EU’s Path to Competitiveness. How Digital, Energy and Health can lead the Way Forward

martedì 11 Gennaio 2022 ore 09:00 - 11:30


On Tuesday 11 January, from 9:00 to 11:30 CET, I-Com, the Institute for Competitiveness, hosted its Symposium entitled “EU’s Path to Competitiveness. How Digital, Energy and Health can lead the Way Forward”.

The event was held online and it was live-streamed on I-Com website.

As Covid-19 pandemic has put EU’s economy and growth at jeopardy, relaunching EU’s competitiveness has gained momentum. However it is to date not easy to foresee the challenges and perspectives that lie ahead of this path.

In light of this, the European Commission has thus been developing new regulatory frameworks on key fields aimed at drastically changing its industry and economy while strengthening its competitiveness, particularly on digital policy, health and energy.

In particular, strong emphasis has been put on these latter during Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union Speech in mid-September. Ultimately, the digital, health and energy sectors will be key for EU’s recovery and competitiveness both internally and international level.

In order to analyze the way forward on EU competitiveness on these three fields, in Panel I the discussion touched upon EU’s path towards the Digital Decade. In Panel II, the event explored EU’s preparedness to future health crises and the European Health Union. Finally, Panel III concerned perspectives and challenges for EU’s industry from the Green Deal to the Fit for 55 Package.

Please find attached the event’s programme.

I-Com_Symposium_Final_Programme

Please also find as follows I-Com Presentations for the three Panels.

I-Com_PPT_Symposium_Digital

I-Com_PPT_Symposium_Energy

I-Com_PPT_Symposium_Health

Speakers confirmed:

[tp no_translate]Gilda AMOROSI
Head of Energy Policy, Climate & Sustainability Unit, Eurelectric[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Gilda Amorosi is the Head of Energy Policy, Climate & Sustainability Unit at Eurelectric. She is a Public affairs and communications professional with years of experience in the electricity sector. Before leading a team of advisors in charge of the main topics of the Fit for 55 Package, she was a policy advisor specialising in social sustainability.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Julie BEAUFILS
Secretary General, European Electrical Contractors Association, EuropeOn[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Julie Beaufils is the Secretary General of EuropeOn, the European trade body for electrical contractors. Julie has been working in European affairs for the past 4 years in another membership-based association and a consulting firm. Her experience allowed her to develop an extensive network in EU affairs as well as a great understanding of European public policies. She attended Sciences Po Paris and King’s College London, graduating with a Master’s degree in Public Affairs. She speaks English, French and Spanish fluently.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Jasmin BATTISTA
Deputy Head of Unit Digital Transition, Industry & Single Market, Secretariat-General, European Commission[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Jasmin Battista, is the Deputy Head of Unit for Digital Transition, Industry & Single Market at the Secretariat-General, European Commission. Previously she was a member of cabinet of the European Commissioner and Vice-President Andrus Ansip, in charge of the digital single market. Ms. Battista also worked as a case officer in the Directorate for Competition of the European Commission and as a Référendaire at the Court of First Instance (now General Court) in Luxembourg.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Christian BORGGREEN
Vice-President and Head of Brussels Office, CCIA Europe[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Christian Borggreen is Vice President and Head of the Brussels office of the Computer & Communications Industry Association. He leads CCIA’s work on a wide range of EU and international policy issues including international trade, data flows, and Internet governance. Mr Borggreen also leads CCIA’s engagement with international institutions such as the WTO, ITU, IGF and the OECD. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration comprised by university studies in the United States, Argentina, Italy, and Denmark.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Simone BOSELLI
Public Affairs Director, EURORDIS Rare Diseases Europe[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Simone Boselli joined EURORDIS in April 2017 as a Public Affairs Director. A member of the European and International Advocacy team, Simone contributes to European policy development and specifically represents EURORDIS in policy discussions on access to therapies, on the underlying challenges in the field of the value assessment, pricing and reimbursement of orphan medicines, and on current initiatives towards improved access (e.g. MoCA).[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Carlos CALVO AMBEL
Senior Director, Non-Road and Analysis, Transport & Environment (T&E)[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Carlos joined Transport and Environment (T&E) in 2015 after working at the European Commission’s climate directorate and the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU. Currently he coordinates T&E’s work on non-road transport policy, covering energy, shipping, aviation and broader climate policy, including the Effort Sharing Regulation. He also oversees T&E’s trends and analysis team, which ensures our quantitative analysis is of the highest standard. Carlos studied environmental sciences in Seville and completed a Master’s degree in public administration at Columbia University. [/tp]

[tp no_translate]Claudia CANEVARI
Head of Unit Energy Efficiency, DG ENER, European Commission[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Claudia Canevari has been working at the European Commission for 25 years. She joined DG Energy in 2012. Previously, she was policy assistant of the Director General in DG Communication, member of Cabinet of Commissioner Stavros Dimas (environment) and coordinating the international negotiations in the climate change team of DG Environment. A lawyer by education, she is admitted to the bar in Italy and she holds an LLM with merit from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Stefano DA EMPOLI
President, I-Com – the Institute for Competitiveness[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Stefano is the president and principal policy analyst at I-Com, the Institute for Competitiveness. He currently teaches political economy and economic policy at Roma Tre University, in Rome. Stefano is a graduate of the Coripe Consortium for Research and Continuing Education in Economics (Piemonte, Italy), where he received a Master’s Degree in Economics, and the George Mason University (Virginia, USA) where he obtained his MA (Economics). He has authored numerous publications on economic themes, particularly with regard to policy and regulation of the energy market and infrastructural services and the governance of the institutions.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Martin FITZGERALD
Deputy Director General for the European Healthcare Distribution Association (GIRP)[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Martin is the Deputy Director General for the European Healthcare Distribution Association (GIRP). Martin advises the Association on the matrix of legal issues impacting upon the interests of the pharmaceutical full-line wholesale sector in Europe. He also represents the association externally and in this respect works with the European institutions such as the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council as well as with other European and international organisations such as the Council of Europe and the WHO.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Thibaut KLEINER
Director Policy Strategy and Outreach, DG CNECT, European Commission[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Thibaut Kleiner is the Director for Policy, Strategy and Outreach at DG Connect. He has worked since 2001 at the European Commission. The first ten years of his career in the Commission were spent in the area of competition policy (merger, antitrust and State aid). From January 2014 to June 2016, he was head of unit in charge of network technologies (5G and Internet of Things) in DG Connect. In 2019 he became head of the unit in charge of Research Strategy and Coordination. An economist by training, Thibaut holds a Master from HEC Paris and a PhD from the London School of Economics.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Philippe LAMBERTS
MEP, Member of the Conference of Presidents[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Philippe Lamberts was elected to the European Parliament for his first term in June 2009, during which he mainly dealt with banking and financial regulations. On 25 May 2014, he was re-elected as MEP, and one month later became Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group following an internal election process. After five years dedicated to strengthening the position of environmentalists within and outside the European institutions, Philippe was re-elected in 2019 for a third term to the European Parliament and re-elected as co-president of the Greens/EFA Group.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Marcin NOWACKI
Vice President, Polish Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP)[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Marcin Nowacki has been involved in the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) since 2011. As part of the ZPP, he coordinates departments responsible for law and legislation as well as relations. Marcin also oversees all foreign relations and partnerships, including the ZPP Representation in Brussels, participating in key regulatory processes for Polish entrepreneurs in the EU. Nowacki is a graduate of international relations at the Faculty of International and Political Relations of the University of Lodz.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Pedro RODRIGUES DUARTE
Legal Counsellor, Perm. Rep. of Portugal to the EU[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Pedro Rodrigues-Duarte was born in Lisbon, being a Portuguese citizen. He is a lawyer by training and an European Affairs specialist.
He has been a civil servant for more than 20 years, first at the Ministry of Justice and then at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He now holds a position as Legal Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the EU.

[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Davide SABBADIN
Senior Policy Officer for Climate and Circular Economy, European Environmental Bureau (EEB)[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Davide is Senior Policy Officer for Climate and Circular Economy. He tries to bridge the gap between CE policies and Climate policies to decarbonize industry and the heating sector. In the past he has been working for a long time at Legambiente, in the fields of energy efficiency, refrigerant gases and circular economy. He holds a master’s degree in political sciences from the University of Padua, Italy.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Vanessa TURNER
Senior Advisor for Competition, BEUC[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Ms. Turner is a Senior Advisor for Competition at BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation, focusing in particular on competition law enforcement in Digital Markets. Vanessa was previously a Competition Partner at Freshfields and Allen & Overy in Brussels. In between these roles, she was a Member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Competition Policy at the European Commission, Special Advisor to the US FTC in Washington DC, and General Counsel and Executive Vice President at Visa Europe.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]George VALIOTIS
Executive Director, European Health Management Association (EHMA)[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]George is the Executive Director of EHMA and he represents the voice of health management to many European and international bodies including the European Parliament, the European Commission, the World Health Organisation, Industry bodies, and community groups. He has an active role in all of EHMA’s projects by providing high level advice on health management matters. George has worked in executive roles specializing in health management, policy, research, systems thinking, human rights, education and training.[/tp]

[tp no_translate]Dineke ZEEGERS PAGET
Executive Director, European Public Health Association (EUPHA)[/tp]

Bio

[tp no_translate]Dineke started working for EUPHA in October 1997. Trained as a public health lawyer, she has worked at the World Health Organisation in Geneva, the University of Groningen, and the Federal Ministry of Public Health in Bern before joining EUPHA. Her areas of responsibility within EUPHA include strategy planning, collaboration with members and partners, legal and financial issues, and representing EUPHA in the widest sense.[/tp]