Mario Monti to open EESC event marking 30 years of Single Market

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Mario Monti, former EU commissioner for competition and Prime Minister of Italy, will be the keynote speaker at the EESC event "Towards a Net Zero Industrial Future: Harnessing the Power of the Single Market", which will take place on 4 April.

The debate, which is being held to mark the 30th anniversary of the EU single market, will look ahead to one of the toughest challenges the EU will face: how to ensure that Europe remains competitive while moving to a net-zero industry.

The US Inflation Reduction Act will be pivotal in this debate. How should it be seen? As a threat to EU industry? Or as a critical first step in the US joining the global fight against climate change?

Open strategic autonomy will be another point of contention: can reducing Europe's reliance on external actors and boosting its economic and technological resilience help overcome the barriers and challenges facing the single market?

The debate will also explore how the social dimension of the single market plays a crucial role in protecting workers' rights and promoting social cohesion and solidarity across the EU.

Pierre-Arnaud Proux, from the team of Commission executive vice-president, Margrethe Vestager, will offer the European Commission's insights.

A debate will follow, featuring the following speakers:

  • Lina Konstantinopoulou, Policy Director, Eurochambres
  • Luc Hendrickx, Director for Enterprise Policy and External Relations, SMEunited
  • Judith Kirton-Darling, Deputy General Secretary, IndustriAll
  • Josef Středula, Chairman of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions
  • Christel Delberghe, Director General, EuroCommerce

Keynote speaker Mario Monti made his mark in Brussels first as commissioner for the single market (1995–1999) and then as competition watchdog (1999–2004), sanctioning high-profile cases of abuses of dominance, anticompetitive mergers, and illegal state aids. He took on the premiership in Italy at the height of the financial crisis (2011-2013) to bring the country back  from the brink of financial  disaster, and in the process obtained key improvements in Euroarea governance.  He has also had a distinguished academic career, presiding over Italy's leading business school, Bocconi University,  from 1994 to 2022. He is now senator for life.

The full programme of the event is available here

Link for webstreaming

Please note that Mr Monti will be speaking remotely.

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