Governor Talk - Spain, Europe: How to Build Forward Better

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Location: AV CORE

Moderator

Alfred Kammer

Director European Department, IMF

 

Alfred Kammer is the Director of the European Department at the International Monetary Fund since August 2020. In this capacity, he oversees the IMF’s work with Europe.

Mr. Kammer was previously the Chief of Staff of the Office of the Managing Director, advising the Managing Director on strategic and operational issues and overseeing operations for the senior management team; Deputy Director of the Strategy, Policy and Review Department, overseeing the work on Fund strategy and surveillance policy; Deputy Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department, overseeing regional economic developments and financial sector issues; Director of the Office of Technical Assistance Management, advising management on technical assistance operations and overseeing fundraising and global partnerships for capacity building; and Advisor to the Deputy Managing Director. Mr. Kammer also served as resident representative of the IMF in Russia. Since joining the IMF, Mr. Kammer worked with countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and on a wide range of policy and strategic issues.

Speakers

Nadia Calviño

Vice-President and Minister of Economy and Digitalization, Spain

 

Nadia Calviño, Vice-President and Minister for Economy and Digitalization since June 2020, holds a degree in Economics (1991) from the Universidad Complutense deMadrid (Spain) and a degree in Law (2001) fromthe Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED). In 1994, she joined the Spanish public administration as member of the corps of State Economist and Trade Experts (Técnicos Comerciales y Economistas del Estado).

Since 2018, Vice-President Calviño wasMinister for Economy and Business and from2014 to 2018, she was the Director General in charge of the Budget within the EU Commission. Previously, she held other senior management positions in the European Commission: Deputy Director General with a special responsibility for Financial Services and Deputy Director General in the Directorate General for Competition with special responsibility for Mergers and Antitrust (including cartels).

Before joining the European Commission in September 2006, she was a civil servant in Spain (Técnico Comercial y Economista del Estado) where she worked in theMinistry for Economy. She held different positions in the areas of foreign trade, macroeconomic analysis and forecasting, economic policy and competition. Senior roles included Deputy Director General for Legal Affairs, Deputy Director General for Mergers and Director General for Competition.

Minister Calviño lectured at the Faculty of Economics at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. She also published a large number of articles on matters within her purview and awarded the 2012 Women's Leadership Awards by the Aliter Business School and the 2007 Public Sector Lawyer of the Year by the Iberian Lawyer magazine.

Report

Key Points:

  • Focus. Europe has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic but has responded strongly to mitigate the socio-economic impact. The Talk highlighted the opportunities to accelerate Europe's transition toward greener and more digital economies and structural changes needed for more inclusive, sustainable growth and to improve resilience to future shocks.
  • Conclusions. The crisis highlighted the importance of multilateralism and a unified European response; preventative policies; and need to focus on resilience (including environmental/ social). Top priorities include accelerating vaccinations, preserving jobs, and ensuring financial stability. The next generation EU investment and reform plan are central to a strong recovery, building resilience, a green transition, and digital transformation.

Quotes:

“Vaccination, vaccination, vaccination. This is a top priority from an economic policy point of view. We have learned that health and economy go hand in hand.” Nadia Calviño

“We are stronger together. This goes for the European Union but also for the strength of our multilateral financial system.” Nadia Calviño

“Support must be adjusted over time to allow a restructuring and reallocation of resources in the economy, and to rebuild the economy and make it stronger, greener and fairer” Alfred Kammer

Contributor: Rasheeda Smith Yee

 

Photos