Covid-19 has demonstrated that economic governance reform in the EMU remains more urgent than ever. In the Eurozone sovereign crisis, the severe asymmetric shock that hit the euro area revealed important gaps in the institutional architecture. As a response, a number of specific policy initiatives were adopted; yet crucial elements of the reform package were never completed. Based on the book ‘Whatever It Takes – the Battle for Post-Crisis Europe’, George Papaconstantinou will examine the politics and economics in the process of economic governance reform to date, and outline a policy proposal for a common EU fiscal response to help economic recovery post-Covid. This involves bond issuance by the EU itself, based on current as well as on new own EU resources such as a tax on digital content and a carbon tax.
Chair:
Lorenzo Cicchi (EUI – European Governance and Politics Programme)
Speaker:
George Papaconstantinou (EUI – School of Transnational Governance)
Discussants:
Raffaele Fargnoli (European Commission)
Adrienne Héritier (EUI – Emeritus Professor)
Please note: the Conversation will take place via ZOOM. Participation is only possible upon registration. The link to the meeting will be sent only to registered participants.
Conversations for the Future of Europe February – June 2020
Objective: To guide the steps of the European Union and to mobilise its citizens so as to make policy change possible, it is not sufficient to analyse the past and criticise the present. It is necessary to develop concrete proposals for a better future and to subject them to critical multidisciplinary discussion. The Conversations for the Future of Europe aim to contribute to such discussion. The focus of our Conversations will be to consider concrete and politically feasible projects which may guide the future development of the Union. A concern for political applicability, however, is compatible with creativity and boldness. Indeed, it may require it.
Format: Each Conversation will focus on one issue manifesting as a major challenge to the EU. The issue will be briefly introduced by one or two speakers, presenting a brief proposal for how to address this challenge. Presentations will be followed by comments from one or two discussants after which, there will be a general discussion.
Output: The aim of the Conversations is to facilitate debate and inspire far-sighted, creative ideas for how to address current policy problems.
Organisers:
Brigid Laffan (EUI – Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies)
Philippe van Parijs (Robert Schuman Fellow and Université Catholique de Louvain)
Andrea Sangiovanni (EUI – Department of Political and Social Sciences)
Juri Viehoff (EUI – Department of Political and Social Sciences)
Lorenzo Cicchi (EUI – European Governance and Politics Programme)
All events part of the Conversations on the Future of Europe series can be found here.