THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
15 July 2010
Hugo Brady, of the CER, said: "Obama was always overblown as a symbol because US foreign policy interests tend not to change. The US does not understand the need for everyone to be around the table at the EU, which they find as frustrating as a mini-UN where people want to talk about the good things they have done."
THE ECONOMIST ONLINE
12 July 2010
An interesting article by Tomas Valasek at the CER, looks at the pros and cons of Russia joining NATO, or at least changing its relationship with the alliance. He was one of a bunch of western security policy specialists invited by their Russian counterparts to discuss the issue. … Another suggestion examined by Mr Valasek is that NATO and Russia should 'demilitarise' their relationship.
FINANCIAL TIMES
9 July 2010
According to the CER around 80 per cent of the EU's foreign policy failures are due to the inability of larger member states to arrive at a common position.... But Charles Grant, the CER's director, says creating a more effective institution to replace the confusing way foreign policy was split between the rotating presidency, the Council of Ministers and the Commission, is overdue.
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
7 July 2010
Philip Whyte of the CER says that his main worry about the new rules [on bankers' bonuses proposed by the European Parliament] concerns what he says is a tendency in some quarters of Europe to believe that all that was largely needed to stabilize financial systems was to curb bonuses and regulate hedge funds. "I think that there are a lot of very important issues which affect financial stability which are either being ignored or not reaching the top of the agenda."
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
4 July 2010
But Katinka Barysch of the CER says that it was unlikely the Chinese investment in Greece will be of such a "vulture" nature. "The danger that Cosco will behave like some of the Chinese mining and oil companies in Africa is pretty remote… Greece is a member of the EU, so it has a much more solid legal framework. There are clear constraints about what foreign investors can and cannot do in our markets."
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
1 July 2010
Simon Tilford of the CER said the commission plan [for tougher eurozone fiscal rules] "assumes that all the imbalances can be addressed by the deficit countries." Germany must play a role too in stimulating its consumption, Mr Tilford said. "Any system of governing the eurozone that ignores the structural problems that we see in the surplus countries is doomed to fail... Nobody wants to weaken any country’s export performance," he said.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
25 June 2010
"European policymakers are being slow, almost unforgivably slow, in making changes [to financial regulation] because of the belief that Americans were almost exclusively to blame for the crisis," said Simon Tilford, an economist at the CER. But, he said, "they also engaged in similar banking practices — there was a similar property boom here, similar excessive mortgage lending."
THE NEW YORK TIMES
16 June 2010
"There is an obvious logic to [eurozone governance] happening at 16," argued Charles Grant, director of the CER. "It’s harder to have a discussion at 27 and the contribution of some of those not involved in the eurozone is less relevant. The more often they meet … the more they become like a college and start to understand each other." Mr Grant highlights the need for labour market reform in southern Europe and for eurozone imbalances to be reduced through an increase in demand in Germany.
Financial Times
11 June 2010
Katinka Barysch of the CER notes that US exploitation of shale gas has changed the global market. Europe, unlikely to match the US shale gas boom, is now the only big buyer of liquefied natural gas. “LNG imports mean more competition in a market hitherto dominated by 30 year contracts with fixed volumes and prices linked to the international oil price… Gazprom and other suppliers will have to make a bigger effort to be cheap and reliable,” she writes.
The Guardian
10 June 2010
“We are seeing a sense of disarray with several voices [in the EU] speaking at the same time [offering assistance to lift the blockade on Gaza],” said Clara O’Donnell of the CER. “But even if the EU is keen to help, the Israelis do not consider it reliable enough. There is not much Europe can do until the Americans move.”
