EU Recovery Package: What Is Plan B?

Whichever course the current talks on the EU’s economic recovery take, the consequences will be lasting. The systemic implications of the decisions taken at or after the EU Council meeting on July 17-18 will go far beyond the economic stimulus they aim to achieve. In the week before the summit and on the Monday thereafter, the Mercator European Dialogue is bringing together policymakers from Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Spain, to discuss the status of negotiations, ask uncomfortable questions, share creative thinking on how to counter the crisis, and coordinate responses.

Expert input will be provided by integrated systems analysts and scenario experts from the Institute for Integrated Economic Research, Hannes Kunz and Nate Hagens. The dialogues will revolve around the following questions:

• What does economic recovery look like for Europe?
• How can member states leverage their options in the current talks?
• What are the long-term economic costs of the current crisis?
• What are possible outcomes of the negotiations on the EU Recovery Fund and what are alternative ways forward?

These meetings will give a small group of members of parliaments and governments from Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Spain, some of the countries hardest hit by the economic crisis, a space to explore their options and to coordinate ways forward in an informal and confidential setting (Chatham House Rule).

Mercator European Dialogue x Advance Politics.

These events are part of “Advance Politics,” a special format that the Mercator European Dialogue designed in collaboration with The Institute for Integrated Economic Research. This format allows policymakers to challenge assumptions and dig deeper into the big questions of our times, while engaging in out-of-the box thinking with a select group of peers from across Europe. For more information about IIER, please click here.