Centre For European Reform

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, CER’s senior research fellow Zselyke Csaky sat down with Zsuzsanna Szelényi, director of the Democracy Institute's Leadership Academy, a founding member of Fidesz and a former MP in the Hungarian Parliament to take a detailed look at Hungary's landslide election outcome. They discussed the biggest challenges that Péter Magyar faces, including when it comes to rebuilding democracy at home and resetting Hungary’s relations with the EU and its neighbours.

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, the CER’s Clara Marina O’Donnell fellow (2025-2026) Thomas Maddock sat down with Galip Dalay, Senior Consulting Fellow, Turkey Initiative, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House and Senem Aydin-Düzgit, Director of the Istanbul Policy Center to take a detailed look at the current EU-Türkiye relationship. They discussed: can the EU and Türkiye move from a transactional relationship to a more co-operative one?; and what are the prospects for change, in light of geopolitical upheaval and uncertainties in the Turkish neighbourhood?

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, the CER’s deputy director Ian Bond sat down with Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, and Victoria Vdovychenko, the joint leader of the Future of Ukraine program at Cambridge University's Centre for Geopolitics, to take stock of the situation on the fourth anniversary of the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They discussed how Ukraine is managing to hold out during the brutal winter, what the military and economic situation is, and what Ukraine's future prospects are.

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, the CER’s deputy director Ian Bond sat down with Anton Spisak, a senior research fellow at the CER, and Jannike Wachowiak, a researcher at the UK in a Changing Europe, to discuss how things stand in the EU-UK relationship and if 2026 will be the year to reset the reset? They also discussed the prospects for the future of the relationship, including the Labour party’s red lines, its pledges to improve the Trade and Co-operation Agreement and its policies on economic growth and European defence procurement .

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, the CER’s assistant director Elisabetta Cornago sat down with Anton Spisak and John Springford, to discuss the trade escalation and de-escalation between the US and Europe in the past weeks. They also discussed Trump's tariff threats, the EU-US trade deal, the Mercosur and the EU-India agreements and the European economy’s dependency on open global markets.

On this week’s Unpacking Europe podcast, CER senior research fellow Armida van Rij sat down with Sten Rynning, Professor of War Studies and Director of the Danish Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Southern Denmark, to discuss the implications of any coercive US action towards Greenland for the alliance. They also discussed the broader challenges for transatlantic relations and within the alliance, and how Europe is responding to US demands for a Europe-led NATO.

In our latest Centre for European Reform podcast, Kate Mullineux speaks to six of our researchers. They reflect on the EU's past year in different areas, including, the green deal, the global impact of Trump's return to office, the UK-EU reset, Ursula von der Leyen's second term, the gains of the far right and the EU's Middle East strategy. They then look ahead to 2026. 0.55 Elisabetta Cornago on the European green deal 4.11 Elisabetta Cornago on the effect of Trump's return on global climate action 5.24 Ian Bond on the impact of Trump on Europe, Russia and Ukraine 9.10 Ian Bond on Europe's approach to China 13.06 Charles Grant on the UK-EU reset 17.01 Aslak Berg on the EU-UK trade deal 19.50 Charles Grant on what Ursula von der Leyen has achieved so far 24.12 Zselyke Csaky Europe’s efforts to tackle the far right in 2025 26.30 Zselyke Csaky on Trump's hostility to Europe and Hungary’s 2026 election 28.50 Aslak Berg on the EU-US trade deal 34.14 Thomas Maddock on the Israel-Hamas war 36.57 Thomas

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, the CER's senior research fellows Armida van Rij and Zselyke Csaky sat down with Catherine E. De Vries, President of the Institute of European Policy Making at Bocconi University in Milan, to discuss why support for the far right is growing, and the implications for democracy in Europe. They discussed why the far right is able to mobilise a base in reaction to voters' dissatisfaction with public services, slow economies and current immigration policies, and how these challenges impact perceptions of democracy.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, the CER's director Charles Grant sat down with Sophie Pedder, The Economist’s Paris bureau chief, to discuss France and Macron’s unstable government. They discussed the deadlocked French Parliament, the growing popularity of the Rassemblement National and of Jordan Bardella, and whether France’s influence in the European Union is understood domestically and what Macron has achieved in his 8 years as President.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, CER's Zselyke Csaky sat down with Ben Ansell of Oxford University and John Springford of the CER to discuss the causes of populism's rise in Europe. They discussed the relationship between immigration, trade and populism, and whether moderate politicians would be better off challenging or accommodating voters attracted by populist messaging.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, deputy director Ian Bond sat down with Donald Jensen of Johns Hopkins University and a former US diplomat and Iuliia Osmolovska, head of the GLOBSEC Kyiv Office to discuss Russian negotiating tactics, Ukraine's negotiating objectives and how Ukraine and its allies can get the best outcome if and when Putin decides to negotiate seriously. They discussed Russian approach to negotiating, preconditions for Ukraine to negotiate successfully with Russia and the dynamics of US-Russia relations.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, chief economist Sander Tordoir sat down with Zach Meyers, director of research at the Centre on Regulation in Europe and an associate fellow at the CER to talk about tech and tech regulation. They discussed the key priorities of the regulations that have been passed by Europe and why Europe's lagging behind the US and China in its technology sector.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, research fellow Aslak Berg sat down with Agathe Demarais, senior policy fellow in Geoeconomics at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) to discuss where EU trade policy stands since the signing the EU-US trade agreement in July. They discussed how and why the EU prioritised damage limitation, where EU trade policy goes from here, the impact on the global trade system and priorities for the EU going forward.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, research fellow Aslak Berg sat down with assistant director Elisabetta Cornago and chief economist Sander Tordoir to discuss where the EU stands one year after the landmark Draghi report which dissected the reasons behind Europe's sluggish growth. They discussed Draghi’s sombre diagnosis of the European economy after what some have called the “summer of humiliation” for the European Union.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, deputy director Ian Bond sat down with Dr Hanna Shelest of the Foreign Policy Council "Ukrainian Prism" to discuss the Ukrainian assessment of recent diplomatic manoeuvres and whether they bring peace or even a ceasefire any closer. They discussed European military and diplomatic support for Ukraine and how important it is to prevent Russian influence on Ukrainian politics, elections and political stability.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, senior research fellow Zselyke Csaky sat down with Zach Meyers, director of research at the Centre on Regulation in Europe and an associate fellow at the CER, to discuss digital policy as Trump's tariffs are back on the agenda, with the deadline for a new trade deal approaching on 1st August. They discussed how the EU should approach tech policy in the trade talks and whether changes to its digital toolkit should be on the table at all.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, associate fellow John Springford sat down with Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University and deputy chair of the Migration Advisory Committee to discuss the British government's white paper on immigration, which proposes some more reforms to a migration regime that has been going through a lot of change over the last few years. They spoke about new restrictions on middle-skilled jobs, which will no longer be eligible for skilled worker visas.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, director Charles Grant sat down with Luigi Scazzieri, senior policy analyst at the European Institute of Security Studies and a non-resident associate fellow at the CER, to discuss the recent NATO summit of 25-26 June. They spoke about what was agreed at the summit and whether Trump has turned out to be less disruptive to NATO than expected.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, director Charles Grant sat down with Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times to discuss the geopolitics of the war in the Middle East. Their converstion, recorded on 23rd June conversation, focused on the geopolitical shifts in the region rather than the details of the fighting.

On this week’s Centre for European Reform podcast, senior research fellow Elisabetta Cornago sits down with CER associate fellow Anton Spisak to discuss his recent insight ‘A perfect storm: Britain's trade malaise, weak growth and a new geopolitical moment’. They consider what has contributed to the stagnation of Britain’s trade since 2020, and how this continues to affect economic growth in the UK.