Press quotes

  • Catalans see pain in Spain as chance for independence
    The Times, 29 September 2012

    "The Spanish Government can do very little to address this crisis," said Simon Tilford of the CER. "It cannot pump liquidity into the markets as the UK has done. It has to attempt to meet very high levels of fiscal austerity and its economic reforms are very unpopular. The Government is most definitely not going to be in a position to satisfy the Catalans.

  • EU anti-trust review of BAE-EADS deal may face legal limit
    Bloomberg Business Week, 26 September 2012

    EU regulators, usually responsible for approving Europe-wide takeovers and enforcing the right to do business across the bloc, have been careful about any involvement in the defence industry because of the legal exemption, said Clara Marina O’Donnell, an analyst at the London-based CER.

  • Clegg tells of tough choices over Europe
    Financial Times, 25 September 2012

    Charles Grant, director of the CER, says a fourth source of potential conflict within the coalition will arise when Britain has to decide, before 2014, whether to take its one-off chance to withdraw from 130 EU crime and policing rules. "It’s certain Britain will exercise its block opt-out," he says.

  • European pensions targeted
    USA Today, 23 September 2012

    "Certainly, if you have people retiring in their 50s - and you're not looking like you're going to get the tax revenues you thought you would in the future - then it is difficult to be able to fill in some of the gaps in your public pension systems," said John Springford of the CER. "You do need to get public-sector workers to work longer."

  • Ideas for future EU hit instant headwind
    European Voice, 20 September 2012

    Charles Grant of the CER, was sceptical about the prospect of changes. He said that there was "no enthusiasm for treaty change or institutional reform" in France.

  • 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.