Barcelona's Círculo de Economía announced its 41st annual forums, set for June 1-3 at Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, will center on 'Europe's strategic autonomy: myth or reality?'. President Teresa García-Milà and director general Miquel Nadal presented the program on Tuesday, emphasizing challenges in defense, technology, energy, and health to lessen reliance on the US, Russia, and China.
The civil and business organization outlined the key lines of the forums, its annual centerpiece event gathering political leaders, business figures, and experts. This edition features a strong business focus, organizers said, and will address issues like the ongoing debate on regional financing models.
Political attendees include Generalitat president Salvador Illa, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, plus Basque president Imanol Pradales and Galician president Alfonso Rueda. International participants comprise Jia Qingguo from Peking University, Indian ex-ambassador Mohan Kumar Motwani, former US ambassador to Spain Julissa Reynoso, and journalist Christopher Caldwell.
Confirmed business leaders are Juvencio Maeztu of IKEA, Tomás Muniesa of CaixaBank, Markus Haupt of SEAT and Cupra, Marc Murtra of Telefónica, Antoni Brufau of Repsol, and Laura Colón of AstraZeneca. Tech representatives from Mistral AI, Helsing, Apptronik, and GMV will also attend. 'We are convinced that strategic autonomy will not be built solely from Brussels and national governments, but also from companies that innovate, invest, and compete,' García-Milà stated.
Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, will receive the 2026 Círculo de Economía Award for European Construction in a ceremony presided over by King Felipe VI.
