyte, senior research fellow at Centre for European Reform, warned that the arguments justifying Britain's ongoing rebate were being increasingly undermined, however. "This is a perennial issue on which the UK finds itself alone. The UK has a rebate under the EU budget. But the UK's position is becoming increasingly unstable." Mr Whyte warned that reforms of the common agricultural policy meant less and less of the EU budget was being spent on agriculture, the basis of Britain's rebate.

  • Stonehenge visitor centre, Berlin palace among projects put on hold thanks to big deficits
    Chicago Tribune, 12 August 2010

    Economist Simon Tilford at the CER said the cumulative impact of several years of predicted weak growth "will be considerable over the next decade, 15 years," especially in physical infrastructure and education. "What I fear is that the cuts will be made in the wrong places," he said, and hurt "many of the things that make Europe a good place to do business and have a high standard of living."

  • Will new diplomatic service help EU to speak with one voice?
    Radio Free Europe, 24 July 2010

    "For the EU to be able to be a very effective actor abroad, it needs all of its member states to agree on the issue at stake -- be it what to do in Georgia or what to do with Russia," Clara O'Donnell, an analyst with the CER, explains. "And, secondly, it needs the member states to be willing to let the EU to speak on their behalf.

  • Europe's stress test ignoring default scenario
    Marketplace, 23 July 2010

    But Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform says Europe's stress tests are ignoring one scenario that seems very real "the ability of the banks to cope with a sizable restructuring slash default in Greece and/or other eurozone member states". He says national defaults remains likely, but that isn't being tested.

  • As Germany's economy rebounds, anxiety prevails
    NPR, 23 July 2010

    "If German wages are falling, falling by 1.5 percent, the Greeks and the Italians, etc., have to make sure that their wages fall by even more than that. Now, that spells slump or at least very, very weak growth. Very weak growth or slump is lethal for economies as indebted as these economies, because slump, deflation implies increases in the real value of debt." [Simon Tilford] warns that another giant obstacle to Germany's speedy recovery is what he calls the country's dangerous over-reliance on exports. ...