The European Health and Competitiveness Symposium progresses in shaping its program with new national and international speakers confirmed. Mónica García, Minister of Health; Andreu Mas-Colell, former professor of Economics at Harvard University and member of the Rhine Group led by Mario Draghi; Walter Ricciardi, professor of Hygiene and director of the School of Hygiene and Public Health at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome and former president of Italy’s National Institute of Health; and philosopher Andrea Lamberti, policy advisor to the European rapporteur for the Single Market, have already confirmed their participation in the meeting set for 27 November at CosmoCaixa in Barcelona.
The four profiles reflect the cross-cutting character of the Symposium organized by beBartlet and TEHA-Ambrosetti, with Agenda Pública as mediapartner: to connect health, economy, innovation and industrial policy in a single conversation about the future of European competitiveness. The day will bring together public officials, experts, and representatives of the business and scientific communities to analyze how Europe can strengthen its capabilities in a context marked by international technological competition, an aging population, and the need to guarantee sustainable and resilient health systems.
“The day will bring together public officials, experts and representatives of the business and scientific communities to analyze how Europe can strengthen its capabilities”
The initiative is driven by beBartlet, a public affairs office, and The European House-Ambrosetti, one of Europe’s leading private think tanks, with Agenda Pública as mediapartner. Through this collaboration, Agenda Pública will contribute to the editorial focus of the gathering and will bring its readership community closer to the main ideas, diagnoses, and proposals that emerge from the various conversations.
Health and competitiveness, two agendas increasingly interconnected
The starting point of the Symposium is that health can no longer be understood solely as a sectoral, social or healthcare policy. Its impact on productivity, innovation, industrial autonomy, and Europe’s ability to compete globally places it at the center of some of the major economic debates of the coming decade.
This relationship takes on particular importance at a moment when Europe seeks to reduce strategic dependencies and improve its capacity to transform scientific knowledge into innovation, investment, and industrial activity. On this basis, the conference will address issues such as health-related industrial policies, the European regulatory framework, the resilience of supply chains, and the mechanisms needed to finance and scale innovation.
“The meeting will address issues such as health-related industrial policies, the European regulatory framework, the resilience of supply chains”
Diagnoses raised in recent years at the European level, especially regarding the loss of competitiveness against the United States and China, have reinforced the need to connect innovation and growth policies with strategic domains such as health. The Symposium thus aims to promote the public agenda conversation with the perspective of those who design public policies, those who produce knowledge, and those who develop solutions from the business and scientific sectors.
Four new reference profiles: from theory to action
The participation of Minister Mónica García will bring to the gathering the perspective of the Government of Spain on the main challenges of health policy and the role health can play within the European economic and strategic agenda.
Joining her is Andreu Mas-Colell, one of the most recognized figures in Spanish and European academic economics, and professor emeritus of Economics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, after having been a professor of Economics at Harvard University from 1981 to 1996 and, previously, a professor at the University of Berkeley. Mas-Colell has recently joined the Rhine Group, the European initiative co-chaired by Mario Draghi and Patrick Collison that brings together leaders from academia, business and public policy to contribute to Europe’s competitiveness agenda. His participation will infuse the debate with an economic perspective on the relationship between knowledge, innovation, investment, and competitiveness, as well as on the position of Catalunya and Spain within the European scientific ecosystem.
The third confirmed name is Walter Ricciardi, professor of Hygiene and director of the School of Hygiene and Public Health at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome, Italy’s representative to the World Health Organization (WHO) from 2017 to 2020 and president of Italy’s National Institute of Health from 2015 to 2018. His academic and institutional trajectory and his specialization in public health will help situate the challenges of European health systems within a broader framework shaped by demographic changes, prevention, innovation, and sustainability.
Finally, the theoretical and practical outlook of philosopher Andrea Lamberti, who was a member of the advisory and drafting team that supported the European Union’s rapporteur for the Single Market in the decisive report outlining the roadmap for European competitiveness, will contribute to a comprehensive view of a bold challenge.
These new additions join the already announced line-up including Javier Padilla, Secretary of State for Health; Nicolás González Casares, S&D member of the European Parliament; Helena Legido-Quigley, professor of Health Systems Science at Imperial College London; Tomás Zapata, head of the Human Resources for Health and Health Services Unit of the WHO Regional Office for Europe; and Eduard Vallory, director general of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and former visiting professor at New York University, as well as other national and international speakers from the public and private sectors who will be announced in the coming weeks. The Symposium, organized by beBartlet and TEHA-Ambrosetti, with Agenda Pública as mediapartner, continues to shape a program that will address health not only as one of Europe’s major social challenges but as a fundamental pillar of its economic, industrial, and innovation strategy. Novartis, Farmaindustria and Boehringer Ingelheim are already among the leading supporters.
