Charles Grant is Director of the Centre for European Reform, an independent think- tank which he helped found in 1996, that is dedicated to promoting a reform agenda within the European Union.

After studying modern history at Cambridge University, Charles took a diploma in French politics at Grenoble University. Returning to London, Grant joined Euromoney, the financial magazine, in 1981. He moved to The Economist in 1986. In January 1998 he left The Economist to become the CER’s first director.

He was a director and trustee of the British Council from 2002 to 2008. He is a member of the international advisory boards of the Moscow School of Civic Education, the Turkish think-tank EDAM and the French think-tank Terra Nova. He is a member of the council of the Ditchley Foundation, and chairman of the foundation's programme committee. In 2004 he became a chevalier of France’s Ordre National du Mérite, and in 2013 a Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG).

Charles is a regular contributor to the Financial Times, the International New York Times and many other publications. He works on, among other subjects, EU foreign and defence policy, Russia, China and Britain’s relationship with the EU.