83rd East Jour Fixe of the Oesterreichischen Nationalbank

Catching the wind: current challenges and opportunities for European integration and convergence

On the occasion of the Austrian presidency of the Council of the European Union

Torn between deeper integration and enlargement, with Brexit weighing on the negotiations of the next budget, migration pressure at its borders and rising influence of Russia and China in its southeastern neighborhood, the EU is facing formidable challenges today which will be discussed at the 83rd East Jour Fixe to be hosted by the Oesterreichische Nationalbank on September 18, 2018. After all, as stated by European Commission President Juncker in his speech on the state of the European Union in September 2017: "The wind is back in Europe's sails. But we will go nowhere unless we catch that wind. (…) Now is the time to build a more united, stronger and more democratic Europe for 2025."

Renowned speakers representing a variety of international institutions and think tanks (including the European Commission, Bruegel and The Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition) will present and discuss selected studies with a regional focus on Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) published in a special issue of the OeNB’s quarterly publication Focus on European Economic Integration (FEEI, to be released by end-August). Keynote/special speeches will be given by István-Pal Székely (Director in the European Commission’s DG ECFIN) and Wolfgang Petritsch (President of the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation).

Both the 83rd East Jour Fixe and the special FEEI issue have been organized on the occasion of the Austrian presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2018. The topics have been closely aligned with the priorities of the Austrian presidency and address, among others: (1) the sustainability of convergence and integration, (2) EU budget and structural reform priorities, (3) EU enlargement and neighborhood policy, (4) financial sector development and stability as well as (5) labor markets and migration in CESEE.

September 18, 2018

Oesterreichische Nationalbank
Kassensaal
Otto-Wagner-Platz 3, 1090 Vienna