from the Center for European Reform.

This is the CERR podcast.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the CER podcast.

My name is Sophia Besh.

I'm a research fellow here at the Center for European Reform.

And today I'm in conversation with Charles Grant, the CES director. Hello Charles. Hi. So the CER has just published a major new report titled

re-launching the EU, which lays out a detailed and comprehensive proposal for reform of the European

Union, both in terms of policies and with regard to the EU's institutions and structures.

Charles, why did you want to write this report?

What is its purpose and what are the main themes?

I think the time is ripe for the EU to think seriously about renewing itself and relaunching.

For a number of reasons.

On the one hand, the problems the EU faces are well known.

The Eurozone isn't through the woods yet. Migration

is still an issue. Brexit has created a real challenge. So is Catalonia. The need to reform the EU to make its institutions and its policies less unpopular, if not more popular with voters, is clear.

At the same time, the opportunities for reform are, I think, unprecedentedly positive.

You have the arrival of Emmanuel Macron, a young president with lots of ideas and enthusiasm

committed to the success of the EU. You have the re-election of Angela Merkel, a very experienced,

wise and authoritative leader. And you have a feeling of solidarity created by the problems of Brexit

and Trump have both made European leaders feel they have quite a lot in common. On top of that,

the Eurozone is having a relatively good phase at the moment. It's actually growing quite fast.

And the worst of the refugee crisis has been abated. Therefore, while the need for reform is pretty evident to everybody,

...