Speakers
Objectives of the session
The Eurozone is still facing structural challenges and looking for a new equilibrium. A coordination of economic policies is urgently called for. The Euro summit on 14 December 2018 endorsed the plan for a “possible budgetary instrument for the euro area” and mandated the Eurogroup to undertake further “work on the design, modalities of implementation and timing of a budgetary instrument for convergence and competitiveness for the euro area”. This summit clarified that the features of the budget instrument will be agreed in June 2019.
The objective of this session is to discuss the necessary actions required to ensure a viable EMU and tackle the weaknesses in the euro area architecture. Speakers will be invited to express their views on the conditions needed for achieving a political agreement on the modalities of a euro area budget with permanent resources and a Euro area governance, which supports the competitiveness and convergence of Euro area economies and the necessary measures to achieve symmetrical adjustments in countries with large and lasting current account imbalances.
Points of discussion
What are the main structural weaknesses that the Eurozone is facing? How to explain them? What should be done at the domestic and the EU levels to address these weaknesses?
What are the necessary conditions for achieving a political agreement on the modalities of a euro area budget with permanent resources and a euro area governance, which supports the competitiveness and convergence of euro are economies? What are the limits of the current agreement achieved in December 2018?
How to address the “fundamental disequilibrium” between countries with current account deficits and those with persistently current account surpluses in order to ensure the viability of the monetary union?