Venue: National Bank of Romania, October 25, 2018

PROGRAM:

09:00: Opening Session

• Mr. Radu Deac, President of ELEC Romania: Opening address
• Dr. Wim Boonstra, President of ELEC International’s Monetary Commission The euro, a safe place to be: but are you ready?
• Dr. Mugur Isărescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania: Welcoming address and Keynote speech

9:30 -11:00: Key – note speech and 1st Panel

Keynote Speaker for the 1st Panel: Governor Mugur Isărescu, National Bank of Romania

Moderator of the 1st Panel: Mr. Franz Nauschnigg, Head of European Affairs and International Financial Organizations Division, National Bank of Austria, Secretary General of ELEC Austria

1stPanel: Convergence through structural reforms: what changes in labor markets, in goods and services markets, in the enforcement of competition and in improvement of the investment climate as well as in the building blocks of the banking union and the capital markets union are needed to pave the way to euro accession.

Members of the 1st Panel:

• Ms Mary Veronica Tovsak-Pleterski, Director, Investment, growth and structural reforms, ECFIN. Convergence towards euro enlargement - The Danube Triangle Conference
• Mrs Ana-Maria Mihaescu, non-executive member of the board of various banks
• Mr Bogdan Chiritoiu, President of the Competition Council, Romania

Discussions

11:30 - 13:00: Keynote speech & 2nd Panel:

Keynote Speaker for the 2nd Panel: Governor Ewald Nowotny, National Bank of Austria, video message

Moderator of the 2nd Panel: Mr. Valentin Lazea, Chief Economist, National Bank of Romania

2nd Panel: Convergence through macro-economic and macro prudential reforms: what fiscal And monetary policies, in both € candidate countries and countries already in the euro-zone, would be most helpful to prepare € enlargement ?

Members of the 2nd Panel:

• Mr Lucio Pench, Director, Fiscal Policy and Policy Mix, ECFIN Convergence: what role for the macroeconomic policy mix?
• Mr Iliya Lingorski, Chief Economist of the Bulgarian Development Bank, founding member and President of ELEC Bulgaria Assessing the degree of macroeconomic convergence within the European Union
• Mr Valentin Ionescu, Director, Strategy&Financial Stability Department, Financial Supervisory Authority, Romania Romanian non-bank financial sector convergence towards the euro enlargementtow
• Mr Eugen Radulescu, Director, Financial Stability Department, National Bank of Romania

Discussions

13:00 - 14:30: Keynote speech & 3rd Panel:

Kick-off document for the 3rd Panel: as recently published on the site of the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance

Moderator of the 3rd Panel: Dr. Wim Boonstra, President of ELEC International’s Monetary Commission, Special Economic Adviser at Rabobank Utrecht, Professor of Money and Banking at VU University, Amsterdam

3rd Panel: Bulgaria’s and Romania’s efforts towards euro enlargement: the challenges posed By European Banking and Capital Market Unions and ERM II membership

Members of the 3rd Panel:

• Mr Servaas Deroose, Deputy Director-General, ECFIN
• Mr Sergiu Oprescu, CEO of Alpha Bank Romania SA, President of the Romanian Bankers Association, founding member and member of the Board of ELEC Romania Romania Paving the way to EURO adoption
• Mr Lazar Comanescu, Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Chamber of Commerce & Industries of Romania, former Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Mr Vassil Karaivanov, President, Bulgarian Macroeconomics Association, Sofia, Secretary General of ELEC Bulgaria Euro , Inflation & CMU

Discussions

14:30 – 15:00: Conclusions: Baron Bernard Snoy, President of ELEC International