Powering European Competitiveness: Innovation, Finance, and Strategic Resilience

‘Powering European Competitiveness: Innovation, Finance, and Strategic Resilience’ – this was the motto of the second annual conference of the Centre for European Transformation which brought together leading representatives from finance, politics and industry on Frankfurt School’s campus. The conference, organised in cooperation with DWS as sponsor and Börsen-Zeitung as media partner, centred around strategies for promoting innovation and strengthening Europe's resilience and competitiveness in a changing global environment.

The timing couldn't be better – the Centre for European Transformation as a central platform in the current debate

Professor Nils Stieglitz, CEO and President of Frankfurt School, opened the event and emphasised its topicality in view of the many transformations taking place. The Centre for European Transformation is an important voice in the current discussion. The debates at the conference and the Centre’s research form a valuable basis for political and economic decisions in Germany and Europe.

Professor Alexander Lorz spoke about the major challenges facing Europe: climate change, energy transition, digitalisation and security policy. As Hesse's Minister of Finance, he said he was all the more proud that the Frankfurt-based Centre for European Transformation is actively shaping the discussion on financing European transformation. He also addressed the framework conditions that policymakers need to create for companies to be competitive, including tax reforms and a reduction in bureaucracy.

Shaping the future: Strategic imperatives for European transformation and competitiveness

Dr Ingrid Hengster, CEO Germany at Barclays, called for swift, decisive and joint action. Europe is at a crucial point in its economic development and must make better use of capital markets to regain lost competitiveness. She then joined Nicola Beer, Vice President of the European Investment Bank, and Professor Achim Wambach, President of the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, to discuss how Germany and Europe can become more attractive for investment again. The focus was on topics such as easing the burden on companies, mobilising private capital and the need for faster economic decision-making processes.

A special highlight was the CEO talk with Dr Tamaz Georgadze, CEO and founder of Raisin. His first boss, Dr Eckart Windhagen, Board Advisor and former Senior Partner at McKinsey, spoke to him about his experience of founding a fintech in Germany and how he managed to scale the start-up into a European market leader.

Financing transformations in a geopolitically uncertain world

In a video message, Maria Luís Albuquerque, Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union, emphasised the need to mobilise private capital and facilitate investment in order to promote growth in Europe. At the same time, Europe must remain true to itself and shape economic progress in line with its own values.

The subsequent discussion with Hauke Burkhardt, Head Trade Finance & Lending DACH, Deutsche Bank, Professor Sascha Steffen, Director of the Centre for European Transformation, and Vincenzo Vedda, Global Chief Investment Officer, DWS, focused on the role of the financial industry, sustainable investments and the need for intelligent deregulation. Sascha Steffen emphasised that a review of current regulations is necessary to channel capital more efficiently into the transformation. The scaling of venture capital and the creation of attractive framework conditions for investors were also discussed. The conference concluded with a keynote by Professor Ilya A. Strebulaev from Stanford University, who spoke about the key principles of a ‘venture mindset’ that helps both start-ups and established companies to accelerate innovation and growth.

The conference made it’s point that Europe can only secure its competitiveness through decisive action, better framework conditions for companies and a smart financing strategy. Research, innovation and strategic investment must go hand in hand to transform Europe sustainably and make it resilient to global challenges.