The Roundtable on Financial and Economic Affairs will focus on financial reforms under consideration in both Europe and the United States in wake of the global financial crisis and the implications within Europe, as well as on a concerted and effective transatlantic approach. The program will also consider the divergent responses to the economic crisis and the ramifications within the European Union and for the United States, the future of the euro-zone, and the relationship between the dollar and the euro. Issues related to CFIUS and protecting the integrity of the electronic banking systems will also be included in this program.
Recent Meetings:
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02/23/10 |
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On February 23, 2010, The European Institute held a special breakfast meeting of its Transatlantic Roundtable on Financial and Monetary Affairs with His Excellency Vassilis Kaskarelis, Ambassador of Greece to the United States, who spoke about the implications of Greece’s financial crisis.
Ambassador Kaskarelis explained that serious structural problems have existed in Greece for 7 years and that for most of 2009, no action was taken to correct these problems due to the upcoming elections. As a result, he argued that the new government elected in October 2009 faces the herculean task of solving Greece’s longstanding financial woes. Ambassador Kaskarelis said that he is optimistic for Greece’s future because this is the first time that the EU is enforcing specific economic measures in Greece and he believes that Greece has hit rock bottom, which means that people will soon start buying and investing in Greece again.
The Ambassador remarked that while the current crisis needs guidance from Brussels, domestic concerns must also be taken into consideration. He argued that if the Greek people do not approve of the measures implemented by external actors, the government will lose the next election and the reform process will be stalled or possibly halted. Reform will take time, the Ambassador emphasized, and he advocated for selling these reform measures to the public the right way in order to avoid a social crisis.
Finally, Ambassador Kaskarelis turned to Europe and the impact on the Eurozone. He argued that the situation in Greece is not unlike financial crises other EU countries have faced; Greece is just the first country to allow the crisis to go this far. The Ambassador argued that measures could have been imposed on Greece last year by the EU if the process to do so had been clearer and less complicated. He stated that the problems in Greece affect the whole of the EU, not just the Eurozone and that the EU is testing how much they can react to this situation. Ambassador Kaskarelis believes that the EU is reluctant to loan money to Greece because they fear what will happen if another Eurozone country faces a similar problem. He concluded by saying that decisions have to be made and it is up to Europe because Greece has already made their decisions. |
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04/24/09 |
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Convened on the eve of the IMF and World Bank Spring meetings, this seminar gathered U.S. and European policy-makers to discuss the role of transatlantic cooperation in turning the crisis into an opportunity for better global financial governance. The need for closer regulatory coordination between the United States and the European Union emerged as a widely-shared conclusion among the participants, including The Honorable Paul Kanjorski, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises and Stefano Manservisi, Director General, DG Development, The European Commission. Willy Kiekens, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, and Elizabeth Jacobs, Deputy Director, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission outlined the priorities of their respective organization. The Honorable Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Central Bank Governing Council and Governor of the Bank of Finland echoes this call for increased coordination between the US and Europe, as well as among European States. The Honorable Luc Frieden, Minister of the Treasury for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg offered the luncheon keynote address. The meeting was moderated by Daniel Duncan, Senior Director of Government Affairs, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. |
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03/19/09 |
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The Roundtable featured a delegation from the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee including: The Honorable Pervenche Berès, Chairwoman of the Committee, The Honorable John Purvis, Vice-Chairman of the Committee, The Honorable Wolf Klinz, The Honorable Ieke van de Burg and The Honorable Mariela Baeva. In light of the recent call to establish a European Systematic Risk Council as an early warning system and the upcoming G20 summit in London, the participants engaged in a vivid discussion on the right balance of regulation, surveillance, stimulus packages and bailouts as well as on the possible resulting distortions in the market. The delegation discussed the current financial crises and reform proposals for the regulatory framework of the financial sector. Presenting a U.S. perspective, Ethiopis Tafara, Director of International Affairs of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission addressed the need for collective action regarding financial regulation in light of the upcoming G20 summit in London – but also stressed the importance of finding common parameters rather than identical solutions. Oliver Moss, Senior Vice President at Bank of America moderated the discussion. |
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12/11/08 |
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Jürgen Thumann, European Co-Chair of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue reviewed the achievements of the TEC, and offered an outlook on the future of transatlantic economic cooperation, in light of the current upheaval in the global financial sector and the emerging priorities of the incoming U.S. Administration. As one of three members of the TEC’s Group of Advisers, the Transatlantic Business Dialogue plays a central role in communicating the private sector’s priorities for achieving transatlantic economic integration. On the occasion of this summer’s US-EU Summit, the TABD stressed four areas of particular importance: investment protectionism; fostering innovation with strong protection of intellectual property; facilitating the freest possible movement of people and goods within transatlantic borders, and enhancing cooperation on energy supply and climate change. |
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05/27/08 |
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Daniel Price, Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs and Co-Chairman of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC), offered his assessment of the progress made to date and the key challenges facing the TEC moving forward. This briefing followed the TEC’s second plenary meeting held in Brussels on May 13th where a variety of issues were discussed, including information and communication technology products; import safety; poultry/pathogen reduction treatments; accounting standards; U.S. and EU regulatory capital requirements; REACH (the new European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use); and securities trading. |
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