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EuropeG, an Opinion Group in Political Economy announces its constitution; it is headed by Antoni Castells and composed of Manuel Castells, Josep Oliver, Emilio Ontiveros and Marti Parel

EuropeG, an Opinion Group in Political Economy announces its constitution; it is headed by Antoni Castells and composed of

Manuel Castells, Josep Oliver, Emilio Ontiveros and Marti Parellada

 The group will analyse key developments in the economy and formulate

proposals on economic policy in Catalonia, Spain and Europe

 EuropeG's first report will be presented at the beginning of March in Barcelona and will focus on the crisis of the euro

Professors Antoni Castells, Manuel Castells , Josep Oliver, Emilio Ontiveros and Marti

Parellada have created EuropeG, an Opinion and Discussion Group on Political

Economy Its objective is to analyse the key developments in the economy and economic policy in Catalonia, Spain and Europe, offer proposals and contribute to the creation of informed opinion on economic issues At the beginning of March, the group, led by Antoni Castells and coordinated by economics lecturer Gemma García,

will present its first report, focused on the crisis of the euro

Lines of inquiry

EuropeG’s activity is based on three broad lines of analysis:

 The crisis of the euro and the future of the European Union: it will deliberate on the limitations of an incomplete monetary union and the need to move toward greater political and institutional integration, which is a strategic issue for the future of the European economy

 The emergence from the crisis and the transformation of the model of competitiveness: it will evaluate the options for recovery from the crisis, the need to correct macroeconomic imbalances, and the appropriate mix of austerity and growth

 Taxation and the welfare state: it will contribute to the debate on the sustainability of the welfare state as we know it and the need for a broad

political and social consensus on taxation and public services

Program of forthcoming policy briefs

EuropeG will analyse the following topics:

 Reform of the financial system

 Appropriate balance between austerity and growth

Every three months, EuropeG will publish a report in which it will synthesize its position and proposals on one of the scheduled subjects These Policy briefs will be the result of

discussions in the form of permanent seminars held by the members of the EuropeG group Both the Policy briefs and the working papers that result from the group's activity will be published on its website www.europeg.com EuropeG will also schedule larger meetings, inviting representatives of the business, academic, trade union and media worlds to discuss the topics included in its work program

EuropeG, integrated within the Foundation IEB, is located in the Barcelona Science Park

Members

Antoni Castells: Professor of Public Finance at the University of

Barcelona (UB) Author of numerous books and articles on issues of fiscal federalism, regional economy and welfare state He has been Minister of Economy and Finance of the Catalonia Regional Government (2003-2010); member of the Parliament of Catalonia; member of the European Court of Auditors (1994-2000) and a Trustee of the Public Audit Office for Catalonia (1984-1989)

In the academic field, he was director of the Department of Political Economy, Public Finance and Finance and Tax Law of the UB (1991-1994); visiting professor at the Johns

Hopkins University (Baltimore) (1993); founder and co-director of the Postgraduate Program of Regional and Local Finance and co-founder and first director of the Institute

of Economics of Barcelona (IEB)

Manuel Castells : professor of Sociology, holder of the Wallis

Annenberg Chair of Communication Technology and Society (University of Southern California) and director of the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (UOC) He has worked in some 20 universities around the world, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Oxford

He is the author of numerous books and articles and has received awards such as the

National prize for Sociology and Political Science; the Order of Arts and Letters of the

French Government; and the Cross of Sant Jordi He is Doctor Honoris Causa at 15 universities throughout the world

He has been a member of the UN's Advisory Committees on Information and Communication Technologies and Global Development and on Global Civil Society He was also a founding member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council

and is a member of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)

Josep Oliver: Professor of Applied Economics at the Autonomous

University of Barcelona He is the author of numerous papers on household consumption and investment in human capital, income distribution and the analysis of the Catalan and Spanish economies, their interrelationships, the specific features of their labour markets and the economic impact of immigration

He is also a regular contributor to several communication media Catalonia Prize for

Economics 1994 and Sardá Dexeus Prize for the best economics book in 2005 and 2008

(collective works) Josep Oliver has been an advisor to the CatalunyaCaixa Research

Service and is director of the Manpower Index on the labour market situation, the

Immigration Yearbook and other studies He has been Vice-rector of the UAB, and is

currently a member of the Governing Council of the UAB and director of its Department of Applied Economics

Emilio Ontiveros: Professor of Business Economics at the

Autonomous University of Madrid He is the Founder and President

of Analistas Financieros Internacionales (Afi) Author of numerous books and articles in academic journals and the media, he has been awarded several prizes for his academic and professional work He also chaired the Committee on Convergence with the European Union with respect to the Information Society

He has also been a Fellow of the Real Colegio Complutense, at Harvard University, as a

member of the Advanced International Economics Research Group and visiting scholar

at the Wharton School - University of Pennsylvania

Martí Parellada: Professor of Applied Economics at the UB He is the

director of the Institute of Economics of Barcelona and, since 2003, director of the Annual report on the role of the University in regional development, by the Development and Knowledge Foundation (Fundación CyD)

He has been a member of the Council of Work, Economic and Social,

of the Discussion Group of the National Strategy for Science and Technology and of the

Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Observatory (Ministry of Industry) Author of several books and articles on the Catalan and Spanish economies, he has directed the

continuing education centre of Les Heures (UB) and the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation

(1984-1986); he has been vice-rector of Economics at the UB (1986-1990) and guest lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (USA)

Gemma Garcia: lecturer in Applied Economics at the UB and member

of the Institute of Economics of Barcelona Economic and Social Council Prize for her doctoral thesis "Unemployment benefits and duration of unemployment" Specialized in the fields of labour and regional economics, she has published numerous papers and articles

on these subjects She has been co-director and member of the advisory council of the Economic Report of Catalonia, edited annually by the Council of

Chambers of Commerce of Catalonia Joan Sardà Dexeus Prize 2008 to the best book in

economics for the collective work "Catalan economy: challenges for the future", of which she was co-director

She has been Deputy Director General of Studies in the Department of Economics and Finance of the Catalonia regional government and director of the journal Nota

d'Economia (2004-2011)

For more information, contact Communication:

press@europeg.com +34 627 480 564