
Jeromin Zettelmeyer
Bruegel
Jeromin Zettelmeyer has been Director of Bruegel since September 2022. Born in Madrid in 1964, Jeromin was previously a Deputy Director of the Strategy and Policy Review Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prior to that, he was Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow (2019) and Senior Fellow (2016-19) at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Director-General for Economic Policy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (2014-16); Director of Research and Deputy Chief Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (2008-2014), and an IMF staff member, where he worked in the Research, Western Hemisphere, and European II Departments (1994-2008).
Jeromin holds a Ph.D. in economics from MIT (1995) and an economics degree from the University of Bonn (1990). He is a Research Fellow in the International Macroeconomics Programme of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), and a member of the CEPR’s Research and Policy Network on European economic architecture, which he helped found. He is also a member of CESIfo. He has published widely on topics including financial crises, sovereign debt, economic growth, transition to market, and Europe’s monetary union. His recent research interests include EMU economic architecture, sovereign debt, debt and climate, and the return of economic nationalism in advanced and emerging market countries.
Disclaimer of external interests
Featured work

Going for Growth: creating the conditions for a decisive transition
Launch of the OECD Going for Growth flagship publication
Public hearing on New Economic Governance Rules fit for the Future
ECON Committee of the European Parliament, 20-09-2023

Can we claim victory over inflation?

A quantitative evaluation of the European Commission’s fiscal governance proposal
This paper focuses on the fiscal adjustment that the first regulation would require of countries with debt above the treaty benchmarks.

Making the most of Europe’s anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles
The EU anti-subsidy investigation into EVs from China is a reminder of the need for a new EU green industrial policy strategy.

The economic governance review and its impact on monetary-fiscal coordination

Bruegel Annual Meetings, 6-7 September 2023
A symphony in progress: shaping a new agenda for Europe

How big is China’s global economic footprint? Takeaways for the European Union

Barcelona 5: The International Economic and Financial Order After the Pandemic and War

Green tech race? The US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Net Zero Industry Act in The World Economy

What does the row over EVP Vestager’s pick for Chief Economist of DG Comp mean for the EU?

Talks@Bruegel: Inflation with Stephen D. King
Invitation-only event featuring Stephen D. King, who touched upon the implications of inflation.

An Economic Analysis of Debt‑for‑Climate Swaps
This paper examines the economic case for debt-for-climate swaps: partial debt relief in return for climate investment/policies by the debtor country

Rebooting the European Union’s Net-Zero Industry Act
The proposal for a Net Zero Industry Act still needs work before it can realize its objectives, according to a new paper by Bruegel.

Rebooting the European Union’s Net Zero Industry Act

To what extent can innovation and global economic dominance mitigate China’s structural slowdown?
Event in the frame of the project China Horizons - Dealing with a resurgent China (DWARC)*.

Transatlantic cooperation on climate action: promise and pitfalls
How can transatlantic cooperation overcome climate action challenges and foster effective collaboration for innovative solutions?

Ukraine's post-war economic outlook: long-term growth, stability and reconstruction
Can international support and economic reforms secure Ukraine's post-war stability?

Europe’s critical struggle with its economic paradigm
As the European elections approach, the main policy choices are more existential than perhaps ever before.

China’s structural deceleration: population aging versus innovation
Closed-door event discussed the importance of rapid aging for the future of the Chinese economy and dwelling on China’s major innovation trends

Building Ukraine's future: financing the recovery
How do we make the design of the foreign aid more accommodative for Ukraine’s future growth and resilience?

Internationale Staatsverschuldung, Schuldenrestrukturierungen und mögliche Handlungsoptionen für das BMZ

How will member states react to the European Commission's proposals for fiscal governance reform?

The longer-term fiscal challenges facing the European Union
Since 2020, the European Union has suffered two large shocks, which have created new fiscal challenges for the EU.

Fixing Germany’s fixes of the European Commission’s fiscal governance proposal
Germany has valid concerns about Commission’s plan for reforming the fiscal rules. But there are better ways to address them.

The EU Recovery and Resilience Facility falls short against performance-based funding standards
The rules and guidance underpinning EU economic recovery funds seek inputs and outputs, not results; this has led to uneven use of results indicators

Talks@Bruegel: The international tax framework with Pascal Saint-Amans
Invitation-only event with Pascal Saint-Amans who talked about the international tax framework, its state of play and perspectives.

Are We Heading for Another Debt Crisis in Low-Income Countries? Debt Vulnerabilities: Today vs the pre-HIPC Era
There are concerns that 25 years after the launch of the HIPC debt relief initiative, many low-income countries are facing high debt vulnerabilities.

Joining the dots: climate, nature and the sovereign debt crisis
The event was organised in collaboration with NatureFinance to discuss the correlation between sovereign debt markets and sustainability.

Talks@Bruegel: The great carbon arbitrage with Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis
Invitation-only event featuring Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis, who will talk about the economic potential of the green transition.

Lessons from Europe’s crises: conversation with Olli Rehn
From past to present crises - what has the EU learned? What does it still need to learn?

Nationalism, geoeconomics, protectionism and energy shocks – how should the EU respond?
At this event in Rome, the panellists discussed if the EU could use the various crises it is facing to fortify the Union and its industrial policy?

The EU Net Zero Industry Act and the risk of reviving past failures
How the EU might respond to clean tech subsidies, in the form of a leaked draft law entitled the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), is deeply worrisome.

Talks@Bruegel: Geoeconomic fragmentation with Daria Zakharova
Invitation-only event featuring Daria Zakharova, who will touch on geoeconomic fragmentation and the future of multilateralism.

How Europe should answer the US Inflation Reduction Act
This policy brief explains what is in the IRA, the impact on the EU and other economies, and how the EU should react.

Talks@Bruegel: Trade, climate and the digital economy with Michael Froman
Invitation-only event featuring Michael Froman, who will touch on subjects such as the IRA and the evolution of digital regulation.

How should Europe react to the IRA?

Funding the Green Deal: green bonds and alternative options for EU sovereign debt managers
Invitation-only roundtable to discuss the EU public sector green bond market

Global cooperation in times of geopolitical strife
How can we build a sustainable system of international cooperation that allows for nations to work together despite their differences?
Beating the European Energy Crisis
The EU needs a grand bargain that reduces demand, increases supply, and keeps energy markets open.

The European Commission's fiscal rules proposal: a bold plan with flaws that can be fixed
The European Commission’s proposal for reforming the EU fiscal rules is far-reaching, but its shortcomings need to be addressed.

Crisis-proofing the EU: internal market in the service of external resilience
How should the EU build resilience against external shocks?

Europe must now strike a deal on energy prices
Europe must move beyond blocking agreement on a coordinated solution and undermining EU unity in the face of Russian aggression.

To cap or not to cap: the deal Europe needs on energy prices
An EU gas price cap would be counterproductive, but the reasons why it is supported widely must be acknowledged and addressed.

Completing Europe’s banking union: economic requirements and legal conditions
This contribution analyses the deficiencies of the current framework and identifies possible responses, in line with three levels of reform ambition.

Rewriting the rulebook of the EU fiscal framework
How should EU fiscal rules be reformed to better address current economic realities?
How to get the European Banking Union unstuck

European Union fiscal rules: is a better system feasible?
EU countries seem to be converging on a set of reform objectives. But can these be jointly satisfied? Two recent proposals offer some hope.

How European Union energy policies could mitigate the coming recession
The European Union faces recession, but the way in which policymakers manage the energy crisis will determine its depth and duration.

Does the European Union need an energy crisis fund?
An EU energy fund is justified, but for different reasons than commonly assumed, with implications for the fund’s design.

Geneva 25: Climate and Debt
Geneva Reports on the World Economy

Germany’s gas-price ‘defence shield’: problems and redeeming features
The €200 billion “defence shield” risks undermining European solidarity. This could be avoided by designing it well.

An assessment of Europe’s options for addressing the crisis in energy markets
Action to intervene in the gas and electricity wholesale markets is also being taken at European Union level, which is what we analyse in this paper.

Scoping the challenges for transatlantic climate and trade cooperation
What is the scope for transatlantic cooperation on CBAM legislation, Climate Clubs, and 'green' subsidies?

The Sound of Economics Live: Assessing the State of the Union 2022
In this episode, we look at the State of the Union address delivered by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

Bruegel Annual Meetings, 6-7 September 2022
The Annual Meetings are Bruegel's flagship event which gathers high-level speakers to discuss the economic topics that affect Europe and the world.

Debt-for-Climate Swaps: Analysis, Design, and Implementation
This paper compares debt-for-climate swaps to alternative fiscal support instruments.

Sovereign Debt Sustainability and Central Bank Credibility
This article surveys the literature on sovereign debt sustainability from its origins in the mid-1980s to the present, focusing on four debates.

Redesigning EU fiscal rules: from rules to standards
It is an illusion to think that EU fiscal rules can be simple.

Reconciling risk sharing with market discipline: A constructive approach to euro area reform
This publication proposes six reforms to improve the Eurozone’s financial stability, political cohesion, and potential for delivering prosperity.

Challenges for growth in Europe
The conference in Berlin addressed two topics at the forefront of policy debates in Germany and Europe: stable growth and the energy transition.