Session 1 | European Financial Integration 2026

Source: European Central Bank (video statements)

From pillars to portfolios: rethinking pensions for an entrepreneurial Europe

Chair: Alexandra Jour-Schroeder, Deputy Director-General of DG FISMA, European Commission

Panellists:
• Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Member of the European Parliament (Renew Europe Group)
• Geraldine Leegwater, CEO, PGGM Investment Management
• Beate Petry, Head of Global Pensions & Benefits, BASF SE, and Chairwoman of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für betriebliche Altersversorgung e.V. (German pension association)
• Patrick Hoedjes, Head of the Policy and Supervisory Convergence Department, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
• Tabea Bucher-Koenen, Professor of Finance, University of Mannheim, and Head of the Pensions and Sustainable Financial Markets Research Unit, Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW)

The conference took place on 7 May 2026.

See the conference programme here:
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/conferences/html/260507-european-financial-integration.en.html

Watch all sessions from the conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Y49BF8mTQ&list=PLnVAEZuF9FZlLRLPr0lrYXqh4DcZfWRBT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-2wZov5kHE