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Programme (preliminary) Start time 10.00 am
10am – 10.30 Why do we need a European Tech Stack? Why does Europe having tech assets matter across all strategic sectors?
RAFAEL LAGUNA, Founding Director, SPRIND – German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation
DIETMAR HARHOFF, Professor, Director of Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
LUIS GARICANO, Professor of Public Policy, London School of Economics
10.30am – 12 Building European Digital Assets: Who is Doing What, After Berlin? Supply, demand, investment and public procurement
Part 1: What progress across national and state capitals?
DARIUSZ STANDERSKI, Secretary of State, Polish Ministry of Digitalisation
MARCO ALEXANDER BREIT, Director General Digital Policy and Economic Affairs, German Federal Ministry of Digital Transformation
CLARA CHAPPAZ, former Minister for AI and Digital Technologies in France, now French Ambassador for Digital Affairs and AI
MIKAEL BOMHOLT Director of EU and International, Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs
DIRK SCHROEDTER, Minister and Head of State Chancellery, Schleswig-Holstein
Part 2: What progress with the Commission’s initiatives?
THIBAUT KLEINER, Director for Future Networks, DG Connect, European Commission
NATHALIE BERGER, Director for Competitiveness Coordination, DG Grow, European Commission
PHILIPPE VAN DAMME, Deputy Director General, DG Digital Services (DIGIT), European Commission
Part 3: Moving private demand: what do customers need?
TIM HOFFMANN, Digital Sovereignty and AI Finance Lead, Mercedes Benz AG
12 – 12.40 Lunch
12.40 – 13.00 Sovereignty as an Industrial Project
Conversation with DRAGOS TUDORACHE, Diplomatic Advisor to EVP Stéphane Séjourné
13.00 – 14.10 Europe’s Precarious Dance: Shoring Up Our Manufacturing in the Trade War with China
JOANNA SZYCHOWSKA, Deputy DG, Director Asia, Services and Digital Trade, DG Trade, European Commission
SANDER TORDOIR, Chief Economist, Centre for European Reform
MICHAEL PETTIS, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
SHAHIN VALLÉE Director Geoeconomics Programme, German Council on Foreign Relations
JANKA OERTEL, Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations
MARIA DEMERTZIS, Centre Leader, Economics Strategy and Finance, The Conference Board; Professor, Florence School for Transnational Governance EUI
FINBARR BERMINGHAM, Chief Europe Correspondent, South China Morning Post
14.10 – 15.20 Rearming Europe: Will Defence Procurement Accelerate Rebuilding European Tech and Manufacturing?
Fireside with ADMIRAL PIERRE VERDIER, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation HQ
JEROMIN ZETTELMEYER, Director, Bruegel
NATHAN LANE, Professor, London School of Economics
BART GROOTHUIS, Member European Parliament
GUILLAUME DE LA BROSSE, Head of Unit for Defence Industrial Policy, DG DEFIS, European Commission
HANNO PEVKUR Defence Minister, Estonia (tbc)
ESBEN GADSBØLL Chairman & Co-initiator Danish Tech Startups, Co-Founder Defense Innovation Highway
MARIA TADEO, Head of EU News, Euronews
KATJA BEGO, Senior Research Fellow International Security Programme, Chatham House
15.20 – 15.40 Coffee
15.40 – 16.50 “Going Long” on Europe, from Chips to AI. Are we Finally Unleashing Our Startup Ecosystem? Is the Tide Turning?
ANNA KRYZANOWSKA, Adviser, Taskforce on Startups & Scaleups, DG RTD (Research & Innovation) European Commission
ANDREAS KLINGER, Founder & Investor, Prototype Capital
NICK DE LA FORGE, Co-Founder & Partner, Planet A Ventures
MORITZ MOELLE, Director Government Affairs Germany & EU, Global Foundries
RAFAEL LAGUNA, Founding Director, SPRIND – German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation
CLARK PARSONS, Managing Director Innovate Europe Foundation, CEO European Startup Network
16.40 – 17.00 How Does the US Look at Europe’s Sovereignty Efforts?
Conversation with JULIUS KREIN, Founding Editor, American Affairs
17.00 – 18.15 Regulation, Deregulation, “Get Transactional”: European Rules in the Eye of the Storm
AURA SALLA, MEP
BENOIT COEURE, President Autorité de la concurrence, France
ANDREAS MUNDT, President, Bundeskartellamt
MARTIJN SNOEP, Chairman Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets
ORI SCHWARTZ, Head of Competition Division, OECD – OCDE
BARRY LYNN, Executive Director, Open Markets Institute
Speakers (preliminary)
RAFAEL LAGUNA, Founding Director, SPRIND – German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation
DIETMAR HARHOFF, Professor, Director of Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
LUIS GARICANO, Professor of Public Policy, London School of Economics
DARIUSZ STANDERSKI, Secretary of State, Polish Ministry of Digitalisation
MARCO ALEXANDER BREIT, Director General Digital Policy and Economic Affairs, German Federal Ministry of Digital Transformation
CLARA CHAPPAZ, former Minister for AI and Digital Technologies in France, now French Ambassador for Digital Affairs and AI
MIKAEL BOMHOLT, Director of EU and International, Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs
THIBAUT KLEINER, Director for Future Networks, DG Connect, European Commission
NATHALIE BERGER, Director for Competitiveness Coordination, DG Grow, European Commission
PHILIPPE VAN DAMME, Deputy Director General, DG Digital Services (DIGIT), European Commission
TIM HOFFMANN, Digital Sovereignty and AI Finance Lead, Mercedes Benz AG
DRAGOS TUDORACHE, Diplomatic Advisor to EVP Stéphane Séjourné
DIRK SCHROEDTER, Minister and Head of State Chancellery, Schleswig-Holstein
TIM HOFMANN, Digital Sovereignty and AI Finance lead, Mercedes-Benz Group AG
JOANNA SZYCHOWSKA, Deputy DG, Director Asia, Services and Digital Trade, DG Trade, European Commission
SANDER TORDOIR, Chief Economist, Centre for European Reform
MICHAEL PETTIS, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
SHAHIN VALLÉE, Director Geoeconomics Programme, German Council on Foreign Relations
JANKA OERTEL, Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations
MARIA DEMERTZIS, Centre Leader, Economics Strategy and Finance, The Conference Board; Professor, Florence School for Transnational Governance EUI
FINBARR BERMINGHAM, Chief Europe Correspondent, South China Morning Post
ADMIRAL PIERRE VANDIER, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation HQ
JEROMIN ZETTELMEYER, Director, Bruegel
NATHAN LANE, Professor, London School of Economics
BART GROOTHUIS, Member European Parliament
GUILLAUME DE LA BROSSE, Head of Unit for Defence Industrial Policy, DG DEFIS, European Commission
HANNO PEVKUR, Defence Minister, Estonia [tbc]
ESBEN GADSBØLL, Chairman & Co-initiator Danish Tech Startups, Co-Founder Defense Innovation Highway
MARIA TADEO, Head of EU News, Euronews
KATJA BEGO, Senior Research Fellow International Security Programme, Chatham House
ANNA KRYZANOWSKA, Adviser, Taskforce on Startups & Scaleups, DG RTD (Research & Innovation) European Commission
ANDREAS KLINGER, Founder & Investor, Prototype Capital
NICK DE LA FORGE, Co-Founder & Partner, Planet A Ventures
MORITZ MOELLE, Director Government Affairs Germany & EU, Global Foundries
CLARK PARSONS, Managing Director Innovate Europe Foundation, CEO European Startup Network
JULIUS KREIN, Founding Editor, American Affairs
BENOÎT COEURÉ, President Autorité de la concurrence, France
ANDREAS MUNDT, President, Bundeskartellamt
MARTIJN SNOEP, Chairman Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets
AURA SALLA, Member of European Parliament
ORI SCHWARTZ, Head of Competition Division, OECD – OCDE
BARRY LYNN, Executive Director, Open Markets Institute
Speaker Bios (preliminary)
Livestream
The Capitol Forum is part-sponsor to this event. The Capitol Forum is an independent investigative news organization focused on regulation and enforcement shaping market competition. With expanding coverage across Europe, its journalists engage closely with senior regulators, policymakers, and elected officials across antitrust, mergers & acquisitions, corporate investigations, trade, and labor, connecting regulatory decisions to real-world implications for companies, investors, and consumers.