The financial crisis and the ensuing economic recession have seriously undermined the dominating neo-liberal growth agenda which was the basis for most macro-economic policies in Europe in the last 25 years. The belief in the free unchained market toward more growth has been shaken with some policymakers arguings for a return to neo-Keynesian and interventionist policies.

Driving for economic recovery in an environmentally challenged world, optimizing resource efficiency while maintaining biodiversity and dealing with energy, climate and water issues dominate the global policy agenda. These trends show that our global existing models of production and consumption need rethinking.

With the economic crisis pushing substantial rethinks, competition policy in both the EU and the US is set to take new directions. What changes should we expect from the new administration in Washington and the new EU-level appointments in Brussels? What are the current challenges to be addressed, and what possible solutions may be offered by a transatlantic exchange of best practices? Against this background, Friends of Europe and the Atlantic Council of the United States co-organised a high-level roundtable that included the participation of EU Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia and Commissioner of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) J. Thomas Rosch.

The digital economy is central to establishing conditions for economic growth, productivity gains, job creation, social cohesion, and in addressing the challenges of an aging population and climate change.  While EU governments wrangle over the size and shape of economic stimulation measures, what contribution can new technologies make to staving off recession?

European and Russian divisions over how to deal with the looming global energy crunch shone through at a Friends of Europe debate, co-organised with Total, on the role that energy companies should play in ensuring the EU’s energy security and combating global warming.