The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DG European Affairs) and the Egmont Institute are delighted to invite you to their joint webinar. During the webinar, several high-level officials of the EU will elaborate on the policy implications of the recovery strategy and some of its key concepts.

Europe is at a historic intersection. The coronavirus has shaken the continent and the world to its core, testing healthcare and welfare systems, our societies and economies and our way of living and working together. This crisis has come at a time when the geopolitical and economic challenges Europe faces are ever-more characterised by great power competition. How we can guarantee that our values and interests are represented at home and abroad requires more active thought and action. To this effect, the European Commission introduced a new strategy to ensure the recovery is sustainable, digital, even, inclusive and fair for all Member States and to ensure our policies reflect the changing international political reality we face.

In this exclusive webinar, we bring together a wide range of Belgian stakeholders from politics and industry intending to familiarize them with the proposed recovery strategy. In three thematic sessions of about 25 minutes each, senior policymakers from the European Commission will briefly present key policy developments, before answering questions of the participating stakeholders in a moderated Q&A.

The three thematic sessions cover the key pillars of the proposed recovery strategy: (1) Strategic autonomy was adopted by the new Commission as a cross-policy guiding concept to enable the Union to make decisions and mobilise its resources without depending on the decisions and assets of others. (2) Industrial ecosystems, competition policy and state aid will maintain European industry’s global competitiveness and a level playing field, at home and globally, making Europe climate-neutral by 2050 and shaping Europe’s digital future. (3) A powerful financial toolbox will help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought by the coronavirus pandemic, kickstart the recovery and prepare for a better future for the next generation.

 

Speakers

First speaker: Kerstin JORNA Ø Strategic autonomy	Director-General at the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Second Speaker: Agnieszka-Maria SKONIECZNA Ø Industrial ecosystems Ø State Aid and Competition Policy	Member of Cabinet of Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton
Third speaker: Andreas SCHWARZ Ø Financial toolbox	Director of Revenue and Multiannual Financial Framework at the Directorate-General for Budget
Presented by Theodora GENTZIS	Director-General at the Directorate-General European Affairs at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Moderated by Jean-Louis DE BROUWER	Director of the European Affairs Program at the Egmont Institute