European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe

EXTENSION FOR THE CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION UNTIL 15th OF JUNE

"War, the climate catastrophe and the crisis of social reproduction: how should the EU cope with the polycrisis?”

27 - 28 September 2023, Naples/Italy

Against the background of war and rising geopolitical tensions, the climate and biodiversity catastrophe, the cost of living crisis and deepening social and global inequalities, this year’s conference will address the profound implications of these changes for the future of the EU, with special reference to the deepening crisis of social reproduction.

Further information can be found here here.

Thank you very much for your support and best wishes,

the EuroMemo Group Steering Committee

"War, the climate catastrophe and the crisis of social reproduction: how should the EU cope with the polycrisis?”

27 - 28 September 2023, Naples/Italy

Dear colleagues!

This year’s EuroMemo Group conference will be jointly hosted with University of Naples ‘Parthenope’ and will take place on 27 - 28 September 2023 (Wednesday - Thursday) in Naples/Italy.

The programme will be as follows:

Wednesday, 27 September 2023

9:00 am - 09:30 am Conference Registration

09:30 am - 12:30 pm Opening Plenary

Welcome Address: N.N. (Parthenope Univ.), N.N. (EuroMemo Group)

Part I - The Political and Economic State of the Union

Chair: N.N.

Keynote "The Political State of the Union”,

Keynote "A Green and Digital Capitalism? Why Decoupling and Crowding In Investors Will Not Lead to the Radical Green and Fair Transformation of the European Union”

Q&A Session

11:15 am - 11:30 pm Coffee Break

Part II - Panel Discussion: The political and economic situation in Italy

Chair: N.N. Speakers:

Michele De Palma, FIOM (tbc)
Lorenzo Zamponi, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence (tbc)
Valeria Cirillo, University of Bari (confirmed)

12:30 pm - 01:30 pm Lunch Break

01:30 pm - 05:30 pm Parallel Workshops

07:00 pm Conference Dinner

Thursday, 28 September 2023

10:00 am - 11:30 am Plenary on policy proposals from workshops

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Coffee break

12:00 pm - 01:30 pm Final Plenary "The crisis of social reproduction in the EU (ageing, pensions, migration, housing, the crisis of care systems, the role of social mobilizations)”

Chair: N.N..N.

Anne Eydoux (confirmed)
Ipek Illkaracan, Technical University Istanbul (confirmed)
Grazia Naletto, Researcher and Activist, Former President of Lunaria APS

End of Conference

02:30 pm - 03:30 pm EuroMemo Legal Association - General Assembly Meeting
03:30 pm - 06:00 pm Planning meeting: EuroMemorandum 2024

We would like to invite you to attend the conference and to submit paper proposals for contributions to the workshops.

We invite proposals for papers that address any aspect of the conference theme War, the climate catastrophe and the crisis of social reproduction: how should the EU cope with the polycrisis?” In particular, we encourage submissions that relate to recent European developments that pertain to one of the following topics:
• Growth? - degrowth? - sufficiency? - sustainability? What mode of production and consumption is needed for socio-ecological transformation in the EU, but also on the global level?
• Fiscal policy for the EU in the 21st century and the reform of the Stability of Growth Pact (SGP)
• National recovery and resilience plans: state of implementation and preliminary assessments
• The return of inflation, ECB monetary policy, and its distributional implications
• Implementation of the European Pillar of social rights vs. contradictory national level reforms (e.g. the planned pension reform in France)
• Labour struggles, trade unions, productivity and wages in an era of high inflation
• The discourse and policies on migration and refugees in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine
• The economic and political agendas of the far-right governments and political forces in the EU in the current conjuncture (e.g. Italy, Poland, Hungary, France)
• The political economy of energy and the energy transformation in the EU
• The European Green Deal: its state of implementation, its limits and the challenges for achieving the socio-ecological transformation of prevailing production and consumption models
• The challenge of a just transition in the EU that stays within the 1.5°Celsius target
• The global dimension of the climate and biodiversity catastrophe, the importance and implications of global climate and ecological justice, and the discussion about loss and damage and similar mechanisms
• The green transition and the perils of resource extractivism, especially in the Global South, including structural dependencies of the EU (minerals, rare earths etc.)
• Implications of militarization, the military-industrial complex and of increased global divisions for socio-ecological transformation and the European Green Deal
• The role of the EU in Europe and in the world, relations to the US and China
• The political economy of regions, and of "core and periphery” in the European Union, with a particular emphasis on Central & Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans (enlargement), as well as Southern Europe.

Proposals for papers together with a short abstract (maximum 250 words) should be submitted by 31 May 2023 to info@euromemo.eu. We strongly encourage applications of participants from CEE countries and different networks of heterodox economists. If possible, please indicate the topic which the proposal is intended for. If accepted, completed papers should be submitted by 31 August 2023.

We strongly encourage participants to submit short papers (5000 - 6000 words) and to explicitly address policy implications.

If you would like to submit an abstract and/ or participate in the conference, please fill in the registration form, which you can find here and send it to to info@euromemo.eu.
Please note that there is no deadline for registering for participation only.

All submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group. Accepted papers will be published on the conference website and there is also the possibility to publish selected papers presented at the conference within the EuroMemo Group Discussion Paper Series.

Please note that there will be a conference fee to cover the cost of the conference: € 100 standard rate, €40 for students, € 150 for participants with institutional support. A solidarity fee in excess of the standard rates is highly welcome.

Further practical information including details about hotel bookings and transport will soon be circulated. We look forward to seeing you in Naples!

Best wishes,

For the Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group: Judith Dellheim, Marica Frangakis, Maria Karamessini, Jeremy Leaman, Mahmood Messkoub, Ronan O’Brien, Heikki Patomäki, Werner Raza, Magnus Ryner

For the local organizing committee at University of Naples ‘Parthenope’: Claudio Cozza

Presentation Event

We are happy to announce you our presentation event of Euromemorandum 2023:Europe in Polycrisis: Struggles for Survival, Climate and Energy Justice

Date: 23 - 24 March 2023, 06:00 pm - 08:00 pm

Venue: Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Brussels (Rue Saint-Ghislain 62, 1000 Bruxelles)

The EuroMemorandum is the annual report the EuroMemo Group. It critically analyses recent economic developments in Europe and emphasises the strong need for an alternative economic policy that is based on the principles of democratic participation, social justice and environmental sustainability.

This year's EuroMemorandum emphasizes that the neoliberal global and European order has entered a polycrisis, understood as multiple shocks feeding each other with growing complexity. Taking its cue from the UNEP Emissions Gap Report that the time for incremental change has passed, and that only a root-and-branch economic transformation can save humanity from disaster, the 2023 EuroMemorandum analyses the polycrisis Europe faces, critiques EU policy, and offers radical policy-alternatives.

The EuroMemorandum 2023 is available here

The invitation of the event is available here

Programme:
06:00 pm Words of Welcome (Arif Rüzgar, RLS Brussels)

06:10 pm The EuroMemorandum 2023: presentation and overview of main policy proposals: Marica Frangakis, Euromemo Group

06:25 pm Panel Discussion: The changing international context and its ramifications for the EU: what should be done from a progressive point of view?

Panelists:

Helmut Scholtz, MEP, GUE/NGL group in the EP Ndongo Samba Sylla, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Office Dakar Heikki Patomäki, EuroMemo Group and University of Helsinki Werner Raza, EuroMemo Group and Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE)

Chair: Arif Rüzgar, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Brussels

08:00 pm Wine reception

EuroMemorandum 2023

Europe in Polycrisis:
Struggles for Survival, Climate and Energy Justice

We are pleased to announce the publishing of EuroMemorandum 2023.

This EuroMemorandum draws on discussions and papers presented at the 28th Workshop on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe, organised by the EuroMemo Group from 2- 4 September 2022 in London.

The neoliberal global and European order has entered a polycrisis, understood as multiple shocks feeding each other with growing complexity. Taking its cue from the UNEP Emissions Gap Report that the time for incremental change has passed, and that only a root-and-branch economic transformation can save humanity from disaster, the 2023 EuroMemorandum analyses the polycrisis Europe faces, critiques EU policy, and offers radical policy-alternatives.

More than 120 economists and social scientists from all over Europe and beyond have declared their support for the new EuroMemorandum.

The new EuroMemorandum and it's relevant translations can be found here: EuroMemorandum 2023

It is still possible to declare your support. If you wish to do so please send an e-mail to info@euromemo.eu.

An obituary to Axel Troost (1954 - 2023)

On January 6th Axel Troost lost the battle against a short, but insidious disease. In the truest sense of the word, he was torn from life in the middle of a prolific scientific and political work.

In 1975, alongside other prominent left economist including Jörg Huffschmid, Axel Troost was one of the founders of the German "Working Group on Alternative Economic Policy " (better known as the "Memo-Gruppe”). Since the early 1980s he has been its de-facto managing director. In fact , he was much more than this, combining his great abilities as organizer and communicator with those of a knowledgeable and innovative economist. If the German ' Memo' has been published reliably for almost 50 years, providing a much-needed alternative to the predominant ordoliberal economic discourse in Germany, this is not to the least due to Axel’s enormous energy and perseverance.

From 2005 - 2021 (with Interruptions) Axel Troost was also a Member of the German Bundestag and the spokesperson on financial and monetary affairs of the left faction. Apart from his many activities and publications on German economic policy issues, Axel Troost was a prominent supporter of a solidaristic programme of European integration, in marked contrast to an anti-EU skepticism that became more widespread in the German left during the Eurocrisis in the early 2010s.

Co-founded by his personal friend Jörg Huffschmid in 1995, Axel Troost was close to the EuroMemo-Group for many years. His organizational as well financial support for the Group was particularly valuable.

With Axel Troost the German, but also the European Left loses not only an important economist and politician, but above all a tireless fighter for a socially just and ecologically sustainable society.

EuroMemo Group supports Fiscal Matters' open letter on Stability and Growth Pact

EuroMemo Group has signed the open letter released by FiscalMatters coalition with respect to the Economic Governance and its respective fiscal rules on member states’ public debt and deficits.

In October 2022 (the 26th of October), the European Commission will present an orientation paper that will set the direction for the EU’s economic policy, including a reform of the EU fiscal rules.

Ahead of the publication, unions, civil society, think tanks, youth, and academics have come together to call for a new set of principles which aim at an economy that works for us all, scales up green public investment and promotes human and wellbeing.

The public letter aims to push the Commission to propose legislation that allows a democratic debate and decision-making on economic policy and establish key public asks for long-term economic policy, particularly fiscal policy in the public forum.

You can find the open letter on European Youth Forum's site and here in a pdf format.

#FiscalMatters
#GreenTransition
#NewEconomicPrinciples
#NewEconomy

Passing of Joze Mencinger

We are sorry to hear that Slovenian economist Joze Mecinger has passed away. A sharp mind and regular supporter of EuroMemo will be missed.

Our deepest condolences to his family.

We publish an obituary to Joze Mecinger written by Joachim Becker
here

28th Annual Conference on Alternative Economic Policy "The EU and the political economy of global disorder. Struggles for Survival, Climate and Energy Justice” King’s College London, 2 - 4 September 2022

We are pleased to announce that this year's EuroMemo Group conference will take place from 2-4 September 2022 in King’s College London.

For further information please visit the following link 2022 London Annual Conference.

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION - 28th ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC POLICY IN EUROPE - KINGS COLLEGE LONDON

The EU and the political economy of global disorder. Struggles for survival, climate and energy Justice

This year’s EuroMemo Group conference will be jointly hosted with King’s College London (Department of European & International Studies) and will take place on 2- 4 September 2022 (Friday - Sunday) in London.

Against the background of multiple and deepening crises, and in particular the war in Ukraine, this year’s conference will address the profound implications of on-going geopolitical changes for the future of the EU, with special reference to the much-needed socio-ecological transformation.

We invite proposals for papers on the conference topics from the academic community as well as from (activist) researchers working on European and international issues. Proposals for papers together with a short abstract (maximum 250 words) should be submitted by 15 June 2022 at latest to: info@euromemo.eu.

Further information can be found here.

Thank you very much for your support and best wishes,

the EuroMemo Group Steering Committee

EuroMemo Group

EUROMEMORANDUM 2022: Caught between the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine: the EU in 2022

The new EuroMemorandum is now published.

This EuroMemorandum draws on discussions and papers presented at the 27th Workshop on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe, organised by the EuroMemo Group online.

With the war on Ukraine escalating on a day-to-day basis, this year’s EuroMemorandum is published in the midst of a dramatic situation, that may turn out to be a turning point for the development of the European Union. Needless to say that this year’s report has a particular focus on the Ukraine crisis. We demand in particular (i) to step up humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, resp., (ii) call for debt cancellation for Ukrainian external debt, and (iii) argue that the EU should resist tendencies toward securitisation and militarisation and instead focus on social and ecological transformation as well as peace-building.

Here you can find the new EuroMemorandum and the relevant translations.

More than 100 economists and social scientists from all over Europe and beyond have declared their support for the new EuroMemorandum.

It is still possible to declare your support. If you wish to do so please send an e-mail to info@euromemo.eu.

BEYOND DEGLOBALIZATION AND GLOBALIZATION: IN SEARCH FOR PLANETARY CO-EXISTENCE

In search of alternatives, globalists, from the right to the left, stress the necessity to solve global problems via global solutions, even acknowledging that they are improbable, while others insist on local and grassroots solutions, even at a time of increased exclusionary policies. The best way to leave behind related futile strategic debates is to overcome spatial fetishism, especially the temptation to privilege, either politically or morally, a certain spatial scale.

However, policy space differs according to scale and according to the specific insertion into the transnational division of labor. Therefore, in order to formulate a socially and ecologically sustainable development strategy, the socio-spatial context needs to be critically reflected. This is valid for any national or European industrial policy strategy but especially if the stimulation of local development is the main objective. Community Wealth Being represents an innovative example of the latter that seeks to strengthen self-reliance by increasing local policy space. Like the foundational economy and New Municipalism it offers alternatives "from below” against the turmoil caused by neoliberal globalization.

This Webinar is taking place online.You can register here!

EXTENTION FOR THE CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION UNTIL THE 01 AUGUST - 27th ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC POLICY IN EUROPE - ONLINE

Responses of the EU to the Covid-19 crisis and the demand for a solidaristic and green recovery

This year’s EuroMemo Group conference will take place from 14 - 24 September 2021 in an Online-Format due to Covid-19. Relevant access details will be available in due course.

This year’s conference will particularly address the Covid-19 pandemic as it has exacerbated the deep economic and social crisis in the world and the EU. While the ‘Next Generation EU’ recovery plan follows a novel and - in part - rather solidaristic and green reaction to the economic fallout of the crisis, the management of the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed severe shortcomings and led to profound frustrations and distress amongst the EU citizenry. The crisis has also shifted political priorities. The European Green Deal and the implementation of the EU Recovery Plan are threatened by the concrete crisis management and especially by the European Semester, which is both undemocratic and dogmatically neoliberal. At the same time, tendencies towards populism and authoritarianism are deepening, not "only” in CEE countries such as Hungary and Poland. With respect to international affairs, the EU is largely incapable of formulating coherent policy answers to current challenges, in particular with respect to much needed EU and global health policies to fight the pandemic, and in a longer term trajectory, with respect to emerging geopolitical rivalries involving the US and China, but also the EU. Last but not least, the global effort to combat climate change and biodiversity loss demand explicit European policy responses.

The Covid-19 pandemic could thus become a turning point not only for global developments per se, but also with respect to the role of the EU with its gaps between "core and periphery”, old and new member states, EMU members and non EMU members. At the current juncture, it is thus particularly pertinent to ask about the need for fundamentally shifting policy priorities in order to address the grand societal challenges of the present and the future. Instead of a policy approach that focuses on returning ‘back to normal’, the overall trajectory of progressive politics must focus on a solidaristic and green recovery as well as socio-ecological transformation. The annual conference of the EuroMemo Group provides an opportunity to discuss contributions from diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines to this end. It wants especially to invite colleagues, students and civil society activists from CEE countries.

Further information can be found here.

Thank you very much for your support and best wishes,

the EuroMemo Group Steering Committee

THE EUROMEMO GROUP SUPPORTS THE OPEN LETTER ON A STRONG EU RENEWED SUSTAINABLE FINANCE STRATEGY

Civil society and ethical banks worry that the European Commission’s new strategy on ‘sustainable finance’ is set to leave out ambitious measures.

Brussels, 24 June 2021- With the Paris Agreement, the European Union and its member states have committed to "making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development” (Article 2.1.c). In parallel, its European Green Deal assigns a key role to private finance in underpinning its green ambitions. Yet, when it comes to concrete political initiatives, the European Commission and the entire European Union back away from ambitious goals.

57 organisations have sent a letter to the Commission today voicing their concerns that the upcoming new version of the strategy on sustainable finance will not include the tools necessary to divert investments from the harmful to the sustainable. It comes on the back of a lengthy discussion on the Taxonomy for sustainable activities (or Green taxonomy) which is in peril of becoming watered down severely.

The campaigners argue there is a strong need for a sign that the EU will still aim at effective measures to divert financial flows, in particular in four ways explained in the letter.

The letter can be found here

The press release can be found here

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION - 27th ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC POLICY IN EUROPE - ONLINE

Responses of the EU to the Covid-19 crisis and the demand for a solidaristic and green recovery

This year’s EuroMemo Group conference will take place from 14 - 24 September 2021 in an Online-Format due to Covid-19. Relevant access details will be available in due course.

Further information can be found here.

Thank you very much for your support and best wishes,

the EuroMemo Group Steering Committee

TRANSLATIONS OF THE EUROMEMORANDUM 2021

Translations of the EuroMemorandum 2021 are now also available in Portuguese and Italian.

If you wish to support the EuroMemorandum 2020 please fill in the declaration for support below and send it to:info@euromemo.eu.

SUMMARIES OF THE EUROMEMORANDUM 2021

Summaries of the EuroMemorandum 2021 are now also available in Greek and Polish

As in previous years the full version and the summary will soon be available in other languages too.

If you wish to support the EuroMemorandum 2020 please fill in the declaration for support below and send it to:info@euromemo.eu.

EUROMEMORANDUM 2021 - A POST-COVID 19 GLOBAL-LOCAL AGENDA FOR A SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION IN EUROPE

More than 200 economists and social scientists from all over Europe and beyond have declared their support for the new EuroMemorandum (click here for the list of signatories).

The EuroMemorandum 2021 can be downloaded here.

The EuroMemorandum 2021 is also available in:

French: Un agenda global-local post-Covid 19 pour une transformation socioécologique en Europe

As in previous years the full version and the summary will soon be available in other languages too.

If you wish to support the EuroMemorandum 2021 please fill in the declaration for support below and send it to:info@euromemo.eu.

This EuroMemorandum draws on discussions and papers presented at the 26th Workshop on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe, organised by the EuroMemo Group, from 08-25 September 2020 online.

CALL FOR SUPPORT: EUROMEMORANDUM 2021 - EXTENDED DEADLINE: 15 FEBRUARY

A post-Covid 19 global-local agenda for a socio-ecological transformation in Europe

This EuroMemorandum draws on discussions and papers presented at the 26th Workshop on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe, organised by the EuroMemo Group from 08-25 September 2020 online.

The Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in more than 400,000 deaths in Europe in 2020, has led to a major economic crisis and has tragically exposed the serious flaws of the predominant economic model of neoliberal capitalism, both in the European Union and beyond. As a consequence of the Corona pandemic, the nation state has returned as the economic agent of last resort. This has produced ambivalent results. At least initially, EU member states and the Commission imposed temporary export restrictions for medical products. Thereafter, more coordinated responses emerged. Member States across the EU introduced large fiscal programmes to mitigate the economic and social impact of the deep economic contraction due to Covid-19.

The Commission suspended the extremely restrictive fiscal and state aid rules, and the European Central Bank introduced sizeable liquidity injections to stabilize the banking system. What is more, the markedly asymmetrical economic impact of Covid-19 across EU member states led to the decision to finally introduce mutualised forms of European debt with the Next Generation EU Programme. While this is a significant development, it remains doubtful whether the size of this initiative and the speed of its implementation will be enough to make a significant contribution to the recovery of the European economy.

As already emphasized in last year’s EuroMemorandum, the Euromemo Group firmly believes that a comprehensive and radical programme for socio-ecological transformation (SET) is required to achieve the necessary transition to a sustainable future. In this year’s report, we focus on a number of dimensions that have too often remained sidelined in Green Deal discussions, but which merit particular attention.

The EuroMemorandum can be found: here

The EuroMemorandum 2021 will be published together with a list of signatories.

Therefore, if you are in broad agreement with the main lines of argument of this year's EuroMemorandum, please express your support. In order to submit your declaration of support to the EuroMemo Group, please fill in the form: here

or send a short text via E-Mail, and send it back via email to info@euromemo.eu.

Please distribute the EuroMemorandum 2021 widely.

Thank you very much for your support and best wishes,

the EuroMemo Group Steering Committee

WSF2021: A POST-COVID 19 GLOBAL-LOCAL AGENDA FOR A SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION IN EUROPE - EUROMEMORANDUM 2021

Recording of the Panel discussion with Marcella Corsi, Judith Dellheim, Laura Horn - Wednesday 27 January, 10.00 - 12.00 (GMT+1)

In this online panel at the virtual World Social Forum 2021, Marcella Corsi, Judith Dellheim and Laura Horn discussed the EuroMemorandum 2021.

The recording can be found: here

WSF2021: A POST-COVID 19 GLOBAL-LOCAL AGENDA FOR A SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION IN EUROPE - EUROMEMORANDUM 2021

Panel discussion with Marcella Corsi, Judith Dellheim, Laura Horn - Wednesday 27 January, 10.00 - 12.00 (GMT+1)

In this online panel at the virtual World Social Forum 2021, Marcella Corsi, Judith Dellheim and Laura Horn will discuss the EuroMemorandum 2021. We invite participants to join us for the discussion and bring in their own critiques, and alternatives for a socio-ecological transformation in Europe.

The Coronavirus pandemic has led to more than 400,000 death in Europe in 2020, has opened up a major economic crisis and has tragically exposed the serious flaws of the predominant economic model of neoliberal capitalism, both in the European Union and beyond. As a consequence of the Corona pandemic, we have witnessed the return of the state as the economic agent of last resort. This has produced ambivalent results. At least initially, EU member states and the Commission imposed temporary export restrictions for medical products. Thereafter, more coordinated responses were forthcoming. Member States across the EU introduced large fiscal programmes to mitigate the economic and social impact of the deep economic contraction due to Covid-19. The Commission suspended the extremely restrictive fiscal as well as state-aid rules, and the European Central Bank introduced sizeable liquidity injections to stabilize the banking system. What is more, the markedly asymmetrical economic impact of Covid-19 across EU member states led to the decision to finally introduce mutualised forms of European debt with the Next Generation EU Programme. While a significant development, it remains doubtful whether the size of this initiative and the speed of its implementation will suffice to make a significant contribution to the recovery of the European economy.

Other important policy initiatives, and in particular the European Green Deal (EGD) as the lighthouse project of the new Commission, have meanwhile come under pressure. It is all too obvious that powerful interests are using the current economic crisis as a pretext for pushing back against more ambitious policies to combat climate change. It must be clear that, given the EU’s climate targets, the economic policy decisions taken in the course of the next few years will largely determine the trajectory of the European economy until the end of this decade. They will thus be decisive for whether we will move towards replacing our current socially and environmentally unsustainable modes of production and consumption, or become exposed to an ever more intensifying social and environmental crisis dynamics.

Details and zoom link can be found at the WSF website: here

The FB event can be found: here

Open Letter regarding the economic impacts of the EU-Mercosur agreement

More than 190 economists have signed a statement that criticizes the Sustainability Impact Assessment of the EU - Mercosur Association Agreements commissioned by the European Commission for its methodological deficits and asks for a more balanced assessment, that takes in particular the impact of the agreement on deforestation in the Amazon into account.

The statement can be found:here

26th Annual Conference on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe - ONLINE

The recorded session of Plenary II: The future of global governance and the role of the EU is now online available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SuNfOohMHc

Best wishes,
The Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group

Marija Bartl, Marcella Corsi, Judith Dellheim, Wlodzimierz Dymarski, Marica Frangakis, John Grahl, Peter Herrmann, Laura Horn, Maria Karamessini, Jeremy Leaman, Mahmood Messkoub, Ronan O’Brien, Heikki Patomäki, Werner Raza, Magnus Ryner, Angela Wigger

European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe

E-Mail >> info@euromemo.eu
Internet >> www.euromemo.eu

26th Annual Conference on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe - Plenary II: The future of global governance and the role of the EU on 22 September at 16:00 (CET)

We are looking forward to the next Plenary of the EuroMemo Conference 2020. It will cover the future of global governance and the role of the EU.

The panelists will be:
Prof. Ingo Venzke (University of Amsterdam and Director of the Amsterdam Center for International Law)
Jan Orbie (Associate Professor at the University of Ghent and Member of the Centre for EU Studies)
Angela Wigger (Associate Professor at Radboud University and EuroMemo SC)

If you want to participate, please send an E-Mail to info@euromemo.eu

Best wishes,
The Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group

European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe

E-Mail >> info@euromemo.eu
Internet >> www.euromemo.eu

26th Annual Conference on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe - ONLINE

The recorded session of Plenary I: Key challenges and proposals for a socio-ecological transformation of the EU in the shadow of the twin crises of climate change and COVID-19 is now online available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bp29jgYVD0

Best wishes,
The Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group

European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe

E-Mail >> info@euromemo.eu
Internet >> www.euromemo.eu

26th Annual Conference on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe - ONLINE

The recorded session of the Opening Plenary on the Political and Economic State of the European Union in the shadow of COVID-19: deep crisis, lack of solidarity, and the threat of further disintegration is now online available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ9Ide-JXus

Best wishes,
The Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group

European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe

E-Mail >> info@euromemo.eu
Internet >> www.euromemo.eu

26th Annual Conference on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe - ONLINE

A post-COVID 19 global-local agenda for a socio-ecological transformation of Europe

This year’s EuroMemo Group conference will take place from 8 - 25 September 2020 in an Online-Format due to Covid-19.

We would like to invite you to attend the conference and join the discussions at the Parallel Workshops.

The workshop programme is now available: >> here

The workshop schedule will be the following one:

Wednesday, 23 September 2020

09.00 - 13.00 Parallel Workshops

Workshop 1 (Macroeconomic Policies)
Workshop 2 (Critical Perspectives on the European Green Deal)

14.00 - 18.00 Parallel Workshops

Workshop 3 (Feminist approaches to a Green New Deal)
Workshop 4 (The social and solidarity economy)

Thursday, 24 September 24 2020

09.00 - 13.00 Parallel Workshops

Workshop 5 (Recalibrating production and consumption systems and the role of industrial policy)
Workshop 6 (The international dimension of socio-ecological transformation)

All those who are registered will be receiving the access codes and the complete conference agenda after the period for registration is closed (7 September 2020 at noon).

Best wishes,
The Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group

European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe

E-Mail >> info@euromemo.eu
Internet >> www.euromemo.eu

EuroMemorandum 2020: A Green New Deal for Europe - Opportunities and Challenges is now also available in Portuguese

The EuroMemorandum 2020 is now also available in Portuguese. It was edited by Luís Lopes and Margarida Antunes.

More information about the Memorandum and the translation can be found here.

Call for Papers and Participation

26th Annual Conference on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe - ONLINE

A post-COVID 19 global-local agenda for a socio-ecological transformation of Europe

20 May 2020

Dear colleagues,

This year’s EuroMemo Group conference will take place from 8 - 25 September 2020 in an Online-Format due to Covid-19. Relevant access details will be available in due course.

Following up on the theme of last year’s conference on the need for a Green New Deal for Europe, this year’s conference will particularly address the need for a profound socio-ecological transformation of Europe, as perhaps the last chance for a progressive form of European integration. In response to the twin crises of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus will be on discussing policy proposals on how we can establish a truly transformative agenda that deepens global cooperation on vital issues of humanity like climate change, public health and migration, while at the same time reinforcing local sustainable development in the EU.

The programme for the Online-Conference is as follows:

Tuesday, 8 September 2020
16.00 - 18:00 Opening Plenary: The Political and Economic State of the European Union in the shadow of COVID-19: deep crisis, lack of solidarity, and the threat of further disintegration

Keynote I: The Political State of the Union
Claude Serfati (Associate Researcher at the Institut de Recherche Économique et Sociale; Senior lecturer at the Université Versailles-Saint-Quentin)

Keynote II: The Economic State of the Union
Euclid Tsakalotos (tbc) (Professor of Economics, University of Athens, and former Minister of Finance of Greece)

Keynote III: The economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 crisis: a feminist perspective
Maria Karamessini (Professor in Labour Economics and Economics of the Welfare State, Panteion University Athens)

Tuesday, 15 September 2020
16.00 - 18:00 Plenary I: Key challenges and proposals for a socio-ecological transformation of the EU in the shadow of the twin crises of climate change and COVID-19

Panelists:
Prof. Murat Arsel (International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Dr. Joachim Spangenberg (Vice-President of the Sustainable Europe Research Institut)
Prof. Leila Simona Talani (King’s College London)

Tuesday, 22 September 2020
16.00 - 18.00 Plenary II: The future of global governance and the role of the EU

Panelists:
Prof. Ingo Venzke (University of Amsterdam and Director of the Amsterdam Center for International Law)
Jan Orbie (Associate Professor at the University of Ghent and Member of the Centre for EU Studies
Angela Wigger (Associate Professor at Radboud University and EuroMemo SC)

Wednesday, 23 September 2020
09.00 - 13.00 Parallel Workshops
14.00 - 18.00 Parallel Workshops

Thursday, 24 September 24 2020
09.00 - 13.00 Parallel Workshops
16.00 - 18.00 Final Plenary: Policy Proposals from Workshops

Friday, 25 September 2020
09.00 - 12.00 Planning Meeting: EuroMemorandum 2021 and other activities

We would like to invite you to attend the conference and to submit proposals for contributions to the Parallel Workshops.

The workshop programme is now available: here

All the information with regard to registration and paper proposals are available: here

Please note that there will be no mandatory conference fees. Instead, we ask colleagues with institutional support to pay a voluntary fee of 80 Euro and encourage other participants to make a small donation to our bank account. The bank account details are:

Account Name: EuroMemo Group
Name of Bank: Bankhaus Schelhammer & Schattera AG
Address: Goldschmiedgasse 3, A-1010 Wien, Austria
IBAN: AT67 1919 0000 0028 2632
BIC: BSSWATWW

Please indicate as payment reference: "Donation/Registration Fee EuroMemo Conference 2020"

We look forward to seeing you online!

Best wishes, The Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group

European Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe

EuroMemo Group
E-Mail >> info@euromemo.eu
Internet >> www.euromemo.eu

Press releases of the Covid-19 statement by the EuroMemo Group

14 May 2020

In April, 400 scholars and researchers across Europe called for European solidarity by supporting the statement of the EuroMemo Group, a pan-European network of economists and researchers. The statement drafted by the Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group demanded a profound change of European politics.The call for solidarity was also published in several newspapers and media outlets across Europe.

You can find the press releases: here

Contact: info@euromemo.eu

Many thanks for your support and kind regards,

The Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group

The COVID-19 crisis - a turning point for the European project. 400 scholars and researchers across Europe call for European solidarity

2 April 2020

In a statement drafted by the EuroMemo Group, a pan-European network of economists and researchers, more than 400 scholars and researchers demand a profound change of European politics. The statement criticizes the neoliberal bent of economic policies during the last decades and particularly since the financial crisis of 2008, which have favoured austerity policies, as well as underfunding and privatization of public services, the repercussions of which are now severely affecting the ability of governments to tackle the impact of the Corona crisis.

The statement calls on governments to support crisis policies based on European solidarity, in particular the introduction of Corona Bonds and similar forms of debt mutualisation. In order to rebuild the EU economy in the aftermath of the crisis, the statement demands a reform of the European Green Deal prioritising social policies and an enlargement of the fiscal basis for common European policies, in particular by introducing Eurobonds and a federal EU budget. The global impact of the COVID-19 crisis, especially on the emerging and developing countries must be contained by a substantial European contribution to development assistance and debt relief.

Contact: info@euromemo.eu

You can find the statement here: Statement of the EuroMemo Group - COVID 19 Crisis

You can find the list of endorsment here:List of endorsement (4th May - 12:00)

The statement will also be translated in other languages. You will find them here soon:

Croatian:Izjava Euro-Memo grupe: COVID 19 kriza kao prekretnica za europski projekt

Danish:Covid-19 krisen - et vendepunkt for det Europæiske project

Dutch:The COVID-19 crisis - een keerpunt voor het Europese project

Finnish:COVID-19-kriisi - eurooppalaisen projektin käännekohta

French:La crise COVID-19 - un tournant pour le projet européen

German:Die COVID-19 Krise - ein Wendepunkt für das Europäische Projekt

Greek: Covid 19 - EuroMemo Statement in Greek

Italian:La crisi Covid-19. Un punto di svolta per il progetto europeo

Polish:Kryzys COVID-19 - punkt zwrotny dla projektu europejskiego

Portuguese:A crise da COVID-19 - um ponto de viragem para o projeto europeu

Swedish:COVID-19 Krisen - En Vändpunkt for Europaprojektet

Many thanks for your support and kind regards,

The Steering Committee of the EuroMemo Group

EuroMemorandum 2020: A Green New Deal for Europe - Opportunities and Challenges is now also available in Polish

The EuroMemorandum 2020 is now also available in Polish. It was edited by Włodzimierz Dymarski.

More information about the Memorandum and the translation can be found here.

EuroMemorandum 2020: A Green New Deal for Europe - Opportunities and Challenges

Find the document here.

Given its urgency, this year’s EuroMemorandum puts special emphasis on the climate crisis and other planetary boundaries. In tandem with deepening social inequalities, renascent authoritarian nationalisms and the crisis of global governance, they urgently need comprehensive and effective policy responses. The EuroMemorandum 2020 critically analyses recent economic developments in Europe against this background and makes the case for a properly designed and sufficiently funded Green New Deal.

More than 220 economists and social scientists from all over Europe and beyond have declared their support for the new EuroMemorandum. More details and the full document can be found here.

EuroMemo Group Conference 2019

This year’s EuroMemo Group conference was jointly hosted with the Paris University 13 and took place on 26-28 September 2019.

The conference was dedicated to the topic "A Green New Deal for Europe - Opportunities and Challenges". Against the background of the deepening climate and environmental crisis, this year’s conference particularly addressed the need for socio-ecological transformation in Europe and critically discussed related policy proposals, in particular the Green New Deal.

The plenary presentations and presented papers can be found at the conference website.

Discussion Paper No. 01/2019

The EuroMemo Group is happy to announce the EuroMemo Group Discussion Paper No. 01/2019 The '4th wave of industrial revolution' - a promise blind to social consequences, power and ecological impact in the era of 'digital capitalism', authored by Birgit Mahnkopf, professor emeritus of European Politics at the Berlin School of Economics and Law and member of the Institute for International Political Economy Berlin.

The Discussion Paper Series is intended to open up discussions on currently relevant economic, political and social issues in the European Union that are controversially debated within the left. Scientists, including young scholars and students, are invited to make critical contributions.

More information and previous issues can be found here.

We mourn Gunter Quaißer (1963 - 2018)

After a long illness Gunter Quaißer died on July 23rd, 2018. A long-standing coordinator of the German Memo Group (Arbeitsgruppe Alternative Wirtschaftspolitik e.V.), he was a strong supporter of the EuroMemo Group.

We have lost a valuable friend.

Elmar Altvater died

The EuroMemo Group grieves for Elmar Altvater, an exemplary scholar, tireless activist and beautiful person.

Obituary

Book publication - The Deepening Crisis of the European Union: The Case for Radical Change

In relation to the 18th EuroMemo Group Conference in Poznan, Poland, the Poznan University of Economics published the book 'The Deepening Crisis of the European Union: The Case for Radical Change'. It was edited by Włodzimierz Dymarski, Marica Frangakis and Jeremy Leaman of the EuroMemo Group. More information can be found here.