Institut Veblen / Veblen Institute

Critical Economics Festival

2025-10-10T08:00:00Z

The Veblen Institute is a partner of the Economia Critica Festival organised by the Fondazione Feltrinelli in Milan on 10 October 2025.

Madeleine Péron, Industry and Transition Programme Manager at the Veblen Institute, will participate in the round table discussion ‘MODELS OF CAPITALISM: Once upon a time there was the entrepreneurial state... and today?' from 11:15am to 12:15pm with Bruno Settis, University of Pavia; Simone Gasperin, Senior Policy Advisor, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR); Daniela Felisini, University of Tor Vergata

To register and get all the information, click here.

What are we talking about?

Behind the rhetoric of the ‘invisible hand' of the market, the dynamics of recent decades are clear: the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

To shape a different future, we need to rethink our development model, where what matters is not only the short-term profit of a minority, but greater social justice in the name of shared growth. Is it possible to rethink a renewed role for the state in the economy in order to break new ground?

The second edition of the Critical Economics Festival, ‘State Capitalism, State of Capitalism', directed by Professor Emanuele Felice, aims to provide an opportunity for open and constructive debate to examine the state of capitalism on the one hand and to rethink the role of the state in promoting a more equitable and just society on the other.

Some of the most representative voices on the national and international scene are participating in the Festival, including Vinod Aggarwal, Danielle Guizzo, Mabel Lu Miao, Madeleine Péron, Ernesto Maria Ruffini, Alfredo Saad Filho, Francesco Saraceno, Gary Stevenson, Bhaskar Sunkara, Pasquale Tridico, Nadia Urbinati, Vincenzo Visco, Sun Yanhong and many others.

When: 10 and 11 October 2025
Where: Viale Pasubio 5, Milan

To register and get all the information, click here.

Is Europe's sustainable finance strategy failing?

2025-05-15T17:30:00Z

How can finance drive the transformation needed to tackle the climate crisis? What institutional dynamics shape sustainable and climate finance today? The international workshop "Embedding Sustainable Finance: Constellations, Crossroads, Consequences" brings together leading researchers from economic, social and political sciences to explore these urgent questions

Is Europe's sustainable finance strategy failing?
19.30 - 21.00
15 May 2025, Haus am Dom, Frankfurt am Main/Germany

Kenneth Amaeshi (European University Institute and University of Edinburgh)
Sabine Dörry (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, LISER)
Wojtek Kalinowski (Institut Veblen, Paris)
Wiebke Merbeth (Deloitte/ EU Platform for Sustainable Finance): Supporting financial service providers and institutional investors in sustainable finance

Moderation: Jan Schulte (Tagesspiegel) & Ulrich Klüh (Darmstadt
University of Applied Sciences)

Organized by Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with Osnabrück University, Paderborn University and the Sociological Research Institute Göttingen (SOFI)

All the programation here :

Building on the work of the Climate Finance Society research consortium, this workshop delves into the societal and institutional foundations of sustainable finance. Through an interdisciplinary dialogue, it aims to uncover perspectives and practical insights in the context of the current (contested) political sustainable finance agenda. Discussions will address the international dimensions of sustainable finance, the evolving roles of public actors, the impact of real-economy stakeholders and civil society, as well as and critical reflections on power structures and blind spots within the field. A public panel discussion will bring together researchers and high-level representatives from institutions such as the EU Commission, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and civil society to assess the EU's sustainable finance strategy.

Green Trade Day 2025: Anchoring trade policy in a just ecological transition

2025-04-09T07:00:00Z

The Green Trade Network, coordinated by IEEP, is organising the first Green Trade Day in April. The event will take stock of Europe's progress in aligning trade policy with the European Green Deal and explore how trade can become a true accelerator of a fair, inclusive, and sustainable transition.

When: Wednesday, 9 April 2025

Time: 09:00–12:30 CET

Where: Mundo Madou, Brussels

The first term of the Von der Leyen Commission initiated a paradigm shift for the role of trade policies in promoting a globally fair and sustainable economic model. This includes the adoption of measures such as the first ever Border Carbon Adjustment (EU CBAM), a new mechanism to promote deforestation-free value chains (EUDR), the strengthening of Trade and Sustainable Development chapters in EU Free Trade Agreements (FTA), and new types of strategic partnerships on critical raw materials.

These evolutions have also led to unprecedented waves of discontent from Global South actors and trade-related tensions at the last COPs. Under such a backdrop, the design of trade policies appears not only as a key to unlocking market opportunities of the net zero transition for EU businesses but also as an integral part of the EU's strategy to reach higher global climate ambitions.

Since 2022, the Green Trade Network—coordinated by IEEP— has brought together a community of experts working to find solutions to harness trade policy as an essential tool in tackling the triple planetary crisis. Now, for the first time, we are opening the conversation to a broader audience, on how to go even further and complement existing instruments and initiatives, but also on the potential of trade partnerships for the emergence of a more ambitious agenda for the circularity transition, the fight against climate change, and the transition towards a fairer economic model. Our Green Trade Day 2025 event feature experts from academia, industry, think tanks, and EU institutions, all sharing their perspectives on how trade can become a driving force for a fair and just transition.

Confirmed Speakers:

Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation
Jacob Werksman, Principal Advisor, DG CLIMA
Jorg Wojahn, Head of Unit, Bilateral Relations in Trade and Sustainable Development – GSP, DG TRADE
Ely Sandler, Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School
Mathilde Dupré, Director, Veblen Institute
David Kleimann, Research Fellow, ODI
Markus Gehring, Professor of International Sustainable Development Law, University of Cambridge

Join us on 9 April in Brussels to discuss the future of sustainability objectives in EU bilateral partnerships and of the trade and climate agenda in a challenging geopolitical context. Stay tuned, the full agenda will be revealed in the coming weeks!

Reinforcing European food sovereignty: what are the priorities ?

2025-03-26T13:30:00Z

Exposed to the climate crisis and increasingly frequent geopolitical shocks, the economic security of our farmers and our food system as a whole needs to be strengthened. Ensuring our food security means reinforcing the tools of our food sovereignty at the European level, mainly through the next reforms of Common Agricultural Policy.

Three main challenges must be addressed:
– improving the position of farmers in the value chain ;
– delivering efficient crisis management tools such as strategic stocks ;
– protecting our farmers from dumping practices and lack of trade reciprocity.

Each of these dimensions will be debated in a panel involving stakeholders from the main farmers' unions, experts, and representatives of European and national institutions.

The event will be held at the European Parliament, Brussels, on 26 March 2025, from 2:30 pm to 5 pm, in Room SPAAK 4B1.

Stephanie Kpenou from Veblen Institute and Giulia Gouet from Slow Food to present the report "Double standards in our plates"

Interpretation will be provided in English, German, Spanish and French.

If you wish to join us, remotely or physically, please register here

“What ends up on our plates?”

2024-09-29T15:19:00Z

This round table, with the participation of the Veblen Institute, is organized by Slow Food International on the occasion of the Terra Madre event, in Turino.

Presentation
Have you ever wondered where your food comes from and how it's produced? In our globalized world, trade shapes our food systems, creating dependencies and profound socio-economic impacts for both importing and exporting countries. This conference will delve into the often-overlooked dynamics of global food trade, highlighting the double standards in trade relations between the European Union (EU) and the rest of the world.
The EU, the world's largest trading bloc, imports food from across the globe. Yet, not all imported products must meet the same standards. While the EU promotes green and fair values and strives to ensure high-quality produce for its citizens, its trade policies often tell a different story. This inconsistency harms small and medium-scale farmers in Europe by creating unfair competition and can negatively impact producers in countries that export to the EU.
We must advocate for better policies that address these disparities: policies that support European farmers' transition to sustainable, agroecological practices, and that ensure European trade agreements do not damage the environment, animal welfare, or the health of people inside and outside the EU Single Market, notably small-scale farmers in the Global South.
A first step could be the adoption of ‘mirror measures'—trade provisions designed to equalize standards between countries with different food safety and production rules. Through case studies and expert insights, this conference will explore how the EU can implement policies that promote health, environmental sustainability, and human rights globally.

Introduced and moderated by: Marta Messa, Secretary-General of Slow Food International

Speakers:
• Karl Bär, Agroeconomist, Member of the German Parliament for the Green Party
• Larissa Mies Bombardi, Geographer, Professor at the University of São Paulo (Brazil), Associate Researcher at CESSMA (France), and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Free University of Brussels (ULB).
• Elodie Clerc, International relations officer-DG AGRI, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission
• Mathilde Dupré, Co-director of the Veblen Institute for economic reform
• John Kariuki, Coordinator of Slow Food in Kenya
• Carmelo Troccoli, Director of Fondazione Campagna Amica, Coldiretti

More information here
Sunday 29 September, 17:30 – 19:00
Terra Madre, Parco Dora (Arena Staino), Turin

After the elections, what's next for the European Green Deal?

2024-06-11T11:30:00Z

Sharing insights with policy experts and progressive think tanks from accross Europe.

Tuesday, June 11th, from 1:00PM to 2:30PM on Zoom.
Replay available here

The European Green Deal seems at a political crossroads, and the upcoming elections will have a profound impact for the political will to pursue ambitious climate and environnemental policies. Join our discussion with seven experts from across Europe about the elections results and ways forward in the new political context.

Participants:
– Marion Guenard, Senior Policy Advisor on EU climate policy and franco-german cooperation at Germanwatch, Germany.
– Philippe Lamberts, Co-chair of the European Free Alliance Group in the European Parliament since 2014, and Belgian Member of the European Parliament since 2009.
– Wojtek Kalinowski, Co-director of the Veblen Institute for Economic Reforms & Editor-in-chief of l'Economie politique, France
– Elinor Odeberg, chief economist for the progressive think tank Arena Idé, Sweden
– Davide Panzeri, Head of the European programme at ECCO, Italy
– Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation, Brussels & Professor at the European Chair of Sustainable Development and Climate Transition, Sciences Po, Paris.
– Paweł Wiejski, EU climate policy analyst, Instytut Zielonej Gospodarki, Poland.

The Future of Trade in a Polarized World order

2023-06-26T21:00:00Z

Neoliberal globalization is in deep crisis. After more than 30 years, with its emphasis on the progressive liberalization of international trade, investment and financial flows, this political paradigm might arguably approach its demise. Within the next ten years, the time window for enacting decisive action against the impending climate catastrophe will be closing. The decisions of the next few years will thus largely prefigure the fate of societies throughout the 21st century.

Against this situation, progressive social forces both in the academic community and civil society must not stand aside. The conference “Future of trade in a polarized world order” aims at contributing to transdisciplinary cooperation between the socially committed academic community and civil society to build a progressive agenda for international economic cooperation.

Mathilde Dupré, co-director of the Veblen Institute, will be speaking on 25 June in Vienna alongside Luciana Ghiotto (UNSAM/TNI), Melinda St. Louis (Public Citizen) and Penny Clarke (EPSU) on the subject of "What progressive trade agenda for the age of geopolitics?

Registration here, open until 16 June, and see here for a detailed presentation of the conference.

The Veblen Institute is a partner of the Beyond Growth Conference

2023-05-17T21:30:00Z

The "Beyond Growth 2023" conference is an event organised at the European Parliament which will take place from 15 to 17 May 2023. It aims to co-create post-growth policies for the European Union, based on a systemic approach to economic, social and ecological sustainability.

It is an initiative of twenty MEPs and will involve stakeholders from European and national policy-making, academia, social partners and civil society organisations.

The Veblen Institute is organising two focus panels:

Post-Growth Finance, moderated by MEP Aurore Lalucq (S&D), on May 16 from 11am to 1pm.
Trade for Sustainable Development, in partnership with the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation, moderated by MEP Helmut Scholz (The Left), on may 16 from 14.30 to 16.30pm.
Speakers will be announced soon.

Registration is now open

Policy round table: Will the digital euro improve our monetary system?

2023-05-04T14:00:00Z

The event will take place on Zoom. Register here

Like many central banks around the globe, the European Central Bank (ECB) investigates and prepares for a probable launch of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the “digital euro”. Most of CBDCs remain at an early stage but it seems clear that they offer new possibilities for innovation within the payment system.

The current investigation phase run by the ECB is the proper time for a broader policy discussion about potential benefits or drawbacks of CBDCs, and especially about how various design options - the overall payment architecture and transfer mechanisms - relate to various policy objectives.

The round-table will explore four dimensions of this relationship:

Inclusiveness: can the digital euro guarantee universal access to digital money?
Fair costs for users: can the digital euro not only reduce overall costs for payment and account services but also ensure that these costs do not fall disproportionately on specific user groups, as is often the case at present?
Privacy: can the digital euro improve data protection for users and safeguard anonymity in payments?
Resilience of the payment system: can a digital euro improve the reliability of the payment system in case of extreme events (blackouts, natural disasters, cyber attacks…)?

The round-table will be public, online, and in english. It is organised by the Veblen Institute for Economic reforms. Read our contributions to the debate here

Panel:

Evelien Witlox, Program Director Digital Euro, European Central Bank
Jan Ceyssens, Head of "Digital Finance" unit at DG FISMA, European Commission
Paul Tang, member of the European Parliament
Anna Martin, Financial Services Officer, BEUC
Tristan Dissaux, researcher at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and coordinator of the Digital Euro Watch at the Veblen Institute
Introduction : Wojtek Kalinowski, co-director of the Veblen Institute.
Moderator : Vicky Van Eyck, executive director of Positive Money Europe.

Agenda:
10' introduction
10' presentation by each panellist, outlining his/her vision of the most appropriate design options for a digital euro in relation to the four issues to be discussed
30' discussion among the panellists
30' Q&A with the public

Livestock, meat & the Green Deal: What vision for the EU ?

2023-02-07T11:25:00Z

The Veblen Institute will speak on the issue of mirror measures at the event organized in Brussels and online by INTERBEV, the French Livestock and Meat Association, in connection with the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty.

While European co-legislators will review a comprehensive proposal on « sustainable food systems » in 2023 and as the role of ruminant farming in these systems is frequently questioned, the professionals and experts of these sectors are keen to build a shared approach to a sustainable meat production and consumption “model”.

Agenda

Tuesday, 7th of February 2023, The Residence Palace, Brussels, Welcome coffee from 9am, conference starts at 9:30am
Registration