Finance in the Tuscan Hills with Maria Demertzis
|| This seminar is open ONLY to EUI members ||
Join us for the next event of the ‘Finance in the Tuscan Hills’ seminar series, where we host Maria Demertzis, Professor of Economic Policy (part-time) at the Florence School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute, and former Chief Economist for the Conference Board, Europe.
This seminar will focus on Europe’s growing financial vulnerabilities in an increasingly fragmented global system. The presentation examines how Europe’s financial security continues to rely heavily on a US dollar-centred architecture whose foundations — including US Treasuries as a global safe asset, Federal Reserve swap lines, and US-dominated payment systems — are becoming less certain.
The analysis highlights several concrete vulnerabilities for the European Union, including foreign currency mismatches and short-term USD funding dependencies, limited direct holdings of US Treasuries combined with high systemic sensitivity, and strong reliance on non-EU payment infrastructures. It also explores the new risks emerging from the increasing use of financial sanctions and the implications these have for Europe’s financial resilience.
The proposed response is one of derisking rather than decoupling. The seminar discusses policy priorities such as delivering a digital euro, strengthening the euro’s international role through liquidity swap lines, and expanding scalable crisis backstops via the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Together, these measures aim to provide the EU with greater strategic autonomy and resilience in the face of global financial fragmentation.
---
Maria Demertzis is a Professor of Economic Policy (part-time) at the Florence School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute. She has previously served as Chief Economist for the Conference Board, Europe, and Deputy Director of Bruegel, the Brussels-based economics think tank specialising in European policy.
Earlier in her career, she worked at the European Commission and in the research department of the Dutch Central Bank, focusing on macroeconomic forecasting, modelling, and policy advice. She has also held academic positions at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Strathclyde, where she obtained her PhD in Economics.
Professor Demertzis has published extensively in leading international academic journals and contributed regularly to policy publications of both the European Commission and the Dutch Central Bank. She writes a regular bimonthly column for several European economic newspapers and frequently contributes opinion pieces to broader national and international media outlets.
Her current research, teaching, and public engagement focus on geoeconomics and the European Union’s economic security. She is widely recognised as a prolific writer and sought-after speaker on issues relating to Europe’s financial resilience and strategic autonomy.
---
The FBF seminar series ‘Finance in the Tuscan Hills’ focuses on financial sector issues and aims to bring together researchers from across the EUI community who share an interest in these subjects.