Bruegel's 20th anniversary
2025 marked Bruegel's 20th Anniversary. We continue to celebrate it with a series of events and activities.
20 years of improving economic policy
2025 marked Bruegel's 20th anniversary. In the past two decades the world has changed in significant ways, but many of the same challenges remain. Bruegel has also changed, expanding, and broadening the scope of its research. But what has not changed is the objective of improving economic policy and our values of impartiality, openness and excellence.
We have a host of activities planned in the frame of the celebrations, most prominently, events in the capitals of all our members states. Keeping true to our nature, much of what we organise will be focused on the objective of improving economic policy. In that vein, we kicked-off the year with an event on 17 January, exactly 20 years after Bruegel's first Board Meeting in 2005, discussing global policymaking in the Trump-Xi era. You can find more information about our outputs and activities below.
Read more about the history of Bruegel.
Bruegel classics
To mark Bruegel's 20 year anniversary, a selection of high-impact papers are being republished in Bruegel's current Policy Brief format, with light edits for style and clarity
Is Europe ready for a major banking crisis?
This Policy Brief is a reissue of a Policy Brief published by Bruegel in August 2007
The Blue Bond proposal
This Policy Brief is a reissue of a Policy Brief published by Bruegel in May 2010
No green growth without innovation
This Policy Brief is a reissue of a Policy Brief published by Bruegel in November 2009
Sudden stops in the euro area
This Policy Brief is a reissue of a Policy Brief published by Bruegel in March 2012
Globalisation and the reform of European social models
This Policy Brief is a reissue of the first Policy Brief published by Bruegel in November 2005
Events, activities and outputs
Security in Europe: how will it affect growth and competitiveness?
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in London, jointly organised with the LSE European Institute
Global imbalances and Europe: a fresh perspective
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Paris, jointly organised with the Banque de France and the CEPR
Can policy survive politics?
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Warsaw, jointly organised with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland
Europe’s energy future: balancing climate goals and competitiveness
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Brussels, jointly organised with the National Bank of Belgium
EU sustainable growth: what is the right mix of structural, monetary and fiscal instruments?
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Vienna, jointly organised with the Ministry of Finance and the Oesterreichische Nationalbank
Strategic transformation for Europe's growth: investing in resilience, innovation and competitiveness
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Athens, jointly organised with the Ministry of Economy and Finance
MFF in a new era: how to finance competitiveness, security and other European Public Goods
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Rome, jointly organised with the Ministry of Economy and Finance
Building a competitive and climate-resilient Europe: the role of finance and insurance
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Madrid, jointly organised with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business
From rules to resilience: the relevance of EU fiscal governance
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Valletta, jointly organised with the Ministry for Finance
Savings and Investment Union and closing the investment gap – Slovak and European perspective
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Bratislava, jointly organised with the Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Slovakia
The imperative of invigorating the EU's productivity and competitiveness
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Copenhagen, jointly organised with the Danmarks Nationalbank
Policy actions for strengthening EU competitiveness
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Stockholm, jointly organised with the Ministry of Finance and the Sveriges Riksbank
Green, digital and resilient growth
Bruegel's 20th anniversary event in Helsinki, jointly organised with the Bank of Finland.
Conference on globalisation and geo-economic fragmentation
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Amsterdam, jointly organised with De Nederlandsche Bank.
Leaders and institutions: honouring Jean Pisani-Ferry and celebrating the birth of Bruegel
20 years of improving economic policy: story of Bruegel, story of Europe
Bruegel’s founders recount the think tank’s creation and its journey to becoming a key player in Europe’s economic policy landscape
Global Policymaking in the Trump-Xi Era
This event kicked-off Bruegel's 20th anniversary celebrations by discussing the geopolitical challenges we face in the coming years.
Selected materials from Bruegel's birth
In January 2025, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Bruegel’s founding Board meeting, the team assembled the documents about the creation journey in 2002-2005 and photographs of the early days.
Browse the bookletOn 16 January, the eve of the official start of our anniversary celebrations, we hosted a dinner bringing together key stakeholders from Bruegel's founding, to celebrate the institution but especially its first director, Jean Pisani-Ferry. Below are videos from some key people who could not join the dinner but wished to send their best wishes. More video will be added soon.
Mario Monti, the founding president of Bruegel, the president of Bocconi University, Milan and a Senator of the Italian Republic
Fred Bergsten, founding director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics
Adam Posen, President of the Peterson Institute for International Economics
Paul Seabright, Toulouse School of Economics and Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse and former chair of Bruegel Scientific Council