Press quotes

  • Merger's demise perpetuates Europe's defence bloat
    The Wall Street Journal, 11 October 2012

    "Consolidation is good for European value amid defence cuts," said Charles Grant, director of the CER in London. ..."Ninety-nine per cent of European politicians only see things in terms of their national interests," said Mr. Grant.

  • Nudging Britain towards the exit: The rise of Tory euroscepticism
    RTE News, 11 October 2012

    Hugo Brady of the CER has conducted a major study of the block opt-out. He argues that while exercising the block opt-out en masse will boost Cameron's eurosceptic credentials, it could leave Britain badly exposed in terms of security, while further alienating key allies.

  • Leaders’ lack of enthusiasm hits BAE-EADS
    Financial Times, 10 October 2012

    "Pushing this deal to a successful conclusion required strategy and vision and none of the three leaders is a strategic thinker," says Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. "BAE and EADS came along at a moment when there was too much else preoccupying them."

  • Death of BAE-EADS merger kills hope of unified European defence sector
    The Globe and Mail, 10 October 2012

    "This highlights the real challenges for Europeans in their attempt to create an integrated defence industry and market," said Clara Marina O’Donnell, a research fellow with the CER think tank. "We had three countries with three different approaches to defence that were impossible to reconcile."

  • Britain rethinks its opposition to a two-tier Europe
    International Herald Tribune, 08 October 2012

    "Ever since it joined, British policy has been based on the imperative of being in the room when important matters are discussed, so that Britain could either stop things happening or shape outcomes that suit Britain," said Charles Grant of the CER.

  • Eurozone finance ministers launch bailout fund
    Voice of America, 08 October 2012

    "It is hard to be optimistic about a region as heavily indebted as Europe, or Western Europe, when the region's economy is [heading] into a very deep slump," said Simon Tilford, of the CER. "So any sort of optimism we see at the moment is likely to prove very short lived."

  • PM to review freedom of migrant movement
    Financial Times, 07 October 2012

    "Cameron could try to renegotiate the freedom of movement principle but this is a cul-de-sac he should be careful not to go down," said Hugo Brady of the CER. "It would use up all the UK's political capital and this would impinge on the fundamental basis of the single market, which Cameron has said he's in favour of."

  • Opting out of the EU - The guns of war
    The Economist, 05 October 2012

    Hugo Brady of the CER, believes Mr Cameron underestimates the risk to national security and influence. But Britain has recognised expertise in criminal justice; it is full of people from other EU countries; and it has an enormous DNA database, as well as the best links with America.

  • Enders seeks to overcome Berlin wall of resistance to reach BAE
    Bloomberg Business Week, 02 October 2012

    "Hopefully Merkel can see the wider European interest in this," said Charles Grant, director of the London-based CER. "I don't see why the Germans are so reticent, because they’ve always been upset about the French domination or the French leadership at EADS."

  • EU justice opt-out seen as security risk
    Financial Times, 30 September 2012

    A report by the CER, which will be published this week, suggests that Conservative attempts to repatriate powers from Brussels and then opt back into a select number may backfire if it means the UK loses sway over immigration, crime and policing issues – the fastest-growing area of EU law.