This event is convened by the European Political Economy Project (EUPEP).

The economic impact of the coronavirus is likely to differ from region to region, depending on their sectoral specialisation, and may exacerbate regional disparities.  This paper provides an overview of how regional disparities have evolved since the euro’s inception with an aim to help policymakers develop appropriate policy responses to support recovery following the economic shock caused by the coronavirus, and maintain the convergence process.  Modes of regional support and policy intervention are crucial to helping adjustment and boosting productivity to ensure long-term sustainability and income convergence.

Gergely Hudecz is a Principal Economist in the Economics and Market Analysis division of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).  He is responsible for monitoring financial markets, preparing related briefings for management, and contributing to the analytical work on convergence and the international role of the euro.  Prior to joining the ESM in 2018, Gergely was Co-Head of Economic Research and Head of Country Analysis at Pharo, a macro-hedge fund, and served as an economist at Credit Suisse in London and Paris, covering emerging markets and euro area economies.  He started his career at Budapest Economics, a research consultancy specialised in transition economics and structural change.  He holds a PhD degree from the Corvinus University of Budapest, and spent time at IEP Science Po Paris and at Oxford’s St Antony’s and Nuffield colleges.

Cinzia Alcidi is Director of Research at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels. At CEPS, she supervises the team working on EU economic and social policies. She has long professional experience in providing evidence-based policy analysis to national governments and EU institutions. Prior to joining CEPS, she worked at the International Labour Office in Geneva and she taught International Economics at University of Perugia (Italy). She is the author of numerous studies and articles in scientific journals. Her expertise includes international macroeconomics, economic policy, EU governance and EU integration. Cinzia holds a Ph.D. in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland. 

Christian Odendahl is chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. Christian works on European monetary and fiscal policy, European integration and economic growth, financial markets as well as German politics. He commentates regularly on economic issues in print and broadcast media, including the Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Deutschlandfunk and the BBC. He has also given oral evidence to the House of Lords on the future of the eurozone. Before joining the CER, Christian worked as a senior economist at Roubini Global Economics in London on the eurozone, the ECB and Germany, and as a Marjorie Deane financial journalism fellow at The Economist. Christian holds a PhD in economics from Stockholm University, chapters of which were published in the European Economic Review and the European Journal of Political Economy.

Jeffrey Franks is Unit Chief for the Northern 2 Unit in the European Department, and Mission Chief for Austria and France.  Previously, he spent 4½ years as head of the IMF offices in Paris and Brussels and Senior Resident Representative to the European Union. In his career, he has also led IMF teams on Pakistan, Romania, Belgium, and Paraguay. He has also held overseas postings in Ukraine and Ecuador, and has worked on a number of other Latin American and European countries. He received his Ph.D. in Political Economy from Harvard and Masters’ degrees from Oxford and Princeton.

Professor Kalypso Nicolaidis (St Antony's College, Oxford) will chair.

Dr Charles Enoch (St Antony's College, Oxford) is convenor.

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