On May 16, 2024, the Fudan Institute for Global Public Policy (IGPP) organized the 56th lecture of the Fudan-LSE Lecture Series. Professor Iain Begg from the European Institute at at the London School of Economics and Political Science delivered a lecture on the topic “The Euro at 25 - Robust or still facing vulnerabilities,” which was chaired by Professor Yijia Jing, Dean of the IGPP.

Professor Begg discussed the history of the euro's creation and the subsequent reforms made in response to the various crises it faced. He provided suggestions for reforming the EU's fiscal rules, emphasizing the importance of the European Central Bank returning to fiscal rules, abolishing outdated rules, and enhancing its own fiscal capacity. However, he also pointed out the shortcomings of euro reform, such as the lack of development with changing economic realities, poor counter-cyclical capacity, lack of focus on the overall position of the eurozone, flawed public finance composition (e.g., investment), and ineffective sanctions.

The lecture was followed by a Q&A and commentary session, where Assistant Professor Hong Wu from the Fudan School of Economics provided a detailed and insightful comments, leading to lively academic discussions among the participants.