Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism What Is The Impact On Developing Countries (1080p) by BruegelEvents

How Are Crises Changing Central Bank Doctrines by BruegelEvents

The Coronavirus outbreak presents a major challenge to the entire European Union and solidarity is an important part of the response to this unprecedented crisis. Cohesion Policy funding is playing a central role in the EU's  Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative, which aims to mobilise cohesion policy to flexibly respond to the rapidly emerging needs in the most exposed sectors, such as healthcare, SMEs and labour markets, and help the most affected territories in Member States and their citizens. At this event Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms was in conversation with Jim Brunsden of the FT and Bruegel's Deputy Director, Maria Demertzis to discuss how the EU is making money available for those who need it the most. This event is part of a series of talks and debates with Europe’s political leaders jointly organised by the Financial Times and Bruegel.

In our second event in our series with the Financial Times, Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni discussed the European response to the coronavirus crisis.

During this online event, Commissioner Thierry Breton spoke with Sam Fleming, Brussels bureau chief of the Financial Times, and Bruegel’s Director Guntram Wolff and discussed the European industrial strategy in face of the coronavirus.

The question whether trade policy instruments are fit for coping with the rise of state capitalism and a new dimension of state subsidies has already been discussed intensively in trade policy debates. Whether in this context competition law might also need to be updated and whether this should encompass new instruments are less debated questions which the first panel addressed. The second panel built on this and discussed whether (and how) competition law needs to be updated with a view to ongoing digitization of the economy, seeing that digital technologies not only change the structure of markets but also open up new levels of strategic global competition. Access to data or digital infrastructure are important facets of this discussion in which Europe needs to find its own answers.

The question whether trade policy instruments are fit for coping with the rise of state capitalism and a new dimension of state subsidies has already been discussed intensively in trade policy debates. Whether in this context competition law might also need to be updated and whether this should encompass new instruments are less debated questions which the first panel addressed. The second panel built on this and discussed whether (and how) competition law needs to be updated with a view to ongoing digitization of the economy, seeing that digital technologies not only change the structure of markets but also open up new levels of strategic global competition. Access to data or digital infrastructure are important facets of this discussion in which Europe needs to find its own answers.

Border Carbon Adjustment (BCA) is justifiably one of top priorities of the European Commission. With a ten-year deadline to drastically lower the GHG emissions, the Commission is planning to test the new measures already later this year, potentially starting with the industries producing steel, cement, and aluminum. Inevitably, there is a lot of negative commentary surrounding the proposal - critics argue that the emerging countries' industries will be put at a disadvantage, they wonder if the BCA is WTO-compatible, and finally, they question the very feasibility of the implementation of the tax. At this event our fellow Georg Zachmann talked about his paper, "A European carbon border tax: much pain, little gain", where he argues that the European Commission should not make the implementation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism into a must-have element of its climate policy. There is little in the way of strong empirical evidence to offer justification for the problem the mechanism looks to address, direct carbon leakage. Furthermore, significant logistical, legal and political challenges will arise during the design. A key problem with the limited form of adjustment currently under consideration will be trade deviation. The EU should instead focus upon the implementation of measures to trigger the development of a competitive low-carbon industry in Europe.

After 8 years, the European Banking Union has not achieved its two stated objectives: breaking future contagion between banks and sovereigns, and creating a true single market for banks. The aim of this event was to discuss possible solutions to revive the Banking Union. More specifically, Luis Garicano argued in his presentation for the empowerment of the Single Resolution Board and the creation of a “Safe Portfolio” model. Following these proposed solutions, the political and economic feasibility were discussed in a panel, together with other possible ways to resurrect the Banking Union.

At this event, the Group CEO of Generali, Philippe Donnet and Guntram Wolff, Director of Bruegel discussed the general state of the financial services industry. In addition, the conversation addressed many topical developments. What is the impact of operating in a low interest rate environment? Should we take a new look at the capital requirements in order to accommodate for further investments in the EU’s priorities such as the European Green Deal and their industrial strategy? Besides these questions, the role of insurance companies as a long term institutional investors and their investment horizon were discussed.

At this event various aspects of the EU taxation policy were discussed such as the closing of the EU VAT gap, closer cooperation between Member States’ tax administrations, introducing a digital tax, and cracking down on tax paradises. These discussions were kicked off by a speech by Tadeusz Kościński, the Polish Minister of Finance. He referred to Poland’s latest experience of improving tax collection (for VAT and other taxes).

Although AI brings forth a wide array of possibilities, it raises many questions. Will AI systems substitute workers? Does AI increase inequality and job polarisation? Will the overall quality of work decrease? What are the recommended policy actions to minimise the associated concerns for workers? Technological development and digitalisation have major implications for the workforce and the future of labour markets. The current so-called AI revolution is not the first, as we have experienced 3 industrial revolutions since the 18th century based on technological breakthroughs. That being said, AI technologies have some specific features that differentiate them from the previous revolutions, such as machines that can learn and become more capable to perform specific tasks. For that reason, the first important question discussed at this event was: Is it different this time?

This event is part of the "Why Think Tanks Matter" annual forum. What is the added value of think tanks? What is the role of new competitors, such as law firms, advocacy groups, PR firms and non-traditional media sources, in transforming policy research and advisory? What is the impact of increased fragmentation, polarization of politics and changes in political parties and congress on the public discourse and policy advice?  These are a few of many questions that were answered and discussed on this year's Why Think Tanks Matter Forum. The focus was on the future of think tanks and policy advice, consequently many contemporary challenges and opportunities think tanks face were addressed.  Bruegel is proud to participate in the 2019 Global Go To Think Tank Report Launch that takes place in over 100 countries around the world simultaneously.

Should Sweden join the European banking union? The Swedish government asked themselves the same question and commissioned an independent inquiry into the advantages, disadvantages and risks associated with participating in or remaining outside the banking union. At this event, the head of the commissioned committee, Fredrik Bystedt, presented the results of the inquiry. After the presentation, a panel discussion addressed the general state of the banking union as well as Sweden’s possible participation.

Bruegel and the Wellcome Trust have completed an ambitious simulated negotiation for a post-Brexit agreement on research and innovation. At this event, we will publish the project report, which tells the story of the negotiation process and makes clear recommendations for the UK Government and EU institutions on how best to tackle the EU-UK future relationship on research and innovation. It also includes the agreement text our exercise produced.

At this event the state of health in the EU and the digitalisation of it was discussed. The first session consisted of an overview of the general state of health in the EU. In the second session the speakers considered the digital transformation in the industry, as part of a broader, comprehensive health promotion and disease prevention strategy. In this context, panellists discussed how policymakers can exploit the potential of digital tools to effectively support health promotion activities, as well as related risks and limitations.

At this event the state of health in the EU and the digitalisation of it was discussed. The first session consisted of an overview of the general state of health in the EU. In the second session the speakers considered the digital transformation in the industry, as part of a broader, comprehensive health promotion and disease prevention strategy. In this context, panellists discussed how policymakers can exploit the potential of digital tools to effectively support health promotion activities, as well as related risks and limitations.

In this event, Google's and Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai elaborated on his views on Artificial Intelligence.

The welfare contributions of the digital economy, characterised by the proliferation of new and free goods, are not well-measured in our current national accounts. In this event, we discussed how we can measure the value and contribution of free online goods offered by digital platforms that are not captured in macroeconomic variables like GDP. Avinash Collis presented the MIT Measuring the Economy Project he co-leads with Erik Brynjolfsson. After his presentation, a panel discussion addressed the challenges and implications of capturing digital economy in official statistics of well-being and inequality. Background reading: https://hbr.org/2019/11/how-should-we-measure-the-digital-economy

- Due to technical difficulties, there is no audio from 1:13-2:44 - Thomas Philippon presented his thesis on market concentration. He explained the reasons behind the rising corporate market power in the US and drew conclusions of the implications of this empirical finding on consumers, innovation, the functioning of markets and the economy as a whole. Specific questions that were addressed are: Are American markets giving up healthy competition? How does competition policy enforcement and regulation in the US compares with the EU? How can we ensure that markets are competitive and function without failures? How efficient are antitrust enforcement and regulation in the EU? What will be the implications of introducing geopolitical considerations in the EU competition policy following the debate around the Siemens/Alstom controversial merger case? The presentation was based on Thomas Philipon’s new book The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets.