Forged in Fire event details

Forged in Fire: The European Union in a World of Permacrisis

December 1, 2022 | 4:30PM - 6:00PM
Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CERES), Munk School, Economy & prosperity, Government & politics, Europe & Eurasia

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This event featured a lecture by Luxembourg's first female finance minister Yuriko Backes. As a member of the Eurogroup, which coordinates Euro area economic policies, and the influential Economic and Financial Council (ECOFIN), bringing together the economy and finance ministers of EU member states, Ms. Backes will provide first-hand insights into the European Union’s response to the key challenges of our time. These include a range of issues from the war in Ukraine and the related energy crisis to climate change and rising geopolitical tensions, all of which are fundamentally (re-)shaping the EU and its policies. As the finance minister of one of Europe’s largest financial centres, Ms. Backes will especially focus on the economic impact of today’s permacrisis and the role of the European Union in an emerging bipolar era.   
 
About the Speaker
 
Yuriko Backes joined the coalition government between the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers Party (LSAP) and the Green Party (déi gréng) as Minister of Finance in January 2022. As a career diplomat, she held several high-level positions with Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including a post as the representative of the European Commission in Luxembourg.
This event is sponsored by the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, Munk School.
Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CERES), Munk School, Economy & prosperity, Government & politics, Europe & Eurasia

Speakers

headshot of Yuriko Backes
Yuriko Backes

Minister of Finance of Luxembourg

Headshot of Alexander Reisenbichler
Alexander Reisenbichler

(moderator)
Assistant Professor in Political Science and Research Coordinator of the Joint Initiative in German and European Studies (JIGES), Munk School

Edward Schatz, photo by Alexis MacDonald
Edward Schatz

(opening remarks)
Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, Director of the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (CERES), Munk School