Press quotes

  • Trichet's 'Cold War' with Germany risks damage that may force compromise
    Bloomberg, 13 June 2011

    "The balance of forces in the eurozone is a little like it was in the Cold War: both sides are brandishing deterrents that would be too horrendous to use," said Philip Whyte, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform in London. "It's all going to turn on whether you can fiddle with debt maturities without calling it a credit event."

  • Beginning of the end for NATO?
    New York Times, 13 June 2011

    "The agreement called into question the sustainability and relevance of the EU's security and defence policy," said Clara Marina O'Donnell, defence expert at the Centre for European Reform in London.

  • Always waiting for the US cavalry
    The Economist, 10 June 2011

    A recent paper by the Centre for European Reform, and think-tank in London, makes some sensible recommendations [Surviving Austerity: The case for a new approach to EU military collaboration by Tomas Valasek].

  • Erdogan seen winning after turning IMF-hooked Turkey into Mideast's model
    Bloomberg, 10 June 2011

    "It still slightly worries me that Erdogan portrays himself as the natural long-term leader of Turkey," Katinka Barysch, deputy director at the Centre for European Reform, said in an interview. "A country too centralised, too focussed on one personality usually leads to very bad decision-making because if one leader is in power for too long he’s usually surrounded by yes-sayers."

  • President Obama embraces troubled German ally
    NPR, 07 June 2011

    "Governments need to be able to point to the light at the end of the tunnel," says Simon Tilford, chief economist with the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank that supports European integration. Tilford says Greece and the other ailing economies are denied, by their use of the euro, the normal tools countries might use to address deep deficits, such as devaluing currency by printing money.

  • Erdogan's last hurrah (possibly)
    The Economist, 02 June 2011

    Katinka Barysch of the London-based Centre for European Reform points out that some 50-60 journalists are now in jail, most of them accused of plotting to overthrow the government; around 10,000 lawsuits are pending against writers and broadcasters; and Turkey has dropped to 138th place in the press-freedom ranking of Reporters Without Borders, a lobby group, behind Iraq and only just ahead of Russia.

  • Five ways to save Europe
    Irish Independent, 29 May 2011

    Simon Tilford, chief economist of the Centre for European Reform, believes that Europe will eventually have to write off about half of the debt of countries such as Greece and Ireland. "Far from improving access to the financial markets, the support packages for Greece and Ireland have left these countries facing record borrowing costs," said Tilford. "The markets do not believe that the struggling euro countries are going to grow rapidly enough to service their debts.

  • President Barack Obama's fence-mending with Poland
    BBC News, 27 May 2011

    As Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, told me, "Poland has traditionally been a close ally of the US on security matters, but that alliance has become strained in recent years". "Poles were upset by President Obama's abrupt cancellation of the Bush administration's plans for missile defence, which would have stationed interceptors in Poland, and they are still arguing with the Obama administration about whether the Patriot missiles that Poland wants should be based there permanently or not," he added.

  • Tens of thousands protest against the government
    Prague Post, 25 May 2011

    "There is a perception that Europe's way of life is under threat", said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank. "In Spain, they face years of painful adjustment with no guarantee there will be a return to economic growth", he said.

  • Harper in strong position for G8 meet: Economist
    Montreal Gazette, 25 May 2011

    "There's no doubt that Canada is much better placed to take a higher profile and be listened to than it was a few years ago", said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform... "The elephant in the room is the eurozone debt crisis."