Press
The comeback of old king coal
24 June 2013
Financial Times
But as an excellent, if depressing, forthcoming paper from Stephen Tindale to be published by the Centre for European Reform makes clear not a single one of the CCS plants which are supposed to be built in European by 2015 is actually under construction.
EU betrays cultural blind spot in handling Turkey
21 June 2013
Financial Times
Heather Grabbe, formerly a senior EU official dealing with enlargement, in a Centre for European Reform paper this week urges the EU to "hug Turkey closer at this great moment in Turkey’s democratic journey".
Commentary on Irene Finel-Honigman's article: And the key question is whether a stronger eurozone will split the EU apart
20 June 2013
Europe's world
The friction between what Irene Finel-Honigman calls "economic rationale" and "political will" has been the driving force behind European integration. But now the eurozone crisis has transformed the nature of this interaction; its underlying spirit is no longer positive and optimistic – "how can we bring Europe closer together?"...
Germany's ascendancy over Europe will prove short-lived
19 June 2013
The Daily Telegraph
Simon Tilford, from the CER, says Germany was never as weak as it looked earlier this decade, and is not as strong as it looks now. But success goes to the head in politics. The national mood has swung from “self-flagellation” to “hubris”, with some questioning the need for Europe at all.
Wave of protests engulfs Greece
18 June 2013
The New York Times
Simon Tilford, of the CER. said, "The idea that Greece is somehow out of the woods seems complacent,” adding, “It reflects a readiness to ignore the large-scale political challenges facing Greece."
Cash strapped Europe pools defence, saves little so far
17 June 2013
Reuters
"Countries remain scared to pool capabilities because they don't want to lose control and they don't like the idea of having to sacrifice jobs," said Clara Marina O'Donnell, of the CER.
What Britain wants for the G8 summit
16 June 2013
Channel 4 News
Simon Tilford, of the CER, believes the best way to combat avoidance and evasion is to introduce harmonised tax rates and tax bases (what is liable for tax), but is under no illusions that this will happen.
Eurozone risks return to fore
14 June 2013
The Wall Street Journal
Spain and Italy "need prices to rise less rapidly than in Germany to rebuild competitiveness, but they need a measure of inflation to ensure debt sustainability," says Simon Tilford, of the CER. "Something has to give."
The green shoots of solidarity
13 June 2013
European Voice
Critics of the government in Berlin say that Germany and its exporters should do more because they are the big beneficiaries of monetary union. If the single currency disintegrated, then the value of a new German currency would soar on the foreign exchanges, hitting German exports, Simon Tilford of the CER, has argued.
Video interview on 'How to improve legitimacy by involving national parliaments in the EU'
12 June 2013
Charles Grant discusses how part of the answer to improve EU legitimacy is to give national parliamentarians a bigger role in the EU.
Türkei: Erdogans harte Linie gefährdet EU-Beitrittsverhandlungen
12 June 2013
Der Spiegel
"Je mehr Erdogan sich zu einer Art Putin light entwickelt, desto schwieriger wird es, für den EU-Beitritt der Türkei zu werben", sagt Charles Grant, Direktor des Centre for European Reform.
Conflicting goals complicate an effort to forge a transatlantic trade deal
12 June 2013
The New York Times
Simon Tilford, chief economist at the CER in London, is more optimistic than Mr Elliott but sees "a risk the whole thing will get hijacked and there will be so many exemptions and opt-outs that the meaning of the exercise will be limited."
Video interview on 'The CER commission on the UK and the single market'
12 June 2013
The case for British membership of the EU has always rested primarily on the country's participation in the single market. The CER's commission on the UK and the single market will examine whether participation in the EU helps or hinders Britain's economy.
Video interview on 'How the EU's legitimacy has suffered since the euro crisis'
12 June 2013
Charles Grant discusses how the euro crisis has hit the EU's legitimacy.
Tusk says he won't run for EC presidency
11 June 2013
Warsaw Business Journal
In April this year, Hugo Brady from the CER, reignited the talk. “Germany might back Tusk in order to cement Berlin’s political alliance with Warsaw and because it is time for someone from one of the newer member-states to get a top job,” he wrote.
David Cameron: The good European
10 June 2013
The New Statesman
The PM sees the EU as part of the solution, not the problem for the UK economy - a brave position to take as leader of today's Tory party... For more on that, and other rebuttals of the anti-EU case, I recommend this article by Katinka Barysch of the CER.
How to reduce the EU's democratic deficit
10 June 2013
The Guardian
The European Union has long suffered from a lack of legitimacy, but the euro crisis has worsened the problem. There is no silver bullet that can suddenly make the EU respected, admired or even popular among many Europeans.
EU refuses to co-operate on security
10 June 2013
The New York Times
“Apart from a very few countries, such as France and Britain, the Europeans have been very complacent about strategic affairs,” said Rem Korteweg, of the CER. "It’s as if the world outside does not affect them."
Down so long that it looks like up
06 June 2013
The New York Times
"Policy-makers have a strong interest in the current strategy's appearing to work", said Simon Tilford of the CER. "Even the faintest glimmer of hope is interpreted as a sign of recovery." But Mr Tilford said it was clear that Europe was already trapped in the same kind of doldrums that becalmed Japan for several decades.
EU-Russia: Stale romance...
06 June 2013
The Voice of Russia (Radio)
We'll try to get a better understanding of why Russian-EU relations are running out of steam, and is the EU really likely to benefit from stirring ill feelings towards one of its biggest partners. We are discussing it with our guest speakers; Ian Bond, the Director of foreign policy at the CER, Eleonora Tafuro, Dmitry Suslov, and Dr Tatiana Romanova.