Switzerland at the heart of Europe: Between Independence and Interdependence
by M. Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank
Tuesday February 17th 2015 from 18:00 to 19:30
A Swiss welcome drink will be served as from 17:30 onwards
18.00 - 18.05 Welcome words by ULB authorities
18.05 - 18.20 Academic introduction by Pr. André Sapir (Professor at the SBS-EM; Senior Fellow at Bruegel)
18.20 - 19.00 Keynote by M. Thomas Jordan
19.00 - 19.30 Questions and Answers moderated by Pr. André Sapir
Recent upheavals in the global financial and monetary markets have had far-reaching consequences, with destabilizing ripple effects in both Switzerland and the Eurozone. Over the last 5 years, unprecedented challenges, unorthodox responses and substantial fluctuations have thrust all major central banks to the forefront. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is no exception.
Decisions taken by these expert bodies can have far-reaching and immediate effects; be they highly anticipated – such as the ECB’s recent foray into quantitative easing – or rather more sudden – such as the SNB’s recent decision to discontinue its exchange rate floor to the Euro.
As a consequence, the Swiss economy is once more dealing with challenging exchange rates conditions. Between the two poles of independence and interdependence, the Swiss economy has at times been subject to major exchange rate shocks. In the recent past, several structural factors have strengthened the resilience of the Swiss economy to shocks. Will Switzerland rise to this new challenge?
In this respect, welcoming Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the SNB is a unique opportunity to address the nature and challenges associated with EU-Swiss relations in matters of financial and monetary interdependence.
