On September 18, the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institute hosted Pierre Moscovici, commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs of the European Commission. Commissioner Moscovici presented his ideas for a more democratic and less divergent euro area, and asserted that there is a coming window of opportunity of not more than a year to agree on these reforms. Moscovici was also hosted by the European Institute of Columbia University on 21 September. There he discussed the EU economic outlook as well as ideas for deepening and democratising the euro area, and for building a more transparent and growth-friendly tax system.