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CER
BULLETIN, ISSUE 57
DECEMBER 2007/JANUARY 2008 |
- Politics,
Sarkozy and the euro
by Philip Whyte
- Europe's
defence and its new security strategy
by Tomas Valasek
- The
EU must stand firm on Bosnia
by Charles Grant and Tomas Valasek
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CER
IN THE
PRESS
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THE GUARDIAN
14 November 2007
It is this [Iranian] record of evasion, "of lying and cheating to
the International Atomic Energy Agency", according to Charles Grant
of the CER, that has persuaded many otherwise doveish EU governments that
Tehran is up to something. Grant cites secret nuclear facilities in Iran
whose existence was only admitted once dissident groups had revealed them.
LE
FIGARO
14 November 2007
Gordon Brown contents himself with advocating a "global Europe",
in other words one that is open and able to adjust to globalisation. "Because
of the domestic controversy surrounding the Reform Treaty, Mr Brown is
treading very carefully on European questions. But he risks disengaging
from Europe altogether, weakening British influence in the process",
said Simon Tilford of the CER.
THE
GUARDIAN
10 November 2007
The prospect of a more pliable, Iraq-chastened and multilateralist US,
willing to solve international problems on terms comfortable to Europeans,
is an alluring one. But, as Kori Schake wisely points out in an essay
published by the CER, it is also mostly an illusion. Indeed, if Schake's
thesis is correct, the mutual incomprehension between Europe and America
in the Bush years may quickly take on a new but scarcely less intractable
form under his successor.
FINANCIAL
TIMES
8 November 2007
The situation has been exacerbated because the US and Russia are taking
a tough stance on the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty to improve
their bargaining position on other diplomatic issues. Tomas Valasek of
the CER says: "Russia ... has calculated that, unless it keeps up
the pressure on CFE, the US won't move on its plans to deploy a ballistic
missile defence system."
THE
ECONOMIST
8 November 2007
As Charles Grant of the CER puts it, the Americans respect Ms Merkel as
the main driver of the EU's emerging foreign policy, and they are impressed
by Mr Sarkozy's efforts to reorient France (in a pro -American direction)
and upgrade its military ties with NATO. By comparison, Mr Brown has so
far chosen to be a bystander.
INTERNATIONAL
HERALD TRIBUNE
6 November 2007
Hugo Brady of the CER argued that there would inevitably be gaps in the
EU's new frontier [in Eastern Europe], though he said there was no cause
for alarm. "At the best of times borders are porous and land borders
are difficult to police with 100 per cent certainty even by countries
like Finland that attain the gold standard," he said. "Economic
opportunities for criminals increase in parallel with those for legitimate
businesses when countries are more open for trade," Brady added.
RUSSIA
PROFILE
31 October 2007
"I think the media overdramatised the difficulties in Russia-EU relations,"
Vladimir Chizhov said addressing the conference on EU-Russia energy relations
organised by Russia Profile and the CER in Brussels on October 30. "The
general amount of trade between Russia and the EU increased by five times
since the year 2000."
INTERNATIONAL
HERALD TRIBUNE
31 October 2007
Philip Whyte of the CER said complaints about MIFID's compliance costs
"have never really died down" over the years. "But in some
of the established financial centres like London, there is a view that
this is a directive from which the big centres could benefit," he
added. "Given time to bed down it could increase competition and
could have an important impact on transaction costs," Whyte said
of the new rules.
THE
INDEPENDENT
17 October 2007
"There are some long-time [sovereign wealth] funds but they have
been run by countries... like Singapore or Norway. But the new breed look
very different," said Katinka Barysch of the CER. "Some of them
are run by oil-producing countries that are not market economies and are
not democratic and it is not clear how they are run or what their priorities
are. It's legitimate to have a debate about this."
LE
MONDE
18 October 2007
France's European policy was paralysed. But Sarkozy has set it moving.
"He is dynamic, he has ideas (as does his foreign minister), the
transformation is evident," emphasises Charles Grant of the CER.
However, Grant judges that if he continues to act without consulting his
partners, the French president will face a lot of problems.
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