Social & Economic Policy in Age of AI & Geopolitical Uncertainty

Industrialised economies such as the EU and the UK face mounting pressures on their social models: ageing populations, labour market transformation, rising fiscal constraints, geopolitical uncertainty, and fast-moving technological change, including AI. What should social policy look like when jobs, risks, and public finances are changing at the same time?

This panel discussion and Q&A brings together senior policy and academic perspectives to examine whether current labour standards, employment law, and welfare systems are fit for rapid change, and what reforms are needed to ensure fair, sustainable social protection amid labour market transformation, rising inequality, and evolving European and international roles.

The event features Mario Nava, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, in conversation with Catherine Barnard, Professor of EU Law and Employment Law, Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, and Senior Fellow at UK in a Changing Europe. The discussion will be introduced by Oana Stefan, Professor at The Dickson Poon School of Law, Chair of European Law and Director of the Centre of European Law at King’s College London.

Mario Nava, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Mario Nava is the Director-General of DG EMPL of the EU Commission. Previously, he was the Director-General of DG REFORM and has held Director and Head of Unit posts in the DG for Financial Services. He was also President of Italian Financial Market Authority. He teaches at Bocconi University and at Solvay Business School. In 2023, he was awarded the title of Bocconi Alumnus of the year.

Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor of EU Law and Employment Law, Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, and Senior Fellow at UK in a Changing Europe

Catherine Barnard is Professor of EU law and Employment Law and senior tutor and fellow of Trinity College. She is the author of EU Employment Law (Oxford, OUP, 2012, 5th ed.), The Substantive Law of the EU: The Four Freedoms, (Oxford, OUP, 2016, 5th ed), and (with Peers ed), European Union Law (Oxford, OUP, 2017, 2nd ed) . She is a member of the European Commission funded European Labour Law Network (ELLN).

Professor Oana Stefan, Director of the Centre of European Law, King's College London

Oana Stefan is a Professor at The Dickson Poon School of Law, which she joined in 2013. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor within the legal department of HEC Paris (a leading business school), after having taught European Union law at the College of Europe and University College Dublin. She holds a PhD in European Law from University College Dublin, a Master in European Legal Studies from College of Europe and undergraduate law degrees from University of Bucharest and the Sorbonne.

This event series is part of the .

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Host or Publisher Centre of European Law, The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London