ECIPE Webinar: EU Economic Policymaking and the Brussels Effect – Lessons from East Germany
Join us for an ECIPE webinar on the challenges and opportunities of EU economic policymaking, viewed through the experiences of businesses and entrepreneurs in East Germany.
Drawing on first-hand insights, this discussion will explore how structural regional disadvantages, EU funding, and entrepreneurial innovation shape economic development – and whether EU policymaking is driving real progress or distorting competition.
The conversation will address several key questions:
- What can EU lawmakers learn from East Germany’s economic transformation for regional competitiveness?
- How can the EU boost innovation in regions with weak value-creation hubs and low private investment?
- Do EU funding programmes crowd out private investment, especially in AI and digital services?
- How could tax incentives better promote startups and established firms in the EU?
- How can regulatory simplifications and EU-wide legal harmonisation drive high-tech startup growth, including in AI?
Programme
Speakers:
Marion Walsmann, MEP, European Parliament
Konstanze Olschewski, CEO, Alpha Analytics and PhnX Alpha GmbH, Jena, Germany
Dr Martin Schiele, CEO and Co-Founder, AI|UI GmbH, Ilmenau, Germany
Moderator:
Dr Matthias Bauer, Director, ECIPE, Brussels
This event is supported by ZeTT – the Center for Digital Transformation Thuringia, a regional network and think tank based in East Germany that provides consultancy services to companies and employees. ZeTT actively monitors the economic development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across various sectors, focusing on innovation investments, workforce strategies, and digital transformation trends. ZeTT is funded by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) and the State of Thuringia (TMASGFF), with support from the European Social Fund (ESF Plus). Find the latest ZeTT radar trends here.
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