Hosted by Ifo President Hans-Werner Sinn and Committee of the Regions Secretary-General Gerhard Stahl, the conference opened with a keynote speech by László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission, Brussels.

Panel 1: From the Financial Crisis to the Debt Crisis: Reflections on the Economic Future of Europe
Will the crisis in the financial sector now inevitably be followed by a series of national debt crises? What are the economic propects for Europe as a whole and the Euro in particular? These were the main topics addressed by the first panel.

Panel 2: Making Work Pay: The Effects of Activation Policies from an International Perspective
The second panel explored the consequences of the economic and financial crisis for labour markets in Europe and examined the success or failure of activation policies in different EU member states.

The conference included contributions from Hans-Werner Sinn (President, Ifo Institute), Gerhard Stahl (Secretary General, Committee of the Regions, Brussels), László Andor (Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission), Wolf Klinz (Chairman of the Special Committee on Financial, Economic and Social Crisis, European Parliament), Stefano Scarpetta (Head of the Employment Analysis and Policy Division, OECD), Klaus Gretschmann (Director General, Council of the European Union), and André Sapir (Senior Fellow, Bruegel, Brussels).

The Ifo-CoR BrIEF, an annual conference series, is co-organised by the Munich-based Ifo Institute and the European Union’s Committee of the Regions. The series has the aim of strengthening the contribution of Europe’s economic expertise to European economic policy-making and providing a platform for prominent decision-makers from the world of European politics to meet with renowned economists and discuss core questions pertaining to Europe’s future.