Bilateral meetings with OECD experts and OECD member country delegations (upon request)

Arrival of participants and morning coffee

Announcements

Multilateralism - Bridging Divides
A conversation with Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General

Teaching for truth – The role of education policy in public trust
Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General, OECD
Discussant: Alicia Sánchez Camacho, Member of Parliament, Spain

These days, virality seems privileged over quality in the distribution of news with truth and fact losing currency in decision making and democratic choices. Assertions which “feel right” but have no basis in fact seem to be accepted as valid on the grounds that they challenge elites and vested interests. Algorithms that sort us into groups of like-minded individuals create echo chambers that amplify our views, leave us uninformed of opposing arguments, and polarise our societies. Those algorithms are not a design flaw. They are the heart of why social media work.

In this context, what can countries do to foster trust, as a fundamental prerequisite for social and economic well-being, for enhancing social cohesion and strengthening resilience, and for maintaining security and order in our societies? OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) shows that education strengthens the cognitive and analytical capacities needed to develop, maintain, and (perhaps) restore trust in both close relationships as well as in anonymous others. It does so both directly, through building and reinforcing literacy and numeracy in individuals, and indirectly, through facilitating habits and reinforcing behaviours such as reading and writing at home and at work. Education and trust are thus fundamentally intertwined and dependent on each other. 

• Preparing our youth for an inclusive and sustainable world - The OECD PISA Global Competence Framework
  
• “Educating our youth to care about each other and the world” by Andreas Schleicher
  
• Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)
• OECD work on education
• Trust in government
• Trust in parliament

How the G20 is working towards a more inclusive world economy - an update on the state of international cooperation
Gabriela Ramos, OECD Chief of Staff, G20 Sherpa and Special Counsellor to the Secretary-General
Discussant: Cornelia Schmidt Liermann, Member of Parliament, Argentina

Nearly 10 years after the global financial and economic crises, the G20 continues to be the premier forum for international economic co-operation. Over time, its mandate has progressed and matured, incorporating medium and long term challenges across its agenda, including engineering not only a stronger, but also a more sustainable and a more inclusive type of global growth. This session aimed to explain how the G20 agenda has evolved and transformed, broadening from an emergency response to the crisis to a more structural, longer-term approach to global economic challenges. It provided an insider experience of the G20 and insights on the role of this global economic governance body, its key achievements and challenges, and the support provided by the OECD to G20 members and successive presidencies. Importantly, it explored the potential of the G20 to foster a more inclusive world economy.

• OECD & G20
  
  

Investing in climate, investing in growth // World Energy Outlook – How can we meet climate, energy access and air quality goals?
Anthony Cox, Acting Director for Environment, OECD
Timur Guel, Senior Energy Analyst, Energy Demand Outlook Division, International Energy Agency 

Governments around the world face the need to re-invigorate growth while improving livelihoods and urgently tackling climate change. OECD’s work on "Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth" shows that integrating measures to tackle climate change into regular economic policy will have a positive impact on economic growth over the medium and long term. A climate-friendly policy package can increase long-run output by up to 2.8% on average across the G20 by 2050 and if avoided climate damage are also taken into account, this rises to nearly 5%. This session provided an assessment of how to generate inclusive economic growth in the short term, while making progress towards climate goals to secure sustainable long-term growth. It set out the structural, financial and political changes needed to enable the transition.

• Growth, Investment and the Low-Carbon Transition
  
  

Energy is fundamental for the achievement of many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Three of them are directly related to the production and use of energy: to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services by 2030 (SDG 7); to substantially reduce the air pollution which causes deaths and illness (SDG 3.9); and to take effective action to combat climate change (SDG 13). The IEA’s new Sustainable Development Scenario, published for the first time in the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2017, integrates all these goals at the same time with the objective to set out an energy sector pathway that leads to a cleaner and more inclusive energy future. This session discussed some of the scenario’s main findings, and what they imply for the energy sector and for energy policymakers. 

• World Energy Outlook 2017: Executive summary
• Commentary: A new approach to energy and sustainable development - the Sustainable Development Scenario
• International Energy Agency
  
  

Case study – Making the Paris metropolitan area more resilient to the risk of flooding
Charles Baubion, Policy Analyst, Risk Management, Public Governance Directorate, OECD
Stephane Jacobzone, Counsellor, Public Governance Directorate, OECD

Ensuring the resilience of large cities against major climate risks is a fundamental responsibility of public authorities. In 2014, the OECD assessed the economic impact of a major flood affecting Paris metropolitan area and made a series of recommendations to improve its resilience. Last week, the OECD released a follow-up report on the progress made in implementing its recommendations, and on the future challenges to reduce this risk in a highly fragmented governance framework, just as the Seine is overflowing. This case study shows the value of investing in risk prevention and offers options to overcome governance challenges. The presentation discussed how to create political momentum for reform after major shock events. It highlighted the costs of inaction for decision makers and the need to invest in a resilient future to preserve trust in government.

• Preventing the flooding of the Seine in the Paris - Ile-de-France region: Progress made and future challenges
  
• Seine Basin, Ile-de-France, 2014: Resilience to major floods
• Flood watch on the river Seine: A return to 1910?
  
  

Coffee break

What’s the role of trade in inclusive growth?
Ken Ash, Director, Trade and Agriculture, OECD
Discussant: Masahiro Imamura, Member of Parliament, Japan

Public scepticism about trade has grown in many countries, as one part of a wider backlash against globalisation. We need to acknowledge that frustration with ‘the system’ has its roots in some genuine problems. At the same time, we need to acknowledge that trade has helped to improve lives around the world. OECD analysis supports a much more integrated approach to policy making, moving each of us beyond our comfortable silos. Why does trade matter today - or does it - and how can trade contribute to more inclusive growth?

• OECD work on trade
• Inclusive growth
  
  

17.15 - 18.30

Doing Politics in New Ways: Co-creation in Politics
Pacôme Rupin, Member of Parliament, France
Amélie de Montchalin, Member of Parliament, France

In recent years, new digital tools have brought vast amounts of information to our fingertips and have changed the way political campaigns are designed and executed, while at the same time intensifying public scrutiny. Rising waves of populism and declining trust in institutions have increased public expectations for government’s attention to their needs. This has led some politicians to work more directly with constituents, bridging divides between policy-makers and citizens by getting them more involved, crowdsourcing ideas for legislation, and encouraging the co-creation of public policies. They are also bringing diverse profiles into politics in an effort to be more representative of the people they serve. All this is changing how institutions everywhere have to think about the concept of “business as usual”. How are politicians in different countries living and doing politics in new ways?

Reception

Arrival of participants and morning coffee

G20 standards: Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) & Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) – How far have we come?
Pascal Saint-Amans, Director, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD

This session provided an overview of the OECD’s tax work and how it is delivered through different multilateral fora, and its place in the international dialogue on tax policy, including its connection with the G20’s priorities and how they relate to the legislative process in our member countries. 

Taxing Energy Use
Pascal Saint-Amans, Director, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD
Kurt Van Dender, Head of Unit, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD

This session discussed key findings from recent work on the use of taxes to tackle climate change, including a preview of the upcoming OECD publication, Taxing Energy Use 2018, which measures the magnitude and coverage of energy and carbon taxes in 42 OECD and G20 countries and provides a first appreciation of changes in energy and carbon taxes over time.

• Taxing Energy Use 2018
  
  

Tax challenges of the Digital Economy
Pascal Saint-Amans, Director, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD
Discussant: Alain Lamassoure, Member of the European Parliament, France

A key policy question for governments the world over is whether the current international tax rules remain fit for purpose given the increasingly digitalised nature of the global economy. Rules that were designed for traditional brick and mortar business leave tax administrations struggling to grapple with the appropriate treatment of businesses that use newer business models. The OECD Task Force on the Digital Economy is currently working on a report to identify the key issues and propose a framework to deal with this crucial issue in tax policy. This session provided an overview of the work and the general policy considerations that are at play and the calendar for delivering outputs, including the short-term temporary options envisaged by countries to address the tax challenges of the digitalised economy, which are analysed in the interim report to be released in April 2018 to G20 Finance Ministers.

• Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy, Action 1 - 2015 Final Report

Coffee break

Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Implementation
Sophie Chatel, Head of the Tax Treaties Unit, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD
Achim Pross, Head of International Cooperation and Tax Administration Division, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD
Discussant: Jorge Luis Lavalle Maury, Member of Parliament, Mexico

The Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project also includes key actions, notably exchange of information as well as the elimination of harmful tax practices and mutual agreement procedures to ensure that tax treaties are applied in accordance with their intents and purposes. The Inclusive Framework on BEPS, which now counts more than 100 member jurisdictions, conducts peer reviews of the implementation of BEPS action items on exchange of tax rulings, country-by-country reporting, harmful preferential tax regimes and the efficiency of mutual agreement procedures. Also, an important tool for BEPS implementation is the BEPS Multilateral Instrument (MLI), which allows signatories to quickly update its treaties to conform with BEPS tax treaty related measures. This session provided an overview of the BEPS implementation phase and its results so far including a focus on the importance and impact of the MLI which has been signed by close to 70 jurisdictions and which is currently under ratification in many of them.  

• Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS)
• Inclusive Framework on BEPS: Progress Report 2016-2017
• Inclusive Framework on BEPS: Peer review and monitoring process
• Tax
• BEPS Multilateral Instrument: Information Brochure
  
  

Tax Transparency
Andrew Auerbach, Counsellor, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD
Discussant: José Ramírez Aguilar, Member of Parliament, Costa Rica

A key pillar of ensuring the integrity of the global financial system is to ensure that information is available to tax authorities to enable them to administer their domestic tax laws. The OECD’s work in this area is conducted through the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. The Global Forum is responsible for ensuring a rapid implementation of the standards of exchange of information on request (EOIR) and the automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI). Importantly, each of these standards includes requirements to maintain beneficial ownership information. This session gave an overview of the standards, the review processes that are in place and the results so far. 

• Automatic Exchange of Information: Implementation Report 2017
• Automatic Exchange Portal
• OECD work on tax

6th Parliamentary Days - Closing remarks
Anthony Gooch, Director, Public Affairs and Communications, OECD

Bilateral meetings with OECD experts and OECD member country delegations (upon request)