| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 30.6.02 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 30/06/2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2002 summit meeting of the G8 took place in Kananaskis, Alberta, on 26-27 June. The European Union was represented by European Commission President Romano Prodi and by the President of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar (who at the time was also President of the Council of the EU; the Presidency of the Council passed to Denmark on 1 July). Participants discussed three main issues: strengthening global economic growth and sustainable development; building a new partnership for Africa's development; and fighting terrorism. They also reviewed progress in four areas related to global poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals as stated in the United Nations Millennium Declaration: promoting universal primary education; fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases; bridging the digital divide; and debt reduction and the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Background to the G8 The first meeting of what is now the G8 was convened in November 1975 by the French President, Valery Giscard d'Estaing. It took the form of a Western Economic Summit, held at Rambouillet, attended by the Finance Ministers of France, (West) Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. The group's composition was based on the 'Library Group' - Finance Ministers from France, (West) Germany, Japan, the UK and the US, who met in the White House Library during the early 1970s, at the initiative of US Treasury Secretary George Schultz. Membership of the forum was expanded with the addition of Canada in 1976, and it became known as the 'Group of Seven' ('G7'). A year later, the European Community was granted observer status, thereby earning the group the tags of G8 + 1 and S8 (Summit 8). Russia formally became the eighth member of the group in 1997, although Russian leaders had attended meetings since the early 1990s (President Boris Yeltsin attended the 1992 and 1993 summits, which discussed financial assistance to Russia, and in 1994 he participated in foreign policy discussions at the Naples Summit). The 1997 meeting in Denver, in which Russia was more fully involved, was called the 'Summit of the Eight' and set the stage for the first full G8 summit held the following year in Birmingham, UK. A distinction is still drawn between the G7 and G8. The G7 - effectively a subset of the G8 - comprises the world's seven richest industrial democracies. The forum was originally created in the wake of the world's first oil crisis and resulting recession, and was seen as an informal environment in which ministers and leaders could discuss the world economic situation. Over the years the range of issues discussed by the G7 has broadened significantly, and now includes political and social issues as well as economic ones. Selected details of issues discussed can be found in a Summit chronology 1975-1998 (appended to The Group of Eight and the European Union: The Evolving Partnership). The G8, in which Russia now participates, does not address the same economic agenda. Although Russia is the world's largest country geographically, it does not have the eighth largest economy and is actually a recipient of western aid. The G8 has no headquarters, no secretariat, no operating rules and no formal or legal powers. Decisions are implemented by individual members: 'Summit members comply modestly with the decisions and consensus generated by and codified at their annual Summit. Compliance is particularly high in regard to agreements on international trade and energy, and on the part of Britain, Canada, and Germany.' (From G7 to G8, University of Toronto G8 Information Centre). The Chair of the G8 changes each year. It has always rotated amongst the seven original members, but the 2002 Kananaskis Summit agreed that Russia will chair the Group in 2006. Chairing the G8 entails hosting and organising meetings, speaking on behalf of the G8, and liaising with other countries and with international and non-governmental organisations. Potential agenda items are discussed initially by leaders' personal representatives or 'Sherpas', who are also responsible for ensuring that commitments are implemented, and are supported by other senior officials. The 2001 Genoa Summit also established a network of African Personal Representatives, responsible for liaising with African leaders' representatives over the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). The G8 meets in various formats. The annual summit is only one of many meetings in which ministers participate. There are regular meetings of ministers responsible for employment, environment, finance (G7), foreign affairs and for combating terrorism. Trade Ministers from Canada, the European Union, Japan and the United States regularly meet in a grouping known as the 'Quadrilateral' or 'Quad'. Since the mid-1990s a number of ministerial groups have met irregularly, including those on crime (the 'Lyon Group'), energy, health, and justice and internal affairs. There have also been some ad hoc ministerial meetings to discuss specific issues, such as: Aid to Russia (1993), Aid to Ukraine (1994), Global Marketplace for Small and Medium-size Enterprises (1997), Drug Experts (2000), Security and Trust in Cyberspace (2000). In February 1995 the European Commission hosted a G7 conference on the Information Society, at which the 'Europa' website was launched.
Because of its composition, the G8 has significant influence over United Nations and other international organisations, including the UN Security Council, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Whilst some observers think that the summits are no more than talking shops and photo opportunities, the US-based think tank Foreign Policy in Focus argues that "For those negatively impacted by the policy agendas advanced by the G8/G7, and for countries excluded from its deliberations, the G8/G7's influential role in global governance is highly resented and frequently criticized." (G8/G7 and Global Governance, 5 (23), July 2000). According to the University of Toronto G8 Information Centre: "Summit decisions often create and build international regimes to deal with new international challenges, and catalyze, revitalize and reform existing international institutions." (From G7 to G8). The EU and the G8 In The Group of Eight and the European Union: The Evolving Partnership, Heidi Ullrich and Alan Donnelly MEP write that, following the meeting in Rambouillet, the European Community institutions and Member States 'voiced their indignation over being excluded from this new forum for multilateral discussion'. After much debate within the Community institutions, it was agreed 'that the presidents of the Commission and Council should attend the parts of the summit only where the EC had competence.' Although the Community officially participated in the 1977 London Summit, '[it] was only at the seventh summit, held in Ottawa in 1981, that the representatives of the EC gained access to the political discussions in addition to economic talks.' Ullrich and Donnelly quote Pascal Lamy (now the Commissioner for Trade, but between 1985 and 1989 was sherpa to Commission President Jacques Delors), justifying the Community's participation in the G7:
Ullrich and Donnelly also identify three principal effects of Europe's participation in the G8 summits (courtesy of Bonvicini and Wessels):
The website of the Commission's External Relations DG states that 'Although the EU does not bring a formal mandate to the summit meetings, it attempts to present a coherent package of the views of all EU Member States, particularly of the 11 non G8 members.' (The EU and G7-G8). The EU is better able to prepare positions when summits are chaired by a G8 member which is also an EU Member State. The European Commission reports on the outcome of a summit to both the Council and the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper). The EU and G7-G8 claims that the 'first solid evidence' of the EU's involvement with the G8 was the Commission's coordination, in 1989, of aid to the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) under the aegis of the G24. However, the Union's growing competence and international profile have reportedly been accompanied by a greater impact on the activities of the G8. The Kananaskis summit In response to the anti-capitalist, anti-globalisation and other protests which have marked recent high-profile meetings of the G8 and other groups, the 2002 G8 summit was held in Kananaskis, an isolated resort in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The summit was cut from the usual two-and-a-half to just one-and-a-half days - reportedly to help focus participants' minds on the agenda items. The communiqué issued after the meeting noted that this was the first G8 summit since the terrorist attacks of 11 September, and declared that leaders 'are committed to sustained and comprehensive actions to deny support or sanctuary to terrorists, to bring terrorists to justice, and to reduce the threat of terrorist attacks.' With reference to terrorism, the summit also: 'agreed on a set of six non-proliferation Principles aimed at preventing terrorists - or those who harbour them - from acquiring or developing nuclear, chemical, radiological and biological weapons; missiles; and related materials, equipment or technologies' and 'launched a new G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction.' On other issues, the communiqué also included the following points:
Commenting on the agreement on Africa, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan - who was also present - said: 'If Africans really stick to the commitments they have made in NEPAD to themselves, and to each other, and if the G-8 really carry out the action plan they are announcing today, this Summit might come to be seen as a turning point in the history of Africa, and indeed of the world.' At Kananaskis, EU agreement was given to the anti-terrorism initiatives. The President of the European Council, Jose Maria Aznar, was reported to have argued for economic reform in order to produce greater competitiveness and stability. On the Middle East, he said that conditions were not yet right for holding the proposed international peace conference. Together with Commission President Romano Prodi, Mr Aznar met President Putin to discuss the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad which, following enlargement, will be surrounded by EU Member States. Mr Aznar also indicated that Spain would like to become a member of the G8 in its own right. Further information within European Sources Online: Further and subsequent information on the subject of this In Focus can be found by an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'g7', 'g8', 'kananaskis' or other appropriate term in the keyword field. Further information can be seen in these external links: Eric Davies The 2002 summit meeting of the G8 took place in Kananaskis, Alberta, on 26-27 June 2002. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
