ECIPE Seminar – What can be learnt from past experiences of European industrial policies?
Is Europe again flirting with an activist industrial policy as model for increased competitiveness? Events in the last few years suggest that the trend towards a non-interventionist industrial policy may have come to a halt. The financial crisis of 2008-09 and the severe recession that followed prompted governments to give financial support to industries, which had been hard hit by falling demand. These interventions were in response to exceptional events, but seemed to indicate a greater willingness on the part of governments to support industries or companies that were deemed to be too important to fail. Will this trend continue – and what can new efforts to design industrial policies learn from Europe’s past experience in that field?
You are cordially invited to an afternoon seminar on European industrial policy. At this event Sir Geoffrey Owen will present a new study on European industrial policy. Sir Geoffrey, a Senior Fellow at the Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science, is a former editor-in-chief of the Financial Times and a leading authority on European industrial policy. He will talk about ways to define the government’s role, and the balance between horizontal and sectoral policies. His aim is to identify successes as well as failures, drawing on European as well as American and Japanese experience, and to present some conclusions about what policies are likely to be effective in current circumstances. Mr Chris Allen, a Head of Unit at the European Commission’s DG Enterprise and Industry, will comment Sir Geoffrey’s presentation.
The meeting will be followed by a wine reception.
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