Opinion pieces

  • Logic in Europe's military could check spending, by Tomas Valasek
    Financial Times, 16 July 2009

    When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object bad things usually happen. And so it will be next year when spending cuts imposed by the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression meet the rising demands of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

  • Europe and Russia's continental rift, by Katinka Barysch
    Time Europe, 13 July 2009

    Russia's economy - until recently one of the fastest growing in Europe - is in dire straits. In the first three months of this year, output fell by 10% compared with a year earlier.

  • The eurosceptic illusion, by Simon Tilford
    The Guardian, 05 July 2009

    Britain's Eurosceptics need to come clean. The media and political class have a right to be sceptical about the EU, even hostile to it. But they also have an obligation to be honest about the economic implications of a retreat from full membership of the union.

  • The unravelling of the EU, by Charles Grant
    Prospect, 03 July 2009

    Divided on foreign and defence policy, the EU seems to be slipping backwards. It must learn to speak in one voice, or others will shape the new world order, writes Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform.

  • The Dis-Uniting Kingdom?, by Hugo Brady
    The Wall Street Journal, 30 June 2009

    Britain's European debate has gone septic. More than half of British votes cast in recent European elections went to euro-skeptic parties ranging from the mad, bad political fringes such as the British National Party to a Conservative Party promising to claw back powers from Brussels.

  • Will the recession make Europe's militaries weaker?, by Tomas Valasek
    Foreign Policy, 12 June 2009

    Governments across Europe are about to slash their defense budgets - but they need to ensure they cut correctly.

    The economic crisis has wracked government budgets across Europe, as revenues have fallen and spending on stimulus and bailouts has soared.

  • Guest column: Spain's muted EU voice, by Charles Grant
    Financial Times, 09 June 2009

    There are several paradoxes about Spain’s global role. Its business leaders have built up many world-beating companies, but its politicians tend to be parochial.

  • Por qué pesa poco España?, by Charles Grant
    ABC.es, 08 May 2009

    El papel de España en la UE encierra una extraña paradoja. Aunque se trata de uno de los Estados miembros más europeísta, es el que menos influencia tiene de los seis países más grandes. Pero esto no siempre ha sido así.