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Structural Reforms: dynamic growth impact and policy challenges

What are the beneficial effects of product market reforms? What progress have Spain and Italy made in the past years and what challenges do they still

Date and time: 2 November 2015 11:00-20:00

Speakers

Vitor Gaspar

Director of Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF,

Helge Berger

Assistant Director, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF,

Romain Duval

Assistant Director, Research, International Monetary Fund,

Gabriele Steinhauser

Brussels Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal,

Huw Pill

Chief European Economist, Goldman Sachs,

Christian Thimann

Member of the Executive Committee, AXA Group,

Ramon Xifré

Professor at ESCI - Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Policy Research Fellow at PPSRC - IESE Business School,

Wilfried Steinheuer

Director European Economic and Monetary Union, German Federal Finance Ministry,

Laura Bardone

Head of Unit – Spain and Croatia, European Commission DG ECFIN,

The need for 'structural reforms' is a constant feature of policy debates in Europe. Far-reaching reform programmes were central to the release of funds to struggling member states, and find their place in European semester country-specific recommendations. But which reforms are most effective? This off-the-record workshop examined the potential contribution of product and labour reforms to growth.

There were three sessions:

The first was more methodological and aimed to quantify the beneficial effects of product market reforms, measures to unleash productivity and improvements in good governance.
The second focused on Spain and Italy, assessing progress made over the past years and the challenges going forward.
The third was a policy debate on how structural reforms could and should be coordinated within the euro area.