Italian Foreign Minister, Emma Bonino, and the governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco spoke at the regional conference in Rome of the Council of Councils, a group set up by the Council of Foreign Relations which brings together twenty of the most prestigious think tanks in the world. The regional event was organized by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), the only Italian think tank in the Council, and was held at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 9-10 September 2013. Bonino advocated for a ‘light’ Federal Europe, while Visco called for deeper integration and the creation of a banking union as key to Europe’s recovery.
Lisboan seminar “Towards a European economic and political union”, Turin 16-17 September 2013
The Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), the Centro Studi sul Federalismo (CSF), the Bruno Visentini Foundation, in partnership with Compagnia di San Paolo, organised a seminar on “Towards a European Economic and Political Union”, the framework of the European network LISBOAN. Speakers included Alberto Majocchi, University of Pavia, Iain Begg, LSE, Lucia Serena Rossi, University of Bologna, René Repasi, Heidelberg University, Brigid Laffan, University College – Dublin, Jaap de Zwaan, Erasmus University – Rotterdam, Wolfgang Wessels, University of Cologne.
The main goal of the seminar was to analyse the evolution in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and its consequences on the EU’s institutional and political endeavors. Concluding remarks and wrap up on the general topic of the Seminar was drawn by Paolo De Ioanna, Fondazione Bruno Visentini and member of the Council of State. The discussion among the participants was rich and focused on the coordination of the fiscal policies and the role of the European Parliament in this new governance model.