Organised by the Centre for European Policy Studies – CEPS, one of Europe’s most independent and reputable think-tanks, IdeasLab is the most high-profile annual event on policies of the European Union. As a partner of CEPS, the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association – EMEA was again this year one of the sponsors of the event, which took place at The Square, Brussels, on 28 February – 01 March 2023.
IdeasLab 2023 was a very successful event, with 700+ registered participants -among them renowned researchers, policy makers and representatives of international organisations.
Over the course of the 2-day event, over 100 people visited the EMEA booth and were informed about the activities, the publications and the projects of the Association.
The EMEA team also joined the debate held as part of the 40th Anniversary of CEPS “The Europe we want – The Europe we need” with Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-president, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission as the keynote speaker, along with Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus and Karel Lanoo Chief Executive Officer of CEPS.
Furthermore, at IdeasLab 2023 EMEA organised the PRIME talk “The green energy transition in the EU and Africa: is a win-win strategy possible?” which was moderated by the EMEA President, Prof. Rym Ayadi. The panellists were Marc Sadler, Program Leader, Sustainable Development, World Bank, Luca Giansanti, Head of European Government Affairs, Eni, and Assaad Saab, Senior Advisor to the World Energy Council.
The themes discussed were trends and opportunities in the Mediterranean for providing greater access to electricity across Africa, and the investment needed to make this a reality. Prof. Ayadi closed the session by highlighting that “the road to green and clean energy transition in Europe, the Mediterranean and Arica will be more challenging and costly without a win-win EU-Mediterranean and African green deal that is beneficial for all”.
Watch the recording at the EMEA Youtube Channel.
During the event, Prof. Rym Ayadi announced the timely publication of the book “Europe After the War”, co-authored with Paolo Garonna and Goran Svilanović. The book is a collection of papers which discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine on Europe spanning a wide range of areas from geopolitical scenarios to economic prospects, sustainable energy to logistics, and the Eastern European dimension to EU-Africa relations. The book is co-published by the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association – EMEA and the Centre for European Policy Studies – CEPS and can be downloaded here.
The EMEA team at CEPS IdeasLAb 2023 comprised of Prof. Rym Ayadi, George Christopoulos, Sara Ronco, Kirsty Fairhurst, and Elena Stotts-Lee.
