Event: Vanishing Act: The Eurogroup’s Accountability

Author
Vitor Teixeira
Date
17 January, 2019
Type
Event
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Report launch and panel discussion with the Eurogroup

Tuesday, 5 February 2019, 9:30 – 12:30

Finance Watch event suite – Rue Ducale 67, 1000 Brussels



Who governs the euro area? The informal nature of the Eurogroup and the limited transparency of its decision making makes this a difficult question to answer. Yet knowing who is in charge is the very prerequisite of democratic accountability for decisions that impact the everyday lives of millions of citizens, including fundamental policies such as national budgets.

Since the euro crisis, reforms have been aimed at strengthening coordination of fiscal and economic policy. These efforts have not gone hand in hand with a similar boost to its transparency and accountability, further widening the democracy deficit. In our fourth and final study on the EU’s economic governance institutions, we shed light on what the Eurogroup is and does, who prepares its decisions and how its accountability can be improved.

Transparency International EU invites you to join us on 5 February at 9:30am at the Finance Watch events suite for a debate with the Eurogroup’s spokesperson, the presentation of our new report ‘Vanishing Act: the Eurogroup’s accountability’, and a case study on Italy’s clash with the EU’s deficit rules.





Agenda

9:30 Registration and coffee
10:00 Welcome by Benoît Lallemand, Finance Watch

Launch of the Transparency International report: Vanishing Act: the Eurogroup’s accountability, Dr. Marina Hübner & Dr. Benjamin Braun, co-authors, Max-Planck-Institute

Case study of euro governance: Italy’s negotiated breach of EU deficit rules
10:30-12:15Panel discussion moderated by Carl Dolan, Director, Transparency International EU

  • Luís Rego, Spokesperson of the President of the Eurogroup
  • Rosita Hickey, Cabinet of Emily O’Reilly, European Ombudsman
  • Mehreen Khan, Financial Times
  • Leo Hoffmann-Axthelm, Transparency International EU
  • Q&A

Related Projects

Eurozone Economic Governance

How transparent are they institutions which govern the Euro?