IIEA Talks

'Housing policy – international evidence on what works' Paul Cotter, Principal Officer in the Economics Division of the Department of Finance, and Michelle Norris, Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Geary Institute for Public Policy at University College Dublinand, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist

In his address to the IIEA, former President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, discusses current global developments and how these relate to the European challenges of our time. In Mr Van Rompuy’s opinion, these challenges include democracy, leadership, strategic autonomy, deindustrialisation, immigration, and potential institutional changes. In his remarks, he also discusses growing ind...

Against the backdrop of increased geopolitical tensions, the relationship between the EU, its Member States, and China has continued to remain of significant importance. As the United States' relationship with China has deteriorated, the EU has increasingly sought to chart its own course vis a vis China, seeking partnerships where beneficial while ensuring its own interests are looked after. In th...

An interview with Pat Cox, part of the IIEA's Future Proofing Europe project

In their address to the IIEA, John FitzGerald and Edgar Morgenroth present their recent IIEA publication on the Northern Ireland subvention, which considers what the financial costs for the government in Ireland would be of Irish unification, using data from 2019. They discuss the findings from their paper, including that covering the Northern Ireland deficit would cost around 5% of Irish national...

In recent years, Europe and much of the world have suffered the largest inflation shock in decades. Central banks have responded with large and rapid increases in interest rates. In his presentation to the IIEA, Philip Lane, Chief Economist of the European Central Bank, discusses the inflation outlook in the Eurozone at a time when hopes of a return to price stability are rising. About the Speaker...

'Managing Europe’s under-performing economy' Lucinda Creighton and Conall Mac Coille in conversation with Dan O'Brien

SMEs are a vital part of Europe’s digital economy and are essential to ensuring Europe’s future prosperity. In his address to the IIEA, Mr Toffaletti provides a SME perspective on developments in digital policy and the digital economy over recent years. He particularly assesses the challenges that SMEs may face in navigating digital regulation and the potential role of digital policy in promoting...

In her address, Aoife Barry discusses her book Social Capital: Life Online in the Shadow of Ireland's Tech Boom, which focuses on what she discovered while interviewing people in Ireland about their online behaviour and how they have been treated online, and what this illustrates about the regulatory and legal challenges facing both social media users and tech owners. Aoife discusses how developme...

In this IIEA panel, three experts discusses the conflict in Gaza and its broader implications for the regional stability of the Greater Middle East. As the conflict continues, regional actors in the Arab Gulf and the Levant, have stepped up their activities threatening a widening of the conflict beyond the present battlespace. Meanwhile, global powers have increased their own military activities i...

In Minister Adlercreutz’s view, the long-term success of Europe is being decided now, and Europe must act now. Against the backdrop of a more challenging world, the European elections are fast approaching. As part of the Future-Proofing Europe project, Minister Adlercreutz’s address outlines how Finland seeks to meet these challenges as well as the country’s key priorities: strategic competitivene...

In his address to the IIEA, Professor Treisman discusses his recent book Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century. He discusses how a new type of authoritarian regime has emerged which is better adapted to ruling sophisticated, globally-connected societies. These authoritarian regimes rely less on violent repression and instead rely more heavily on the manipulation of infor...

The fiscal theory of the price level states that inflation results from more government debt than people believe will be repaid. In his remarks to the IIEA, Dr Cochrane explains the idea, and uses it to understand the surge of inflation in 2021-2022, why that inflation went away without restrictive monetary policy and a recession, the strange quiet of the zero bound era, and the rise and fall duri...

In this address to the IIEA, Lutz Güllner, Head of Division for Strategic Communications and Information Analysis at the European External Action Service, discusses the issue of disinformation and foreign information manipulation and their implications for the EU’s democratic resilience. Mr Güllner also focuses on the ways in which the EU is responding to foreign disinformation and provides his ex...

'Is Ireland getting it right on Gaza?' Eoin O'Malley and Dr Michael O'Sullivan, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist

In her address to the IIEA, Nadia Calviño, who was appointed as President of the EIB on 1 January 2024, outlines her priorities for her term as EIB President. President Calviño discusses how the EIB and Ireland have been working together to invest in a sustainable future for all and outlines her vision for how Ireland and the EIB can develop closer cooperation in the coming decade. About the Speak...

In this IIEA panel event, three expert speakers discuss the present state of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda. The panel reflects upon how, as the global security environment continues to deteriorate, Security Council Resolution 1325 and its emphasis of on the specific challenges which conflict poses to women in conflict settings has grown only more important. Moreover, the panel explor...

'Britain, Ireland and Europe: where we are and where we’re going' The United Kingdom’s relations with its neighbour have been in some flux since British voters voted to leave the European Union in 2016. The protracted upheaval of Brexit strained relations with both Ireland and the EU, and a new, fully stable equilibrium has yet to emerge. Sir Ivan Rogers - advisor to two British prime ministers, a...

In her address to the IIEA, Dr Sabine Weyand presents how geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges are affecting international trade, and their implications for the EU’s trade policy. Furthermore, Dr Weyand assesses the role that trade plays in strengthening competitiveness of EU businesses and advancing the EU’s economic security interests, while supporting the EU’s green transition. This event is...

As the United States faces into a number of consequential elections including the Presidential Election in 2024, along with elections to Congress as well as several gubernatorial elections, the shape of the political landscape in the United States both during the election campaigns and after the political dust has settled will be highly significant for the future of the country’s democracy. In her...

In her speech, Andreja Metelko-Zgombić, State Secretary for Europe in the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, focuses on Croatia’s perspective on the forthcoming EU enlargement process, the institutional changes required to prepare the EU for enlargement, and the range of reforms to be implemented by the Western Balkan countries before accession, including the reso...

The EU has recently been placing greater weight on economic security as a distinct policy objective. How does this differ from past attempts to increase resilience and prevent crises? There is also a widespread view that increasing economic security should take the form of “de-risking” that preserves trade integrations as much as possible. But how do we determine exactly what needs de-risking? Thi...

According to Denis Staunton, a troubled economy at home and rising trade tensions abroad has seen China drop its aggressive Wolf Warrior diplomacy in favour of dialogue with the United States and a charm offensive towards the European Union. But can Beijing rescue the domestic economy from deflationary pressures without provoking a trade war over the export of goods such as electric vehicles and o...

This discussion at the IIEA touches on issues such as the ongoing update of the national energy and climate plans (NECPs), the Commission’s analysis and recommendation for the EU’s 2040 emissions reduction target, published on 6 February, and the first-ever European Climate Risk Assessment published on 11 March. The event takes place as part of the European Commission’s ‘roadshow’ about the future...

In this address to the IIEA, Nicolai von Ondarza, Head of the EU/Europe Research Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), and Pervenche Berès, Board Member of Fondation Jean Jaurès, and former Member of the European Parliament for France (1994-2019), discusses the recently published Report of the Franco-German Working Group on EU Institutional Reform. The Repo...