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Economy and Finance

The International Monetary System and the Role of the Euro

  • Conferences and summits
The international role of the euro

The euro area is at a crossroads. The road it takes may determine the shape of the evolving international monetary system.

A succession of shocks has impacted the US dollar’s position as a global currency, among them the introduction of the euro, China’s ascent as a global economic power, Russia’s aggression on Ukraine and corresponding sanctions on Russia, and the recent but growing disengagement of the US from the post-WWII global world order. Despite all this, the dollar still ranks first in a broader range of international currency use metrics. 

At the same time, technical progress in crypto currencies, stable coins and tokenisation, combined with the potential weaponisation of payments systems, heighten the urgency to define new “rules of the game” to preserve global financial stability. 

How should the euro area respond to these developments? Is the euro area ready to take the necessary action to strengthen the international role of the euro? With this conference, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of the changes that are taking place in the international monetary system, evaluate their significance from a historical perspective, and debate the policy choices facing the euro area today. 

Participation in this event is by registration only. For info contact: ECFIN-IROE-CONFERENCatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ECFIN-IROE-CONFERENC[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Scientific Committee

Leonor Coutinho, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Donata Faccia, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission 
Robert Kollmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles and CEPR
Daniel Monteiro, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Rafal Raciborski, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Louis Rostain, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Matteo Salto, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

  • economy
  • Monday 1 June 2026, 08:45 - Tuesday 2 June 2026, 15:45 (CEST)
  • Brussels, Belgium

Programme

  1. 1 Jun 2026, 08:45 - 09:30 (CEST)
    Registration and Welcome
  2. 09:30 - 10:30 (CEST)
    Keynote speech: Moving towards a less dollar-centric global monetary and financial system? Is this time different?

    Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, Senior Fellow, Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, The Brookings Institution

    Chair: Massimo Suardi, Director, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

    Q&A 

  3. 10:30 - 11:00 (CEST)
    Coffee break
  4. 11:00 - 12:30 (CEST)
    Panel: The economics of global currency dominance

    Session chair introduction: Leonor Coutinho, Deputy Head of Unit, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

    • 11:05 - 11:30: Dollar Erosion: Understanding the Loss of Reserve Currency Status by Zhengyang Jiang (Kellogg School of Management and NBER), A. Krishnamurthy (Stanford University), H. Lustig (Stanford University) and R. Richmond (New York University)
    • 11:30 - 11:55: Identifying the World’s Dominant Safe Asset: Measuring Belief-Based Safety Using Text and Portfolio Data by Isha Agarwal (U. British Columbia), Wentong Chen (Santa Clara University), Eswar Prasad (Cornell University)
    • 11:55 - 12:15: Discussion
      Discussant: Robert Kollmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles and CEPR
    • 12:15 - 12:30: Floor Discussion
  5. 12:30 - 14:00 (CEST)
    Lunch break
  6. 14:00 - 15:00 (CEST)
    Keynote speech: How can the digitalisation of finance affect the international monetary system and the international role of the euro?

    Thorsten Beck, Director, Florence School of Banking and Finance, European University Institute

    Chair: Massimo Suardi, Director, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

    Q&A 

  7. 15:00 - 15:30 (CEST)
    Coffee break
  8. 15:30 - 17:15 (CEST)
    Panel: Payment innovations shaping the International Monetary System

    Session Chair Introduction: Mattias Levin, Acting Head of Unit, DG for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission

    • 15:35 - 16:15: Payment Innovations and Stable Coins: implications for the international monetary system and the role of the US dollar
      by Laurent Clerc, S. Haincourt; Jean Barthélemy, J. Pedrono, J. Schmidt
    • 16:15 - 16:40: Geopolitics and Global Interlinkages of Fast Payment Systems
      by M. Minesso (European Central Bank), A. Mehl (European Central Bank), Olga Triay Bagur (European Central Bank) and I. Vansteenkiste (European Central Bank)
    • 16:40 - 17:00: Discussion
      Discussant: Juraj Hledik, Joint Research Centre - Digital Finance Research
    • 17:00 - 17:15: Floor Discussion
  9. 17:15 - 17:30 (CEST)
    Day 1 Closing Remarks and Info for Day 2
  10. 2 Jun 2026, 09:00 - 09:15 (CEST)
    Welcome
  11. 09:15 - 09:30 (CEST)
    Opening Speech by Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economy and Productivity; Implementation and Simplification, European Commission

    Chair: Massimo Suardi, Director, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

  12. 09:30 - 10:30 (CEST)
    Keynote speech: Interconnections between global trade and global finance for international currency use

    Cédric Tille, Professor, Geneva Graduate Institute

    Chair: Annika Eriksgaard, Deputy Director-General, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

    Q&A 

  13. 10:30 - 11:00 (CEST)
    Coffee break
  14. 11:00 - 12:30 (CEST)
    Panel: Complementary levers: global liquidity and capital flows

    Session chair introduction: Norbert Wunner, Economic Adviser, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

    • 11:05 - 11:30: Euro Area Financial Asset Allocation: a view from the Finflows database by E. Aruqaj (DG Economic and Financial Affairs), L. Coutinho (DG Economic and Financial Affairs ), S. Fatica (Joint Research Centre ), A. Pagano (Joint Research Centre), M. Salto (DG Economic and Financial Affairs), Stefano Ungaro (Joint Research Centre), S. Zeugner (DG Economic and Financial Affairs)
    • 11:30 - 11:55: The Global Network of Liquidity Lines by Saleem Bahaj (University College London), M. Fuchs (London School of Economics) and R. Reis(London School of Economics)
    • 11:55 - 12:15: Discussion
      Discussant: Andrea Ferrero, University of Oxford
    • 12:15 - 12:30: Floor Discussion
  15. 12:30 - 14:00 (CEST)
    Lunch break
  16. 14:00 - 15:30 (CEST)
    Policy panel discussion: A Changing International Monetary System – Policy Implications for the EU
    • Isabel Vansteenkiste, Principal Counsellor to the European Central Bank President and Coordinator of the Counsel to the Executive Board of the European Central Bank
    • Frank Smets, Acting Head of Monetary and Economic Department and Head of Economic Analysis and Statistics at BIS
    • Isabelle Mateos y Lago, Chief Economist, BNP Paribas
    • Maarten Verwey, Director-General, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

    Moderator: Rebecca Christie, Senior Fellow, Bruegel

  18. 15:30 - 15:45 (CEST)
    Conference closing remarks

Practical information

When
Monday 1 June 2026, 08:45 - Tuesday 2 June 2026, 15:45 (CEST)
Where
Berlaymont building
Rue de loi 200, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Languages
English

Contacts

General contact

Email
ECFIN-IROE-CONFERENCatec [dot] europa [dot] eu