The Brussels Economic Forum is the flagship annual economic event of the European Commission.

The Forum brings together European and international policymakers, opinion leaders, academics, civil society and business leaders to debate hot economic topics and share new perspectives on Europe's economic challenges.

#EUBEF18 focused on the future of the European Economy in an era of digital disruption:

• What is the future of work in a digital economy?
• What financial system for a deeper EMU in a digital era?
• The future of EMU: towards more resilience and convergence

Today’s economic systems and models do not take into consideration the economic value of activities such as home care for the sick, elderly and children. An over-reliance on mathematical modelling gives a false sense of certainty. Women are underrepresented in a discipline that has a significant impact on public policy.

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The European Union must tackle the root causes of despair in society and complete its Economic and Monetary Union, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said at the Brussels Economic Forum. Delivering the Forum’s annual Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa address, Juncker identified the two issues as major challenges but said that the EU is already working to address both. He also mentioned the two recent Commission's budget proposals to strengthen the EMU (a Reform Support Programme and an Investment Stabilisation Function) and said the Commission is planning to expand the successful Investment Plan for Europe and mobilise even more private investments: this announcement was followed by the official InvestEU proposal on 6 June. The three proposals will be further developed in the next DG ECFIN e-newsletter on Monday 11 June.

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Technological advances are disrupting labour markets and undermining the European Union’s efforts to bridge the prosperity gap between its richer and poorer regions, World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva, warned at the Brussels Economic Forum.

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Ana Botín, the Executive Chairman of Banco Santander, told the Brussels Economic Forum that meeting the challenges facing her industry – from the digital revolution to political uncertainty – was not only important for financial services, but essential for Europe as a whole. “We need to change, and fast,” she said. To facilitate that change, she set out priorities and identified areas of progress, covering political, systemic and regulatory aspects.

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That the digital economy is changing the way we work is undisputed. But will it - in particular the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics - lead to major productivity growth? A head-to-head debate whether the answer to this is yes or no between two leading academic economists opened the first panel of this year’s Brussels Economic Forum. It included a before-and-after the debate audience vote on the issue, with a surprising outcome.

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The second panel of the day started with a one-to-one interview between the moderator, Bloomberg journalist Viktoria Dendrinou, and Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, also in charge of Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. They discussed expectations for EMU reform decisions at the forthcoming European Council before delving deeper into digital issues.

The subsequent panel debate focussed on the impact of digital disruption on the economy and on the EMU’s framework and possible associated strategies.

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The European Union needs to agree a common diagnosis and narrative on the road towards completing its Economic and Monetary Union, Marco Buti, Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs at the European Commission told the 18th Brussels Economic Forum.

This should be accompanied by “very concrete steps”, such as a backstop, or safety net, played by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), he said. It would come into play if the Single Resolution Fund temporarily runs out of resources to achieve the orderly resolution of distressed banks. Agreed in principle five years ago, the backst

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The euro area needs to act now to complete Europe’s economic and Monetary Union so as to realise the full benefits of the euro and defeat populism, said Eurogroup President Mário Centeno, at the Brussels Economic Forum. “When our leaders meet in three weeks’ time, here in Brussels, we have a choice to either remain vulnerable to the next crisis and to political or market instability; or to be bold and decide to take the euro more seriously,” he said, in a keynote speech closing the Forum.

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