ECB Forum begins on Monday in Sintra to discuss Europe's future

ANDthis forum is an annual event organized by the ECB and held in Sintra, Portugal, which brings together central bank governors, academics and financial market representatives.

This year’s theme is “Molding the Future of Europe: Innovation, Growth and Stability” and it starts on 29 June with an opening speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at 20:00 (Lisbon time).

The discussion will involve issues related to international trade, after tariff announcements by the US President, Donald Trump, have motivated a change of scenery, as well as at a time still of uncertainty about the development of the conflict in the Middle East, which affected energy prices and led the ECB to raise interest by 25 basis points at the June meeting.

The morning of the second day of the forum has two sessions, the first on accelerating growth in Europe and the other on regulatory cycles, risks to stability and growth opportunities.

The following is a panel on artificial intelligence (IA) and financial stability, with IMF officials, Bank of England, University of Pennsylvania and Apollo Global Management, as well as a conversation on AI between the head economist of OpenAI, Aaron Chatterji, and the member of the Executive Board of the ECB Philip R. Lane.

The third and last day, July 1, begins with a session on the implications of migration to productivity and growth in Europe, analyzing a paper on the subject, as well as a session on ‘tokenization’, focused on digital payments.

There is also a panel on the role of Europe in the new global scenario of international trade, with heads of the Inter-American Development Bank, the OECD, the University of Zurich and the European Commission.

After lunch there is the usual “high moment” of the meeting, a panel on monetary policy with central bank governors: Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, Christine Lagarde, Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada, and Kevin Warsh, President of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, who took office in May.

The ECB Forum ends with the Young Economist Award ceremony and Lagarde closing speech.

On that day, there will still be a dinner for the participants organized by Banco de Portugal, this being the first time the forum takes place under the leadership of Governor Álvaro Santos Pereira, who took office in October last year.