Event: Time to rethink the European Central Bank?

Since the election of President Macron in France, an intense debate is taking place over the future governance of the Eurozone, including calls for a Eurozone finance minister, a European Monetary Fund and a Eurozone budget. However, less attention is being paid to the prospects for reforming the Eurozone cornerstone’s institution itself: the European Central Bank (ECB).

Mario Draghi pledged to do “whatever it takes” to preserve the euro, and through its quantitative easing programme, the ECB has played an important role in rescuing the Eurozone economy. But this has come at a cost. The ECB’s monetary policy has attracted heavy criticism from across the political spectrum, with many challenging the ECB’s legitimacy, and questioning its ability to respond to the next crisis.

Early 2018, Positive Money Europe was founded as a new Brussels-based nonprofit organisation whose role is to scrutinize the ECB and offer proposals to improve monetary policy in the Eurozone.

At the occasion of our launch, we are delighted to invite you for this conference. It will feature two keynote speeches by distinguished speakers. Former governor of the Bank of Spain Miguel Angel Fernandez-Ordoñez will outline a fresh perspective on how the monetary system could be made more stable and safe, and Professor Annelise Riles (Cornell University) will provide a critical but constructive perspective on the politics of central banking. Looking forward, we will host a panel debate on the prospects for future ECB reform, featuring MEPs Jonas Fernandez, Molly Scott-Cato, Boris Kisselevsky, Head of the European Central Bank representation in Brussels and Teunis Brosens, senior economist at ING.

Afterwards, Positive Money will offer a reception.

Registration is mandatory for the event. Please register by clicking below:

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Miguel Angel Fernandez-Ordoñez graduated from Universidad Complutense of Madrid. He initially lectured in Economic Policy at that University but has dedicated most of his career to the Public Administration, notably as State Secretary for the Economy, State Secretary for Trade, and State Secretary for Tax and Budget Policy, and was appointed as governor of the central bank of Spain from 2006 until 2012. He also worked in the OECD, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and currently he teaches at the IE University in Madrid. His experience as economist and member of the governing council of the European Central Bank during the euro crisis has led him to explore new ideas on how to reform the money and banking system.

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Annelise Riles is the Jack G. Clarke Professor of Law in Far East Legal Studies and Professor of Anthropology at Cornell, and the founder of Meridian 180, a multilingual forum for transformative leadership. Her work focuses on the transnational dimensions of laws, financial markets and culture. Her previous book, Collateral Knowledge: Legal Reasoning in the Global Financial Markets (Chicago Press 2011) was based on 15 years of fieldwork among central bankers, financial lawyers and regulators in Japan and the United States. Her most recent book “Financial Citizenship: Experts, Publics, and the Politics of Central Banking” outlines how a new relationship between central banks and the public can renew the legitimacy of central banks and address the democratic deficit in financial governance.

[/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_image src=”https://www.positivemoney.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Circle-Molly.png” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”34px|||20px”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_team_member name=”Molly Scott-Cato” position=”Member of the European Parliament (Greens-EFA)” icon_color=”#4f2782″ _builder_version=”3.0.105″ header_level=”h2″ header_font=”||||||||” header_font_size=”27px” header_text_color=”#2db7d1″ body_font=”||||||||” body_text_align=”justify” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.3em”]

Molly Scott-Cato is a British Green politician, economist, environmental and community activist and current Member of the European Parliament since 2014. She studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University and later gained a doctorate in economics from Aberystwyth. As MEP, Molly Scott-Cato seats in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs where she focuses on sustainable finance and the monetary policy and is a member of the TAX3 Committee where she is working on tax evasion and tax avoidance.

[/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_image src=”https://www.positivemoney.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Circle-Jonas.png” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”34px|||20px”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_team_member name=”Jonás Fernández-Alvarez ” position=”Member of the European Parliament (Socialists & Democrats)” icon_color=”#4f2782″ _builder_version=”3.0.105″ header_level=”h2″ header_font=”||||||||” header_font_size=”27px” header_text_color=”#2db7d1″ body_font=”||||||||” body_text_align=”justify” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.3em”]

Jonás Fernández-Alvarez is a Spanish politician (PSOE) and member of the European Parliament since 2014 where he seats in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. In 2017, he was the rapporteur on the Parliament’s annual resolution on the European Central Bank. Jonás Fernández Álvarez holds an Executive MBA from IESE Business School (2010-12), MA in Economics and Finance from CEMFI-Bank of Spain (2002-04) and was chief economist of the consultancy firm Solchaga Recio & Asociados.

[/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_image src=”https://www.positivemoney.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Speakers-circle-Boris.png” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”34px|||20px”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_team_member name=”Boris Kisselevsky” position=”Head of the European Central Bank representation in Brussels” icon_color=”#4f2782″ _builder_version=”3.0.105″ header_level=”h2″ header_font=”||||||||” header_font_size=”27px” header_text_color=”#2db7d1″ body_font=”||||||||” body_text_align=”justify” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.3em”]

Head of the ECB representation in Brussels since 2017, he previously works at the IMF, the bank of Russia, the Banque de France and the ECB for many years.

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Teunis is principal economist at ING Bank in Amsterdam. He researches the interplay between the financial sector and the real economy, in particular the relationships between balance sheets, credit, money and economic growth. He analyses monetary reform and monetary innovations such as cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies. Teunis is also a member of ING Bank’s Regulatory Affairs Department. Before joining ING, Teunis worked with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets and the Dutch Central Bank. Teunis holds MA degrees in both Economics and Philosophy of Science from Tilburg University, the Netherlands.

[/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_image src=”https://www.positivemoney.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Speakers-circle-Leo.png” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ border_radii=”on|90px|90px|90px|90px” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”34px|||20px”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_team_member name=”Leo Hoffmann-Axthelm” position=”Research & Advocacy Coordinator – Eurozone” icon_color=”#4f2782″ admin_label=”Person” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ header_level=”h2″ header_font=”||||||||” header_font_size=”27px” header_text_color=”#2db7d1″ body_font=”||||||||” body_text_align=”justify” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.3em”]

Leo joined Transparency International EU in 2015 to coordinate their project on the transparency and democratic accountability of EU economic governance institutions. Prior to joining TI, Leo worked at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and in the Director-General’s team at DG Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN). Raised between Berlin and Venice, Leo studied international relations, EU political economy, economics and anthropology in Berlin, Dresden, Buenos Aires and the College of Europe in Bruges.

[/et_pb_team_member][et_pb_image src=”https://www.positivemoney.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Circle-Fran.png” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”34px|||20px”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_team_member name=”FRAN BOAIT” position=”Positive Money’s Executive Director and a Director of the Board of Finance Watch” icon_color=”#4f2782″ _builder_version=”3.0.105″ header_level=”h2″ header_font=”||||||||” header_font_size=”27px” header_text_color=”#2db7d1″ body_font=”||||||||” body_text_align=”justify” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.3em”]

Fran is Positive Money’s Executive Director and a Director of the Board of Finance Watch. Fran studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and went on to complete a PhD researching carbon dioxide storage.

Fran became interested in economics and money creation after realising that the huge environmental and inequality crises we face could not easily be fixed without re-thinking how the current economic system works, and how to redesign it. Fran has worked at various global organisations including the United Nations, Greenpeace and BP.

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17h00

Introduction remarks

By Fran Boait, Executive director at Positive Money

And Benoit Lallemand, Secretary General of Finance Watch

Why Positive Money Europe?

By Stanislas Jourdan, Head of Positive Money Europe

“Secure Money and Banking Liberalization”

Keynote speech by Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez, former governor of the Bank of Spain

“Financial Citizenship: Experts, Publics, and the Politics of Central Banking”

Keynote speech by Annelise Riles, Professor at Cornell Law School

18h00

Panel debate: Does the ECB need reforms?

• Jonas Fernandez – MEP S&D

• Molly Scott-Cato – MEP Greens

• Boris Kisselevsky, Head of the European Central Bank representation in Brussels

• Teunis Brosens, Senior Economist at ING

• Annelise Riles

Moderation: Fran Boait, Positive Money

19h00-20h00

Cocktail reception

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