Conférence-débat "Quelle finance pour l'autonomie stratégique?"
We are pleased to invite you to the upcoming conference on "What kind of finance for strategic autonomy?"
In a radically new international context, Europe is striving to maintain its position in the global economy while asserting its ambition of moving toward strategic autonomy.
The two roundtables will discuss the role of the banking and financial sector in achieving this goal.
Can it do more to direct savings and credit toward Europe’s political priorities, such as reindustrialization, decarbonization, or competitiveness in strategic sectors? What is the respective role of public and private financing, and of banking and financial regulation? Should prudential and other standards be simplified, or on the contrary, should regulation become more directive in order to steer financial flows in the desired direction?
Program
9:00 – Coffee reception
9:30 – Introduction
Opening address by Senator Claude Raynal, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee
10:00 – 11:15 – First panel: “Toward a new wave of financial deregulation?”
Presentation followed by an open debate with the audience.
Relaxation of prudential rules and climate risk management, deregulation of crypto-asset markets, the Trump administration’s renewed grip on financial supervisors… A wind of deregulation is blowing in the United States, and Europe is responding by dismantling recently introduced tools (CSRD, CSDDD, green taxonomy…).
Does competition between the world’s major financial centers now hinge on deregulation, and what would be the consequences for financial stability, climate action, or sustainable finance? Or can Europe chart a different course from the U.S. while remaining attractive to investors?
Moderator: Jean-Marc Vittori, columnist and editorial writer, Les Echos
Speakers:
Jean Boissinot, Director of Studies and Risk Analysis, ACPR
Laurence Scialom, Professor of Economics, Paris Nanterre University
Thierry Philipponnat, Economist, former Chief Economist, Finance Watch
Karen Degouve, Sustainable Finance Leader
Gabriel Cumenge, Deputy Director for Banks and Public-Interest Financing, French Treasury
11:15 – 11:30 – Coffee break
11:30 – 12:45 – Second panel: “The Union for Savings and Investment – a lever for strategic autonomy?”
Presentation followed by an open debate with the audience.
In March 2025, the European Commission presented its strategy to “improve the way the EU financial system channels savings into productive investments.”
Will this initiative solve Europe’s chronic underinvestment problem, help develop a competitive clean-tech industry, accelerate the energy and ecological transition, and finance outdated infrastructure? Or are additional tools needed to guide financial flows, such as macroprudential rules or structural reforms of the financial system?
Moderator: Madeleine Péron, Economist, Programme Manager, Institut Veblen
Speakers:
Jézabel Couppey-Soubeyran, Associate Professor, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne; Scientific Adviser, Institut Veblen; Scientific Director, Energy and Prosperity Chair
Marie Ekeland, Founder of investment funds Daphni and 2050, CEO of 2050
Jérôme Saddier, President, Crédit Coopératif
Shahin Vallée, Director of the Geoeconomics Programme, German Council on Foreign Relations
Jérôme Reboul, Deputy Secretary General for Regulation and International Affairs, AMF
Sandrine Ménard, Deputy Director for Corporate and Financial Market Financing, French Treasury
12:45 – 13:00 – Closing remarks
by Bernard Cazeneuve, former Prime Minister
Practical Information
Date: July 1, 2025 – 9:00 to 13:00
Venue: Auditorium, Washington Plaza (42 rue Washington, 75008 Paris)
Registration: Free but mandatory
Organizers: Veblen Institute, Energy and Prosperity Chair, CES (Centre d'Économie de la Sorbonne), and the Convention of Companies for the Climate (CEC)