Future of the EMU: How to make Europe strong again?

The European Monetary Union is at a fundamental crossroad; will it be possible to transform the monetary union into a genuine economic, social and monetary union? The common currency has survived the post-2008 recession; the crisis that did not originate in Europe but that revealed structural weaknesses of the Euro area, its neo-liberal principles lacking elements of risk-sharing, insufficient regulation of key financial and banking sectors, and weak convergence.

After several years of reforms dictated by the urgency of survival, it is now time for a thorough rethinking of the objectives, policies and practices that compose the governance of the EMU. The creation of the Euro area has essentially been a political project, which now, 10 years after the crisis, and about 20 years after the creation of the Euro need to be revamped and reshaped to account of the several lessons learnt.

At steak there are relevant points such as the interplay between EMU members and other European non-EMU countries, as the identification of a proper social dimension essential to long term stability, the re-thinking of the convergence framework, the legitimacy and accountability of Eurozone specific institutions, the setting of anti-cyclical measures to equip the EMU with concrete means to address future crises. Only through a comprehensive reform of the Economic and Monetary Union Europe can become strong again, and remain strong.

The pictures of this event are available here