Press quotes

  • Germany's Wolfgang Schäuble at 70 – still at heart of efforts to save eurozone
    The Guardian, 20 September 2012

    Schäuble's mantra has consistently been that what's good for Europe is good for Germany... "He's an old-fashioned, very serious European federalist," said Katinka Barysch, a German economist at the CER in London.

  • Merkel turns to ex-mentor Kohl to sell Europe to Germans
    Reuters, 20 September 2012

    "There was an initial desire (in Europe) to punish Greece rather than help it," said Philip Whyte of the CER. "Germany played a big role in that and the benefits of Germany's euro zone membership weren't highlighted much."

  • 11 European foreign ministers call for greater integration
    The New York Times, 18 September 2012

    "Germany's renewal of the concept of political union reflects the fact that the German political class has become more integrationist as the euro crisis has progressed," said Charles Grant, director of the CER.

  • Germany slowly comes to terms with sending its armed forces abroad
    The Guardian, 18 September 2012

    "Afghanistan turned out a lot less safe than they thought it was going to be, but the Germans toughed it out, changed their rules of engagement, and fired back," said Tomas Valasek, the director of foreign policy and defence at the Centre for European Reform.

  • Stalled rally puts pressure on Spain
    The Wall Street Journal, 18 September 2012

    Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER, said the Spanish government was right to consider the bailout request with caution. "If one of the conditions is a further tightening of fiscal policy, then the risk is that that will depress the Spanish economy even further, and they won't be able to meet the terms of the bailout," he said.

  • BAE-EADS merger would advance Europe's military goals
    Reuters, 16 September 2012

    "In the broadest terms, this merger does enact what many European governments... have been saying for a long time - that in order for the European defense industry to remain competitive in the long term it needs to consolidate," said Clara Marina O'Donnell of the CER.

  • Germany's savers feel resentment and guilt over pressure to end euro crisis
    The Guardian, 16 September 2012

    German taxpayers stump up a "solidarity surcharge" of 5.5% of income tax to fund the hefty costs of unification in an arrangement due to last until 2019. "East Germany might well need another trillion," said Katinka Barysch, a German economist at the CER.

  • Illegal immigration emerges as new crisis for Greece - and EU
    The Wall Street Journal, 15 September 2012

    Last year, some 351,000 people were in the EU illegally by overstaying their visas... "The attention needs to be shifted to that too," said Hugo Brady of the CER. "Greece isn't the cause of illegal immigration, it's a serious patch of vulnerability."

  • German court rejects calls to block eurozone rescue fund
    USA Today, 13 September 2012

    Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER said the ruling's most interesting aspects were the conditions attached. "It's unlikely that the German government would vote to increase the amount of money that it can commit to the fund," he said.

  • Defence sector plans for hard times ahead
    Financial Times, 13 September 2012

    "Faced with the lack of demand in Europe, the name of the game for many European defence companies has been to try and get into other markets like the US," says Clara Marina O’Donnell of the CER.