Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honoured to be here today at the Center on Global Economic Governance of Columbia University, to deliver this speech as part of the Ambassador Donald and Vera Blinken Lecture Series on Global Governance.
It is a particular distinction to be a speaker for the lecture series dedicated to the Blinken family, who carried out a path-breaking work in international relations during their diplomatic mission in the mid-nineties to Hungary… only five years into the country’s transformation towards democracy and market economy. 3 In addition, they also generously support academic research on international - chiefly European - affairs through donations to Blinken European Institute here at Columbia University, and also by providing funding to the Open Society Archives of the Central European University in Budapest, which is one of the key repositories for post-war European history. We cannot be grateful enough for their example in generosity and humanity!
Introduction
This year we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome - which also marks the creation of the EIB, the EU Bank. This is a good time to reflect on Europe’s history of these past 60 years, which represents a tremendous achievement in terms of institutional innovation, economic stability and multilateral cooperation that delivers peace, productivity and prosperity. 4 In spite of such achievements - or perhaps because they formed such a solid bedrock, today Europe faces considerable challenges. Chief among them is a destabilizing sense of uncertainty that has loomed over us since the beginning of the global financial and sovereign crisis. Initially uncertainty plagued the economic outlook, but over time spread to the realms of policy and politics.
Brexit confirmed the severity of the disenchantment and showed us that the EU’s narrative of multilateralism and openness no longer connected with important parts of the population. Some European citizens may have taken for granted the Union and some of the values it represents. Further destabilising are the challenges of migration linked to crises in the EU neighbourhood and beyond, and those posed by climate change. 5 As we know, the vicious circle between uncertainty and its harmful effect on economic activity can be persistent. Our living standards depend on our ability to sustain stable, thriving and innovative economies. In turn, this ability rests on the capacity of both market forces and, when needed, public institutions to foster high quality investments - investments which, in turn, provide us with confidence in our prospects. Against this background, I will cover three topics in my speech today.
First, I will talk about the macroeconomic outlook in Europe, and the key challenges that we are likely to face in the coming years.
Second, I will share some of my thoughts on the institutional turning point that the European Union is experiencing at the moment, and which has been the theme of the European Commission’s White Paper on the Future of the Union recently. Finally, I will elaborate on the role of investment, and explain how the European Investment Bank can contribute to the success and the prosperity of the citizens of Europe.
page source http://www.eib.org/
