Recovering from the crisis and ensuring future financial and macroeconomic stability in Europe will require measures to foster growth and complete the architecture of monetary union. Over the past year, European policy makers have taken important steps. At the national level, many governments have undertaken substantial adjustment and structural change. At the regional level, important progress has been made, with the announcement by the European Central Bank of its OMT program, the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism, and steps toward a banking union.

But the economic outlook for the euro area remains weak, unemployment is unacceptably high, and high debt burdens in public and private sectors are depressing demand in many countries. The seminar will bring together high-level policy makers from Europe, the U.S., and emerging economies to exchange views on how to foster growth and further strengthen the architecture of EMU, and on the implications for the rest of the world.

Questions this session will address:

• How can faster economic growth be achieved? Is indebtedness holding back growth in the euro area? If so, how can the problem of legacy debt in the public and private sectors be addressed? What are the implications for both structural reforms and macroeconomic policy?
  
• What gaps in the EMU's architecture has the euro area crisis identified, and how can progress in addressing those gaps be assessed? What is the long term vision for monetary union, and how can the transition into a more viable EMU be achieved?