Bruegel event recordings

On 6 July we held an event on non-performing loans. This event is jointly organised with European Economy - Banks Regulation and the Real Sector and SWP-Berlin. Panellists discussed the pros and cons of the foremost proposals put forward by several institutions and scholars on how to reduce the weight of impaired assets in banks’ balance sheet. The European- and national regulatory authorities are...

We are currently going through one of the biggest transformations in financial history. New technologies enable new forms of financial transactions that have a big impact on the whole financial sector. At this event we discussed how FinTech disrupts the financial sector and assessed the proposed regulatory measures as well as their potential impact on the financial industry. Specific topics and qu...

In the run-up to Brexit, UK-based financial firms are considering their options on how to organize their operations across the future divide between the UK and EU27. In turn, national regulators and European supervisory authorities need to determine how much they ask for in terms of “substance” requirements to authorize local operations of investment banks, asset managers and insurers – i.e. how s...

On 11 May Bruegel and the Financial Times held an event to discuss the direction Europe is likely to take after the French elections. Guntram Wolff, Director of Bruegel and Tony Barber, Europe Editor of the FT, were joined by Jean Pisani-Ferry, Director for Programme and Ideas of Emmanuel Macron’s presidential campaign, to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing France and the EU. For more...

Standardisation, standard-setting organisations and standard-essential patents have been the subject of considerable discussion and debate in both academic and policy circles. At this event which was co-organized with the Association for Competition Economics (ACE), Pierre Régibeau presented his recent study, which assesses problems related to the standardization process and consider a number of p...

The European Union enacted the far-reaching General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) back in 2016; however, privacy of electronic communications continues to be governed by the e-Privacy Directive, a 2002 instrument that is widely felt to have failed to keep up with technological and market evolution. In its Digital Single Market (DSM) Strategy of May 2015, the European Commission promised to “re...

On April 12 Bruegel organised an event with Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, who spoke about the global outlook and policy priorities ahead of the upcoming 2017 IMF Spring Meetings. Christine Lagarde was introduced by Jean-Claude Trichet, Chairperson of the Board of Bruegel. The event was chaired by Guntram Wolff, Director of Bruegel. For more information ab...

On 31 March 2017 Benoît Coeuré was at Bruegel and spoke about Communication as a tool for monetary policy, specifically in a low-interest rate environment. For more information, and to read the full speech consult the webpage of the event: http://bruegel.org/2017/03/central-bank-communication-in-a-low-interest-rate-environment/

At this event, Reiko Aoki, Commissioner at the Japan Fair Trade Commission presented the findings of her research and her views on the efficiency of the Japanese and international IP system. Her presentation will be followed by panel discussion on associated challenges in Europe and what is the proper way to address them. We discussed the following questions: -How should we design IP policies to i...

During the electoral campaign, Donald Trump illustrated his climate-sceptic views, defining climate change as a ‘hoax of the Chinese government’, and promising to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Following the presidential inauguration of January 20, the White House immediately released the ‘America First Energy Plan’, which calls for a deep de-regulation of the energy industry, including the el...

Nord Stream II – The second branch of the sub-sea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is highly controversial. While Gazprom and its EU partners highlight the commercial nature of the project and the diversification of supply routes; Central and East European countries fear that the pipeline project makes them more dependent on Russian gas. The event on “Different perspectives on Nord Stream II“ i...

Nord Stream II – The second branch of the sub-sea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is highly controversial. While Gazprom and its EU partners highlight the commercial nature of the project and the diversification of supply routes; Central and East European countries fear that the pipeline project makes them more dependent on Russian gas. The event on “Different perspectives on Nord Stream II“ i...

The Belt and Road initiative has the goal to promote regional and cross-continental connectivity between China and Eurasia. The ‘One Belt’ and ‘One Road’ refer to China’s proposed ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and ‘Maritime Silk Road’, and will consist of a series of infrastructure investments to facilitate trade between the regions involved. Potential challenges abound with financing the planned $890...

Brexit presents the world trading system with novel issues, since the UK is likely to leave the EU customs union and the WTO regime has no provision regarding the break-up of customs unions. Imaginative solutions can of course be advanced, but the EU, the UK (and their WTO partners) should be aware that they are entering unchartered territory. The situation seems clearer with respect to the option...

Multinational companies pay taxes in different jurisdictions which have different tax rates. Hence, they can develop incentives to allocate a high share of profit to low tax jurisdictions and a low share of profit to high tax jurisdictions. National tax authorities may give companies specific rulings relevant to their business models to clarify how their corporate tax will be calculated. While suc...

There has recently been much discussion as to whether Poland’s unprecedented economic success after 1989 will continue. Are Polish institutions strong enough to support further fast convergence with the West? Are economic policies appropriate? What is the role of the European Union? The lecture presented the key messages from a book on Poland Marcin Piatkowski is writing for Oxford University Pres...

A number of campaigns fought in 2016 would appear to have been won or lost on evidence and analysis that did not stand up to scrutiny. Indeed, the very nature of ‘factual’ information was undermined with large parts of the public unwilling to accept conventional positions on matters of global import. Against this background, reliable, evidence-based rigorous analysis from think tanks should have b...

Inclusive growth has been the exception globally, and will be a greater challenge in the future. Achieving it has to be central to our agenda, but requires rethinking and reprioritisation – in economic, social and urban policies. There is also something we can all learn from policy experiences internationally. On 26 January we were happy to welcome Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister of...

Europe’s private sector debt continues to weigh on the economic recovery, and the health of its banking systems. Legal standards that define the rights of creditors and of borrowers in debt distress are a crucial framework to allow an early restructuring of companies that can be saved, to work through a liquidation where this is unavoidable, and to allow a fresh start once debt has been discharged...

In Europe anti-immigration sentiment is on the rise because of the perception that immigration is taking away jobs and benefits from people. But what what is the real impact of migration on incomes and income convergence within Europe? How will the numbers and the impact look in 10–20 years? And what are the possible consequences of the rise in anti-immigration sentiment? What kind of policies wou...

In Europe anti-immigration sentiment is on the rise because of the perception that immigration is taking away jobs and benefits from people. But what what is the real impact of migration on incomes and income convergence within Europe? How will the numbers and the impact look in 10–20 years? And what are the possible consequences of the rise in anti-immigration sentiment? What kind of policies wou...

Post-communist societies have achieved remarkable successes, finally closing the happiness gap with people on similar incomes in non-transition countries. However, failure to deliver a fair distribution of the fruits of progress may lead to setbacks in political and economic development. This event featured a presentation of the EBRD Transition Report 2016-17. The report tracks the successes of po...

Immigration was a major factor – if not the major factor – in the UK’s vote to leave the EU. The UK government is promising to take a tough stance on immigration in the negotiations. Meanwhile EU leaders are signalling that freedom of movement is non-negotiable and four central European countries are threatening to block any trade deal with the UK that would restrict the rights of their workers to...

The recent economic crisis has put the financial sector in the spotlight. Calls to revamp financial regulation have grown stronger. Competition in the banking sector has been perceived with caution. Competition (or the lack of it) will have a bearing on the typical failures associated with the financial system: excessive risk taking, credit overexpansion exuberant growth, bank misconduct. We are p...

Building a stronger and more competitive European banking sector, European Commission Vice President for Financial Services, Valdis Dombrovskis, set out his approach to supporting a stable, dynamic and diverse banking sector in the EU. A few days before proposing an important new package of banking sector legislation, he considered the challenges the sector faces in a low growth, low interest rate...