Press quotes

  • Dublin fears rise in cross-border crime if UK opt out of EU rules
    Financial Times, 20 May 2013

    "Police on both sides of the Irish Sea – as well as either side of the border – fear a return to the days when Ireland's supreme court would refuse extradition of terrorist suspects", says Hugo Brady of the CER.

  • Thinking the unthinkable: Quitting a currency
    The Wall Street Journal, 19 May 2013

    "Just the sheer enormity of quitting the euro has so far militated against a surge in support to leave," says Simon Tilford of the CER. Once people feel there is no light at the end of the tunnel, however, "we'll probably start to see a more open debate about the costs and benefits of remaining in the single currency," he says.

  • Europa desgarra a los 'tories'
    El Pais, 18 May 2013

    Philip Whyte, investigador del CER, discrepa de esa visión. En un estudio titulado ¿Perjudican los vínculos europeos de Gran Bretaña su prosperidad? concluye que muchos de los argumentos económicos euroescépticos son "engañosos" y que los problemas de la economía británica "no tienen nada que ver con las cargas burocráticas de la UE".

  • Recession causes grief for Hollande on election anniversary
    The Globe and Mail, 17 May 2013

    "France's economy stacks up well among European countries", says Simon Tilford of the CER. Economic growth has been better than most eurozone countries since the financial crisis; productivity is higher, as is foreign investment.

  • Euro crisis mires continent in longest slump since war
    The Wall Street Journal, 16 May 2013

    "Financial markets have become more sanguine than a year ago, but the underlying problems of the euro zone haven't been fixed," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER, a London-based think tank.

  • Coping with China's slowdown
    European Voice, 16 May 2013

    Charles Grant, director of the CER, is certainly right when he says that EU negotiators have a poor record using their leverage as China's main trading partner in getting China "to do what they want", especially opening up its own markets to EU firms and combating intellectual property theft.

  • As Europe struggles, the Franco-German alliance turns testy
    The Christian Science Monitor, 15 May 2013

    It’s also symbolically disconcerting for the identity of Europe. Hugo Brady of the CER, says that the breakdown is one of the biggest challenges the union faces today."If there isn't a France-German alliance, it’s the end of the Europe we’ve known for 50 years.”

  • Eurozone sets bleak record of longest term in recession
    Financial Times, 15 May 2013

    "It’s pretty shocking data," said Simon Tilford, economist at the CER, a think tank. "The figures for Italy, Spain and France are very worrying ... There’s a very, very strong case for aggressive monetary relaxation across the eurozone now."

  • Labour must stand firm: No to a referendum on Europe
    The Guardian, 09 May 2013

    Cameron has deliberately fudged what he means, special UK optouts or universal reforms for all: on Thursday he spoke of both. Germany's Angela Merkel seems somewhat receptive, according to Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform.

  • Eurosceptics take heart from UKIP's election wins
    European Voice, 08 May 2013

    "UKIP is part of a pan-European phenomenon," Charles Grant of the CER said. "It's not just hostility toward the EU; it's about hostility to the political class."