Press quotes

  • Conspiracy and the euro
    BBC News, 16 February 2010

    As Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform points out, "people take bets on currencies - if they overreach themselves they go bust". ...Charles Grant says, however, he is certain that in the end Germany would act to prevent Greece defaulting. After all, it has signed up to a statement to "defend the stability of the euro". He says it is "understandable" at this stage that Germany wouldn't want to be too "explicit" about its plans, but who exactly will do the bail-out remains unclear.

  • Greece pressed to take action on economic woes
    International Herald Tribune, 15 February 2010

    Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London, said that for the eurozone countries the Eurostat proposals constituted "a significant erosion of sovereignty. "But when they signed up to the eurozone, they effectively agreed to cede sovereignty over time", Mr Tilford said. "There was always going to have to be a greater measure of integration." Although the Greek situation was "the most egregious example," he added, "it is not as if there have been no other examples of governments massaging public finances."

  • Germany is part of Greece's woe, not just its remedy
    The Times, 15 February 2010

    "It's very puzzling. They really seem to think that they’re in a great position," said Simon Tilford, chief economist for the Centre for European Reform, one of the most pointed commentators on the contradictions of the German position. "They're not, and it isn’t a model that others can all follow."

  • Greek statistician is caught in limelight
    International Herald Tribune, 13 February 2010

    Mr Kontopirakis "alone is not guilty, but he should have spotted the discrepancy and spoken up at the time," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform. He continued: "No doubt, there was political interference at the statistics office, but his argument is indefensible. This is the most egregious example of budgetary data that we have ever seen in the EU, and his position is extremely weak."

  • How Greece exposed the slippery slopes of Europe
    The Telegraph, 13 February 2010

    Charles Grant, of the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: "I think there will be a bail-out of some sort soon, with very strict controls on Greece." The cradle of civilisation will become effectively a colony of Brussels, or the International Monetary Fund, with massive public-sector cuts imposed on a resentful, and resistant, population.

  • Contemplating the future of the European Union
    New York Times, 12 February 2010

    "Now is the time when Europe needs to speak as one voice," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London. "The crisis should lead to political unity, but it could just as easily lead to a divided Europe."

  • Fox aims to boost military ties with France
    Financial Times, 12 February 2010

    "Fox's speech will be viewed by European governments as positive.. , especially on engagement with France," said Clara O’Donnell of the Centre for European Reform. "But concerns about the EU's role as a bloc are still very much in his mind. The question... will be how much his concerns about the EU end up alienating France."

  • Europe vows to save Greece
    The Wall Street Journal, 12 February 2010

    Yet greater coordination of economic policy will necessarily happen, says Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a London think tank. "There will be for Greece and possibly Spain a loss of fiscal sovereignty - a two-tier Europe with the weaker countries having to accept outside tutelage" from sounder euro members as the price of financial support.

  • EU leaders vow to help Greece, but say it is too early for financial rescue
    The Washington Post, 12 February 2010

    "What they've basically done is say they will help Greece if it meets the terms of the plan to cut its deficit, but if it managed to do that, Greece wouldn't need any help," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. "I certainly think they will come up with something more substantial. But today demonstrates that we may need a full-blown crisis in Greece before they are prepared to put money on the table."

  • High expectations behind admonishment
    China, People's Daily, 11 February 2010

    Jacques Delors, a three-term, ex-president of the European Commission (EC), said recently that the European Union (EU) would face a tough "choice" in the next few years, while Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, was more straightforward saying that Europe could possibly "fall apart" ['Is Europe doomed to fail as a power?' by Charles Grant, July 2009]. Their remarks have are in immense contrast compared to the elation brought by the entry into force of the "Lisbon Treaty"...