A key trend in recent years has been the increasing integration of emerging markets and advanced economies, though this trend is complicated by the fact that a multitude of factors – such as oil prices and exchange rate movements – have affected actors in different ways. However, given that global growth has slowed, it is clear that advanced economies and emerging markets need to find common initiatives.

This Policy Dialogue sought to determine the extent to which recent global economic trends have affected emerging market economies and EU countries, and to discuss possible avenues of cooperation in the face of a slowdown in global growth. Key questions to be answered include: What are the main global economic trends? How will rising resource consumption and scarcity affect the world economy and the climate? What does the rise of a global middle class mean for the future of the world economy? And to what extent has the European economic crisis had an impact on emerging markets’ ties with the European economy?