Already this week, on 11 November, Latvijas Banka will hold its annual economic conference "From Policy to Impact. Europe's Economic Future" at the National Library of Latvia.
The conference will take place from 10:00 to 14:20. Detailed information on the conference will be available on the website at conference.bank.lv. Media representatives are also invited to attend the event in person and follow the discussions by registering via e-mail at
The conference will be opened by Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs. An introductory speech by Mārtiņš Kazāks, Member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) and Governor of Latvijas Banka, will follow.
Keynote speeches will also be delivered by Joachim Nagel, Member of the Governing Council of the ECB and President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, and Maria Luís Albuquerque, European Union (EU) Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union.
The conference programme will be structured around two panel discussions. The first panel discussion will broaden the debate to cover the key economic challenges in the euro area, viewed from the perspective of its largest economies, with a strong emphasis on policy responses and practical solutions. It will also connect the experiences of the euro area's largest economies with the challenges and opportunities in the smaller euro area economies, such as Latvia.
Speakers: Joachim Nagel, Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Director of Bruegel, Roberts Zīle, Vice-President of the European Parliament, Alfred Kammer, Director of the European Department at the International Monetary Fund. The discussion will be moderated by Andris Strazds, Deputy Governor of Latvijas Banka.
The second panel discussion will focus on the initiatives to strengthen the integration of the European financial system. It will link complex financial sector reforms to the everyday experiences of European citizens, illustrating what market fragmentation means in practice for households and small businesses, and how proposed reforms could improve their daily economic lives. Maria Luís Albuquerque, Klaas Knot, former President of De Nederlandsche Bank, Member of the Systemic Risk Council CFA Institute, and Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, Deputy Governor of the Banque de France and Member of the Bruegel board, and Adam Gagen, Global Head of Policy and Government Affairs at Revolut, will participate in the discussion. The discussion will be moderated by Kārlis Vilerts, Head of the Research Division at Latvijas Banka.
The conference will examine the most pressing challenges facing the euro area economy and its most important player, Germany, in the new geopolitical environment. Given the high degree of integration across European economies, these challenges have significant implications for the outlook of smaller EU Member States, including Latvia. At the conference, particular emphasis will be placed on the policy actions needed to address these issues and their potential translation into tangible improvements in the daily lives of European citizens and businesses.
The topic of the conference is addressed in several articles by Latvijas Banka's economists:
- the article by Baiba Brusbārde and Linda Oliņa on structural reforms in Germany and their impact on Europe (available in Latvian);
- the article by Anete Kravinska on euro area investments in competitiveness, digitalisation, green transition, and defence (available in Latvian);
- the assessment by Klāvs Zutis and Miks Tomass Hižņikovs of the factors that have so far limited the development of the European banking sector (available in Latvian);
- the analysis by Dace Bērziņa and Mārcis Risbergs of the reasons that keep euro area households' savings in banks rather than direct them towards financial markets (available in Latvian).