Join us for an in-depth analysis of the European economy and the newly released Autumn 2021 Economic Forecast.

Our panel will discuss the recent economic data and public policy developments through mid-October and weighs the prospects for European and global growth against a range of potential risks.

TOPICS:

• EU Economic growth path, growth rates, growth drivers
• Labour market developments & their effect on businesses
• Headwinds, expected risks to face AND Tailwinds
• Impact of the Recovery and Resilience Facility

SPEAKERS:

• Balazs Parkanyi, Counsellor for Economic and Financial Affairs, EU DELEGATION TO THE US
• Ben Carliner, Senior Economist, EU DELEGATION TO THE US
• Yvonne Bendinger-Rothschild, Executive Director, EACCNY [Moderator]

Please join us for a discussion about how companies are balancing the bottom-line with environmentally and socially responsible governance.

Key discussion topics to include:

Integration of ESG into business strategy and compliance programs – ESG is not “new” particularly in the business and legal spheres. But how companies address ESG is becoming less prescriptive and requires more tailoring of the risks and opportunities respective of their business strategy and embedded into their culture of compliance in order to ensure a sustainable approach.

Understanding and applying ESG standards and regulations – We discuss approaches for understanding which ESG standards may be most relevant to your business and current and emerging regulations to address now. We will also discuss ratings and how to align with standards reporting.

Developing ESG metrics and goals for now and for a sustainable future – We will further explore operational opportunities for implementing ESG initiatives in procurement, supply chain, and as part of asset management.

ESG Pitfalls: Understanding disclosure, green-washing, and dispute risks

• What regulations require non-financial and financial disclosures and where?
• What is green-washing and how can companies mitigate the risk?
• How to know about risks and avoid litigation pertaining to ESG disclosures and operations?

SPEAKERS:

• István Németh, Policy Officer, EUROPEAN COMMISSION – DG GROW
  
• Brooke Hopkins, Managing Director, ALIXPARTNERS LLP (Moderator)
  
• Maureen Kline, VP Public Affairs & Sustainability, PIRELLI TIRE NORTH AMERICA
  
• Fabio Massimo Natalucci, Deputy Director, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
  
• Annette Michelle (Shelli) Willis, Partner, TROUTMAN PEPPER, LLP

Where is Europe’s economy headed? The continent’s growth should be picking up steam as vaccination programs kick in, lock-downs and travel restrictions are relaxed and global trade recovers. The United States, Great Britain, China and other economies which put the Covid-19 crisis into the rear mirror quicker, are already buzzing with economic activity.

Join us for an exclusive discussion with Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Union’s Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner, on how the world’s biggest economic region will attempt to narrow the growth gap in coming months. Commissioner Dombrovskis will also discuss what lessons policymakers should take from the coronavirus crisis, the future of supply chains, strategic autonomy and how he sees trade relations between the EU and key partners, including the UK, United States and China, progressing.

Discussion topics include:

• The state of Europe’s recovery and economic outlook, incl. how the rescue packages on both sides of the Atlantic compare in terms of volume and how they address the issues at hand
• Agenda items for the EU US Summit later in the month, incl. Aircraft and Steel tariffs, Vaccine Patents and Europe’s plan for its Digital Tax
• The state of the trade discussions between Europe and the U.S. incl. opportunities to green transatlantic trade, the U.S.’s Buy America plans, and how that may affect European companies
• The work that has been done to set up a US/EU Trade & Tech Council
• How Europe and the U.S. can reengage to work together on China, WTO reform and Climate Change

Commissioner Dombrovskis is uniquely positioned to shed light on these pressing issues and be happy to share his and the European Commission’s views on the way forward to restore Transatlantic collaboration to solve the pressing issues of today.

SPEAKERS:

• H.E. Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President & Trade Commissioner
• Rob Cox, Global Editor, Reuters Breakingviews (Moderator)

What are the lessons of the last 18 months? What could we have done better? What has our experience of the Covid pandemic taught us about how to prepare for the next global shock?

Join us for a discussion about what, so far, we have learned from the Covid Pandemic, from an Economic & Government standpoint and which considerations we need to take now and more importantly what type of actions we need to put into place to increase our resilience going forward.

Our panel will explore:

• Which measures have worked to address the COVID-19 Pandemic and which ones did not and why?
• Which indicators we can rely on to show us where we are in the course of the Pandemic and when we are truly seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
• Looking ahead what will be the long-term fall out of the COVID-19 pandemic and how can it be mitigated.
• What should be the New Normal we want to see our economies & societies come back to.
• How has the pandemic changes societies and businesses/the economies on both sides of the Atlantic (and worldwide)?
• Which measures worked to stabilize the economic fall out and which worked in terms of setting policies. How can we build forward, better?
• What structural changes need to be put into place to manage the next pandemic/major crises (health or environmental)?

SPEAKERS:

• Magdalena Andersson, Swedish Minister for Finance
• Pierre Moscovici, Premier Président de la Cour des Comptes, France; Former European Commissioner for Economic & Financial Affairs, Taxation & Customs
• Rolf Alter, Economist, Fellow, HERTIE SCHOOL OF GOVERNANCE
• Eduardo Porter, Economics Reporter, THE NEW YORK TIMES [Moderator]

Under the Biden administration, Americans and Europeans need to rebuild as close a transatlantic relationship as possible. Transatlantic partners may have different viewpoints on specific trade issues. But both sides have much to gain by working together on trade related issues in many areas and intensifying the closest economic relationship there is between any two big markets in the world.

Europeans and Americans face a number of constraints to return to a more positive trade agenda than what we have experienced during the last four years of transatlantic relations. The WTO has been weakened by various developments, not least Donald Trump’s policies and the systemic challenge China is posing to the way we view open and fair trade. With that said, there are no winners when the world economy is impaired by trade tensions and especially Europe and the U.S. have much to gain from a joint trade agenda.

TOPICS:

• What should be the cornerstones of transatlantic re-engagement on trade and what, concretely, could Europeans and Americans reach agreement on in the near-term?
• What does Europe mean by “strategic autonomy” and how will pursuing it affect the transatlantic relationship?
• Do sectoral agreements in areas like professional recognition of qualifications, freedom of Movement, and types of trade in services not covered by the WTO’s “essentially all trade” requirement promise a good way forward? How could they leverage common transatlantic standards for their advantage?
• What might be a cooperative way to approach sanctions, data regimes, and subsidies that have been a source of transatlantic tensions?
• How could they approach WTO reform and bring China into multilateral disciplines ensuring a more leveled playing field?

SPEAKERS:

• Pascal Lamy, President Emeritus, JACQUES DELORS INSTITUTE, Former Director-General, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)
• William Alan Reinsch,  Senior Adviser and Scholl Chair in International Business, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (CSIS), Former President, NATIONAL FOREIGN TRADE COUNCIL
• Jonathan Hackenbroich, Policy Fellow, EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS [Moderator]

Join us for first hand insights on Britain’s Exit from the European Union with Stefaan De Rynck, Senior Adviser to Michel Barnier the Chief Negotiator for Brexit at the EU Commission.

This is a not to be missed opportunity to hear the inside scoop on the thinking and process of the last 4 years of intense negotiations to coordinate the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU. Mr. De Rynck will offer a parting analysis and elaborate on – looking back – what has been achieved.

In conversation with John Foley, of Reuters Breakingviews, Mr. De Rynck will answer questions like:
“What will the future of EU-UK trade look like?”,
“What did we get and what did we not achieve with the agreement?”,
“Who got the better deal and did the EU get everything they wanted?”,
and “Why have financial services not been included in the negotiated deal?”

There will be an opportunity for live Q&A.

This program is a must-attend for all U.S. and European companies that need to know about the consequences of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.

SPEAKERS:

• Stefaan De Rynck, Senior Adviser to the Chief Negotiator for Brexit, EU COMMISSION
• John Sinclair Foley, U.S. editor, REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS [Moderator]