Arrival and coffee

Welcome & housekeeping
Elsa Pilichowski, Director, Public Affairs and Communications Directorate, OECD

Opening remarks by OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann (video message)

Optimising the strength and quality of recovery from COVID-19 while responding to the economic and social impacts of the war in Ukraine

Global economic outlook
Luiz de Mello, Director, Policy Studies Branch, Economics Department, OECD

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues to overshadow the world economy. The war has slowed growth, but there are recent signs of improvement. A fragile recovery is emerging, even though the outlook for the next couple of years remains uncertain, with downside risks related to heightened volatility in financial markets and vulnerabilities in housing markets. Labour markets are tight. While headline inflation has started to decline, it remains elevated and more persistent than initially anticipated. This session discussed the OECD’s latest views on the outlook for the global economy.

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)
• OECD Economic Outlook, Interim Report, March 2023

Labour and social policy update
Mark Pearson, Deputy Director, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Directorate, OECD

This session discussed labour market developments in OECD countries. Though employment growth slowed down over the course of 2022, the employment rate for the OECD as a whole is firmly above pre-crisis levels. However, labour market turbulence remains. OECD countries faced high levels of labour market tightness in the second half of 2021 and early 2022, while the number of firms reporting labour shortages rose significantly above pre-pandemic levels in many industries and countries. At the same time, real wages have been falling, even in countries with widespread collective bargaining. Despite recent signs of improvement, economic recovery over the next two years is expected to be moderate, and recommendations for a strong policy response that protects the most vulnerable groups – who also felt the impact of the COVID-19 crisis most strongly, and for whom recovery was slower – were shared in the presentation.

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)

Group photo

Lunch offered by OECD
Rooms Roger Ockrent and George Marshall, OECD Château

Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches

Chair: Fabrizia Lapecorella, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD
Kumi Kitamori, Deputy Director, Environment Directorate, OECD
Alain de Serres, Deputy Director, Policy Studies Branch, Economics Department, OECD
Kurt Van Dender, Acting Head, Tax Policy and Statistics Division, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD

This session provided an overview of the recently launched Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches (IFCMA). The IFCMA aims at facilitating sharing of data and information, evidence-based mutual learning and inclusive multilateral dialogue to contribute to a globally more coherent and better coordinated approach to carbon mitigation efforts. The Inclusive Forum brings together all relevant policy perspectives from a diverse range of countries around the world, participating on an equal footing basis.

• Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches
• OECD (2022), Assessing environmental impact of measures in the OECD Green Recovery Database, OECD Policy Reponses to Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• OECD (2022), Supporting women's empowerment through green policies and finance, OECD Environment Policy Papers

Joining Forces for Gender Equality

Chair: Ulrik Knudsen, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD
Monika Queisser, Senior Counsellor, Head of the Social Policy Division, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD

Promoting gender equality is a strategic priority for the OECD. The OECD regularly monitors progress on gender equality in member and partner countries as well as policy developments aimed at advancing on gender equality in a range of areas, such as education, employment, and entrepreneurship, but also in public life. Increasingly, gender equality is being mainstreamed as a policy priority in all of OECD’s work. The forthcoming OECD flagship report “Joining Forces for Gender Equality” examines progress in gender equality in a wide range of areas. This session discussed which policy priorities countries are setting, how they have been progressing in gender equality and which challenges and obstacles remain.

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)
• OECD work on gender equality
• OECD Family Database

Coffee break

Combatting mis- and dis-information

Chair: Kerri-Ann Jones, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD
Julio Bacio Terracino, Head of Division, Public Sector Integrity, Public Governance Directorate, OECD

The instantaneous and global spread of misinformation, targeted disinformation campaigns that deceive and confuse the public, and rapidly changing technological and media markets pose fundamental challenges to democracies. To help build people’s trust in the integrity of the information they consume, a new governance model is needed to establish a whole-of-society approach to fight mis- and disinformation and preserve freedom of speech. The OECD DIS/MIS Resource Hub, launched in November 2022, will serve as a peer learning platform for sharing knowledge, data, and analysis of governance approaches to tackling mis- and disinformation. This session presented the OECD’s conceptual framework of a comprehensive governance response to building information integrity and provided a platform for discussion of challenges and potential solutions.

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)
• The OECD DIS/MIS Resource Hub
• OECD (2022), Public Governance Reviews - Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy: Preparing the Ground for Government Action, Chapter 1. Mis- and disinformation: What governments can do to reinforce democracy
• OECD (2022), Strengthening democracy: Gearing up governments to tackle mis- and disinformation, OECD podcast

Sessions with OECD economic country desks
Room: Salon du Parc

Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their own country’s economy with an OECD economist working on their country, in informal breakout sessions.

Update on energy markets
Keisuke Sadamori, Director, Energy Markets and Security, International Energy Agency

Mr. Keisuke Sadamori gave a short presentation followed by discussion, on the short term energy market outlook for oil, gas, coal and electricity, renewables and energy efficiency, including supply, demand and security issues in the current energy system. The talk covered market monitoring and analysis in light of the first global energy crisis.

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)

Energy market reports:

• Oil Market Report
• Gas Market Report, Q1-2023
• Coal 2022: Analysis and forecast to 2025
• Electricity Market Report - July-2022
• Renewables 2022
• Energy Efficiency 2022

Closing remarks & lunch offered by OECD
Rooms Roger Ockrent and George Marshall, OECD Château

Meeting of the OECD Parliamentary Group on Integrity & Transparency
Open to the participation of all MPs and parliamentary officials

Chair: Kerri-Ann Jones, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD

Session 1: Establishing and promoting political integrity standards for elected officials                       
Julio Bacio Terracino, Head of Division, Public Sector Integrity, Public Governance Directorate, OECD

Integrity is an inherent value of democracy that ensures that government responds to the interests of the people. From elections to policy implementation, integrity of elected and appointed officials ensures that everybody has a voice, that the interests of constituencies are fairly represented, that there is no undue influence of government policies, and that government action is aligned with the public interest. This session explored the core elements of integrity for elected officials, from elections to political affairs, and policymaking.

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)
• OECD (2022), Public Governance Reviews - Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy: Preparing the Ground for Government Action, Chapter 2. Upgrading participation, representation and openness in public life
• OECD (2021), Lobbying in the 21st Century: Transparency, Integrity and Access
• OECD (2020), Public Integrity Handbook, Chapter 1 “Commitment”
• OECD work on lobbying

Session 2: Strengthening resilience to foreign undue influence and interference
Pauline Bertrand, Policy Analyst, Public Sector Integrity, Public Governance Directorate, OECD

While foreign entities such as governments, political or corporate organisations have a legitimate interest in promoting and representing their interests abroad, some of their activities, in particular when they are linked to non-democratic regimes, may directly seek to bias the development of public policies or interfere in domestic processes through covert and deceptive activities. This can include disinformation campaigns, malign political financing and opaque lobbying, with the objective to manipulate public opinion, manipulate public decision-makers to advance their interests, undermine the integrity of elections and threaten vital security interests of another country. This session explored how elected officials can strengthen resilience to these risks through mutually supportive actions, including identifying and preventing information manipulation coming from abroad, and strengthening integrity and transparency in all forms of influence.

• See the speaker's presentation (PDF)
• OECD (2022), Public Governance Reviews - Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy: Preparing the Ground for Government Action, Chapter 3 “Stronger open democracies in a globalised world: Embracing the global responsibilities of governments and building resilience to foreign influence”
• OECD (2021), Lobbying in the 21st Century: Transparency, Integrity and Access
• OECD work on lobbying