New European forum will bring together more than 350 senior legal leaders to examine how regulatory change, geopolitical tensions and emerging technologies are reshaping legal leadership.*
Economist Enterprise will host its inaugural General Counsel Summit EU on March 9th 2027 in Amsterdam, bringing together more than 350 general counsel and senior legal leaders to examine the forces reshaping corporate legal strategy and the evolving role of the general counsel in European business.
Under the strapline *The new contours of legal leadership*, the summit will address the competing economic, political and regulatory pressures facing European businesses. As policymakers seek to strengthen the region’s competitiveness while advancing strategic autonomy, sustainability and technological innovation, general counsel are increasingly being called upon to advise beyond traditional legal matters and help boards navigate decisions with significant commercial and geopolitical consequences.
The event extends Economist Enterprise’s established General Counsel Summit series, which includes 23 editions in London, five in New York and two in Singapore. The inaugural European edition will provide a dedicated forum for the region’s legal leaders to exchange perspectives on the challenges facing their organisations and the decisions that will shape their strategies in 2027 and beyond.
Can regulatory simplification restore competitiveness? Can strategic autonomy coexist with dependence on global markets? Will AI rules encourage investment and innovation, or send both elsewhere? These are no longer abstract policy questions. They are already influencing investment decisions, transactions and how boards assess risk.
The summit will explore these questions through panels, fireside chats, case studies, debates and closed-door roundtables. An economic and geopolitical briefing from The Economist Group will examine the developments most likely to affect European business in 2027, including the leading global risks facing organisations.
Key themes will include the EU’s regulatory reset and its implications for corporate compliance; the changing relationship between competition policy, merger reform and European competitiveness; the governance of artificial intelligence and autonomous AI agents; and the legal implications of strategic dependencies, data access and cybersecurity.
Sessions will also examine how general counsel can respond to cross-border investigations, collective claims and crises in which legal obligations intersect with political pressure, corporate survival and board accountability.
The programme will consider difficult questions facing European businesses. Can simplification reduce compliance burdens without creating greater uncertainty? Can Europe strengthen its industrial competitiveness while maintaining effective competition enforcement? And how should companies govern AI systems that increasingly act on their behalf, potentially making decisions with legal and commercial consequences?
An audience debate on European AI regulation will invite participants to consider whether the region’s rules will strengthen trust and competitiveness or risk directing investment elsewhere, with delegates voting before and after the arguments.
A defining feature of the summit will be its emphasis on candid, practical discussion among senior peers. Sessions held under the Chatham House Rule will give participants an opportunity to examine difficult decisions, challenge assumptions and compare approaches to risks that increasingly cross legal, commercial and geopolitical boundaries.
By bringing together leaders from across the European in-house legal community, Economist Enterprise aims to create a forum in which general counsel can assess emerging risks, share practical experience and consider how their functions can contribute to stronger strategic decision-making at board level.
Event details
1st Annual General Counsel Summit EU
The new contours of legal leadership
March 9th 2027 | Amsterdam
About Economist Enterprise
Economist Enterprise helps organisations navigate global complexity, make confident strategic decisions and engage credibly on the issues shaping markets, policy and business performance.
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