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"Group of Eight" redirects here. For other uses, see G8 (disambiguation).
Group of Eight
Map of G8 member nations and the European Union
 Canada
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
President of the G8 for 2010
 France
President Nicolas Sarkozy
 Germany
Chancellor Angela Merkel
 Italy
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
 Japan
Prime Minister Naoto Kan
 Russia
President Dmitry Medvedev
 United Kingdom
Prime Minister David Cameron
 United States
President Barack Obama

Also represented

 European Union
Commission President José Manuel Barroso
 European Union
Council President Herman Van Rompuy

The Group of Eight (G8, and formerly the G6 or Group of Six and also the G7 or Group of Seven) is a forum, created by France in 1975, for governments of six countries in the world: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1976, Canada joined the group (thus creating the G7). In becoming the G8, the group added Russia in 1997. In addition, the European Union is represented within the G8, but cannot host or chair.[1] "G8" can refer to the member states or to the annual summit meeting of the G8 heads of government. The former term, G6, is now frequently applied to the six most populous countries within the European Union. G8 ministers also meet throughout the year, such as the G7/8 finance ministers (who meet four times a year), G8 foreign ministers, or G8 environment ministers.

Each calendar year, the responsibility of hosting the G8 rotates through the member states in the following order: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada. The holder of the presidency sets the agenda, hosts the summit for that year, and determines which ministerial meetings will take place. Lately, both France and the United Kingdom have expressed a desire to expand the group to include five developing countries, referred to as the Outreach Five (O5) or the Plus Five: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa. These countries have participated as guests in previous meetings, which are sometimes called G8+5.

With the G-20 major economies growing in stature since the 2008 Washington summit, world leaders from the group announced at their Pittsburgh summit on September 25, 2009, that the group will replace the G8 as the main economic council of wealthy nations.[2][3]

History

At the 34th G8 Summit at Toyako, Hokkaido, formal photo during Tanabata matsuri event for world leaders – Silvio Berlusconi (Italy), Dmitry Medvedev (Russia), Angela Merkel (Germany), Gordon Brown (UK), Yasuo Fukuda (Japan), George W. Bush (U.S.), Stephen Harper (Canada), Nicolas Sarkozy (France), José Barroso (EU) – July 7, 2008.

The concept of a forum for the world's major industrialized democracies emerged following the 1973 oil crisis. In 1974 the United States created the Library Group, an informal gathering of senior financial officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany, Japan and France. In 1975, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing invited the heads of government from West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to a summit in Château de Rambouillet. The six leaders agreed to an annual meeting organized under a rotating presidency, forming the Group of Six (G6). The following year, Canada joined the group at the behest of Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and U.S. President Gerald Ford[4] and the group became the Group of Seven (G7). The European Union is represented by the President of the European Commission and the leader of the country that holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The President of the European Commission has attended all meetings since it was first invited by the United Kingdom in 1977[5] and the Council President now also regularly attends.

Following 1994's G7 summit in Naples, Russian officials held separate meetings with leaders of the G7 after the group's summits. This informal arrangement was dubbed the Political 8 (P8) – or, colloquially, the G7+1. At the invitation of United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President Bill Clinton,[6] Russia formally joined the group in 1997, resulting in the Group of Eight, or G8.

Structure and activities

Leaders of the G8 on 7 June 2007, in Heiligendamm, Germany

By design, the G8 deliberately lacks an administrative structure like those for international organizations, such as the United Nations or the World Bank. The group does not have a permanent secretariat, or offices for its members.

The presidency of the group rotates annually among the member countries, with each new term beginning on 1 January of the year. The country holding the presidency is responsible for planning and hosting a series of ministerial-level meetings, leading up to a mid-year summit attended by the heads of government. The president of the European Commission participates as an equal in all summit events.[7]

The ministerial meetings bring together ministers responsible for various portfolios to discuss issues of mutual or global concern. The range of topics include health, law enforcement, labor, economic and social development, energy, environment, foreign affairs, justice and interior, terrorism, and trade. There are also a separate set of meetings known as the G8+5, created during the 2005 Gleneagles, Scotland summit, that is attended by finance and energy ministers from all eight member countries in addition to the five "outreach countries" which are also known as the Group of Five — Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa.[8]

In June 2005, justice ministers and interior ministers from the G8 countries agreed to launch an international database on pedophiles.[9] The G8 officials also agreed to pool data on terrorism, subject to restrictions by privacy and security laws in individual countries.[10]

Global energy

Main articles: International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation and Climate Investment Funds
G8 leaders confer together during the 2009 summit in L'Aquila (Abruzzo, Italy).

At the Heiligendamm Summit in 2007, the G8 acknowledged a proposal from the EU for a worldwide initiative on efficient energy use. They agreed to explore, along with the International Energy Agency, the most effective means to promote energy efficiency internationally. A year later, on 8 June 2008, the G8 along with China, India, South Korea and the European Community established the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation, at the Energy Ministerial meeting hosted by Japan holding 2008 G8 Presidency, in Aomori.[11]

G8 Finance Ministers, whilst in preparation for the 34th Summit of the G8 Heads of State and Government in Toyako, Hokkaido, met on the 13 and 14 June 2008, in Osaka, Japan. They agreed to the “G8 Action Plan for Climate Change to Enhance the Engagement of Private and Public Financial Institutions.” In closing, Ministers supported the launch of new Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) by the World Bank, which will help existing efforts until a new framework under the UNFCCC is implemented after 2012.[12]

The Annual Summit

The annual G8 leaders summit is attended by eight of the world's most powerful heads of government. However, as noted by commentators the G-8 summit is not the place to flesh out the details of any difficult or controversial policy issue in the context of a three-day event. Rather, the meeting is to bring a range of complex and sometimes inter-related issues. The G8 summit brings leaders together not so they can dream up quick fixes, but to talk and think about them together.[13]

The G8 summit is an international event which is observed and reported by news media, but the G8's relevance is unclear.[14] The member country holding the G8 presidency is responsible for organizing and hosting the year's summit, held for three days in mid-year; and for this reason, Tony Blair and the United Kingdom accumulated the lion's share of the credit for what went right (and wrong) at Gleneagles in 2005. Similarly, Yasuo Fukuda and Japan hope to garner the greater part of the credit for what went well (and what did not) at the Hokkaido Summit in 2008.

Each of the 36 G8 summit meetings could have been called a success if the events had been re-framed as venues to generate additional momentum for solving problems at the other multilateral conferences that meet throughout the year. The G8 annual summit sets the stage for what needs to be done and establishes an idea of how to do it, even if that idea is, at best, rough and patchy.[13] The serial annual summits can be parsed chronologically in arguably distinct ways, including as the sequence of host countries for the summits has recurred over time, series, etc.[15]

The summits have also been the site of numerous, large-scale anti-globalization protests.[citation needed]

Date Host country Host leader Location held Website Notes
1st November 15–17, 1975  France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Rambouillet G6 Summit
2nd June 27–28, 1976  United States Gerald R. Ford Dorado, Puerto Rico[16] Also called "Rambouillet II;" Canada joins the group, forming the G7[16]
3rd May 7–8, 1977  United Kingdom James Callaghan London President of the European Commission is invited to join the annual G-7 summits
4th July 16–17, 1978  West Germany Helmut Schmidt Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia
5th June 28–29, 1979  Japan Masayoshi Ōhira Tokyo
6th June 22–23, 1980  Italy Francesco Cossiga Venice
7th July 20–21, 1981  Canada Pierre E. Trudeau Montebello, Quebec
8th June 4–6, 1982  France François Mitterrand Versailles
9th May 28–30, 1983  United States Ronald Reagan Williamsburg, Virginia
10th June 7–9, 1984  United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher London
11th May 2–4, 1985  West Germany Helmut Kohl Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia
12th May 4–6, 1986  Japan Yasuhiro Nakasone Tokyo
13th June 8–10, 1987  Italy Amintore Fanfani Venice
14th June 19–21, 1988  Canada Brian Mulroney Toronto
15th July 14–16, 1989  France François Mitterrand Paris
16th July 9–11, 1990  United States George H. W. Bush Houston, Texas
17th July 15–17, 1991  United Kingdom John Major London
18th July 6–8, 1992  Germany Helmut Kohl Munich, Bavaria
19th July 7–9, 1993  Japan Kiichi Miyazawa Tokyo
20th July 8–10, 1994  Italy Silvio Berlusconi Naples
21st June 15–17, 1995  Canada Jean Chrétien Halifax, Nova Scotia [17]
22nd June 27–29, 1996  France Jacques Chirac Lyon International organizations' debut to G8 Summits periodically. The invited ones here were: United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.[18]
23rd June 20–22, 1997  United States Bill Clinton Denver, Colorado [19] Russia joins the group, forming G8
24th May 15–17, 1998  United Kingdom Tony Blair Birmingham, England [20]
25th June 18–20, 1999  Germany Gerhard Schröder Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia [21] First Summit of the G-20 major economies at Berlin
26th July 21–23, 2000  Japan Yoshiro Mori Nago, Okinawa [22] Formation of the G8+5 starts, when South Africa was invited. Since then, it has been invited to the Summit annually without interruption. Also, with permission from a G8 leader, other nations were invited to the Summit on a periodical basis for the first time. Nigeria, Algeria and Senegal accepted their invitations here. The World Health Organization was also invited for the first time, too.[18]
27th July 20–22, 2001  Italy Silvio Berlusconi Genoa [23] Leaders from Bangladesh, Mali and El Salvador accepted their invitations here.[18] Demonstrator Carlo Giuliani is shot and killed by police during a violent demonstration.
28th June 26–27, 2002  Canada Jean Chrétien Kananaskis, Alberta [24] Russia gains permission to officially host a G8 Summit.
29th June 2–3, 2003  France Jacques Chirac Évian-les-Bains [1] The G8+5 was unofficially made, when China, India, Brazil, and Mexico were invited to this Summit for the first time. South Africa has joined the G8 Summit since 2000. Other first-time nations that were invited by the French president included: Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Switzerland.[18]
30th June 8–10, 2004  United States George W. Bush Sea Island, Georgia [25] A record number of leaders from 12 different nations accepted their invitations here. Amongst a couple of veteran nations, the others were: Ghana, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen and Uganda.[18] Also, the state funeral of former president Ronald Reagan took place in Washington during the summit.
31st July 6–8, 2005  United Kingdom Tony Blair Gleneagles, Scotland [26] The G8+5 was officially formed. On the second day of the meeting, suicide bombers killed over 50 people on the London Underground and a bus. Nations that were invited for the first time were Ethiopia and Tanzania. The African Union and the International Energy Agency made their debut here.[18]
32nd July 15–17, 2006  Russia Vladimir Putin Strelna, St. Petersburg [2] First G8 Summit on Russian soil. Also, the International Atomic Energy Agency and UNESCO made their debut here.[18]
33rd June 6–8, 2007  Germany Angela Merkel Heiligendamm, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern [3] Seven different international organizations accepted their invitations to this Summit. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Commonwealth of Independent States made their debut here.[18]
34th July 7–9, 2008  Japan Yasuo Fukuda Toyako (Lake Toya), Hokkaido [27] Nations that accepted their G8 Summit invitations for the first time are: Australia, Indonesia and South Korea.[18]
35th July 8–10, 2009  Italy Silvio Berlusconi L'Aquila, Abruzzo [4] This G8 Summit was originally planned to be in La Maddalena (Sardinia), but was moved to L'Aquila as a way of showing Prime Minister Berlusconi's desire to help the region in and around L'Aquila after the earthquake that hit the area on the April 6th, 2009. Nations that accepted their invitations for the first time were: Angola, Denmark, Netherlands and Spain.[28] A record of TEN (10) international organizations were represented in this G8 Summit. For the first time, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Food Programme, and the International Labour Organization accepted their invitations.[29]
36th June 25–26, 2010[30]  Canada Stephen Harper Huntsville, Ontario[31] [5] Final G8 Summit to be held in current format[citation needed], before the G-20 major economies Summit becomes main annual international economic forum in the same manner as previous G8 Summits. Malawi, Colombia, Haiti, and Jamaica accepted their invitations for the first time.[32]
37th 2011  France Nicolas Sarkozy Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur[33]
38th 2012  United States TBD

G8 member facts

All eight of the G8 countries are amongst the fifteen (15) top-ranked leading export countries.[34] The USA, Germany, Italy, France, Japan and Russia are among the top 10 countries with the largest gold reserves.[35] The USA, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy and the UK have nominal per capita GDP over US$35,000.[36] Some of the world's twenty-five largest stock exchanges by traded value and market capitalization are in G8 countries[37] (U.S., Japan, UK, France, Canada, Germany, Italy.) The G8 countries represent 7 of the 9 largest economies by nominal GDP[38] (Russia is not one of the 9 largest economies by nominal GDP but has the 7th largest real GDP; Canada was 8th in 2006 but in 2007 it lost 8th place to Spain, as it did in 2003,[38] prompting the previous government headed by José María Aznar to request Spain's entrance in the G8.) Spain is not a member by itself of the G-20 major economies either.

The 2nd and 3rd largest oil producers (USA and Russia) and the country with the 2nd largest reserves (Canada) are in the G8.[39] Seven of the nine largest nuclear energy producers are in the G8[40] (USA, France, Japan, Russia, Germany, Canada, UK.) The 7 largest donors to the UN budget for the 2009 annual fiscal year are in the G8[41] (U.S., Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Canada.) The G8 and BRIC makes up almost all of the 12-nation "trillion dollar club of nations." Spain is the only non-G8 and non-G20 major economy nation that has a nominal GDP of over USD $1 trillion. All of the G8 and G8+5 countries (minus South Africa) are in the top twenty (20) nations that are ranked by the amount of voting power in the International Monetary Fund organization.

Cumulative influence of member nations

Stephen Harper and Nicolas Sarkozy, the 36th and 37th chairs of the G8 Summit

Together the eight countries making up the G8 represent about 14% of the world population, but they represent about 60% of the Gross World Product[42] as measured by gross domestic product, all 8 nations being within the top 12 countries according to the CIA World Factbook. (see the CIA World Factbook column in List of countries by GDP (nominal)), the majority of global military power (seven are in the top 8 nations for military expenditure[43]), and almost all of the world's active nuclear weapons.[44] In 2007, the combined G8 military spending was US$850 billion. This is 72% of the world's total military expenditures. (see List of countries and federations by military expenditures) Four of the G8 members, the United Kingdom, United States of America, France and Russia, together account for 96–99% of the world's nuclear weapons.[45] (see List of states with nuclear weapons)

Criticism and demonstrations

20 July 2001, 27th G8 summit in Genoa, Italy: Protestors burn a police vehicle which was abandoned by police during a clash with protestors.

As the annual summits are extremely high profile, they are subject to extensive lobbying by advocacy groups and street demonstrations by activists.

The most widespread criticisms centre on the assertion that members of G8 are responsible for global problems such as poverty in Africa and developing countries - through debt and trade policy; global warming - due to carbon dioxide emissions; and the AIDS problem - due to strict medicine patent policy and other issues related to globalization. During the 31st G8 summit in United Kingdom, 225,000 people took to the streets of Edinburgh as part of the Make Poverty History campaign calling for Trade Justice, Debt Relief and Better Aid. Numerous other demonstrations also took place challenging the legitimacy of the G8.[46]

One of the largest and most violent anti-globalization movement protests occurred for the 27th G8 summit.[47] Following those events and the September 11, 2001 attacks two months later, the G8 have met at more remote locations. The 7 July 2005 London bombings were timed to coincide with the 31st G8 summit in United Kingdom.

The group has also been criticized for its membership, which critics argue has now become unrepresentative of the world's most powerful economies. In particular, China has recently surpassed every economy except the United States[48]. Canada has been in recent years overtaken by Brazil, Russia and Spain by nominal GDP.

Timothy Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, has said: "We are committed to reforming the international system and our interests are best served by giving China a stake in the process. We would like to build with China the kind of relationship we had with the G-7."[49]

According to the mingle trend survey, 51% of Britons think the G8 summit is no longer an appropriate way of making world decisions.[50]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The EU has the privileges and obligations of membership but does not host/chair summits. It is represented by the Commission and Council Presidents. 967. "EU and the G8". European Commission. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
  2. ^ "Officials: G-20 to supplant G-8 as international economic council". CNN. 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
  3. ^ "G20 to replace the G8". SBS. 2009-09-26. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  4. ^ G8: The Most Exclusive Club in the World, Thomas S. Axworthy, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Foundation of Canada, Toronto, Undated.Accessed07-12-2008.
  5. ^ "EU and the G8". European Union. Retrieved 2006-07-17.
  6. ^ "Russia — Odd Man Out in the G-8", Mark Medish, The Globalist, 02-24-2006.Accessed: 07-12-2008
  7. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan): Summit Meetings in the Past; European Union: "EU and the G8"
  8. ^ "G5 Overview; Evolución del Grupo de los Cinco". Groupoffive.org. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  9. ^ G8 to launch international pedophile database David Batty June 18, 2005 The Guardian
  10. ^ G8 to pool data on terrorism Martin Wainwright June 18, 2005 The Guardian
  11. ^ The International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC). June 8, 2008.
  12. ^ CLIMATE-L.ORG: G8 Finance Ministers Support Climate Investment Funds[dead link]
  13. ^ a b Feldman, Adam (July 7, 2008). "What's Wrong With The G-8". Forbes. New York.
  14. ^ Lee, Don (July 6, 2008). "On eve of summit, G-8's relevance is unclear". Los Angeles Times.
  15. ^ Hajnal, Peter I. (1999). The G8 System and the G20: Evolution, Role and Documentation, p. 30., p. 30, at Google Books
  16. ^ a b Shabecoff, Philip. "Go-Slow Policies Urged by Leaders in Economic Talks; Closing Statement Calls for Sustained Growth Coupled With Curbs on Inflation; Ford's Aims Realized; 7 Heads of Government Also Agree to Consider a New Body to Assist Italy Co-Slow Economic Policies Urged by 7 Leaders," New York Times. June 29, 1976; Chronology, June 1976.
  17. ^ "Halifax G7 Summit 1995". Chebucto.ns.ca. 2000-05-28. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kirton, John. "A Summit of Substantial Success: The Performance of the 2008 G8"; page 88 and 89 G8 Information Centre — University of Toronto July 17, 2008. Cite error: The named reference "G8 paper" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  19. ^ "Denver Summit of the Eight". State.gov. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  20. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/19981212012854/http://birmingham.g8summit.gov.uk/
  21. ^ "1999 G8 summit documents". Web.archive.org. 2005-02-26. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  22. ^ "Kyushu-Okinawa Summit". MOFA. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  23. ^ "Vertice di Genova 2001". Web.archive.org. 2001-08-06. Archived from the original on 2001-08-06. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  24. ^ "UT G8 Info. Centre. Kananaskis Summit 2002. Summit Contents". G8.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  25. ^ "Sea Island Summit 2004". Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  26. ^ "Special Reports | G8_Gleneagles". BBC News. 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  27. ^ "Hokkaido Toyako Summit - TOP". Mofa.go.jp. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  28. ^ "G8 Summit 2009 - official website - Other Countries". G8italia2009.it. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  29. ^ "G8 Summit 2009 - official website - International Organizations". G8italia2009.it. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  30. ^ "Canada's G8 Plans" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  31. ^ "Prime Minister of Canada: Prime Minister announces Canada to host 2010 G8 Summit in Huntsville". Pm.gc.ca. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  32. ^ Participants at the 2010 Muskoka Summit. G8 Information Centre. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
  33. ^ "Sarkozy says his G8/G20 will cost one-tenth of Canada's". Globe and Mail. 2010-06-26. Retrieved 2010-06-26. {{cite news}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ "exports". cia factbook.
  35. ^ "Gold Reserve". World Gold Council.
  36. ^ "nominal GDP per capita". World Bank (2008).
  37. ^ "stock exchange". securities exchange commission.
  38. ^ a b "nominal gdp". imf, world bank, cia factbook.
  39. ^ "oil reserves". U.S. energy information administration.
  40. ^ "nuclear power". world nuclear power reactors 2007–08 and uranium requirements.
  41. ^ "united nations". report of the committee on contributions.
  42. ^ "United Nations Development Programme". Undp.org. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  43. ^ "World Wide Military Expenditures". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2007-12-10. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  44. ^ "The G8 and the Nuclear Industry". The Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout. 2002. Retrieved 2007-11-28. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  45. ^ "Federation of American Scientists: Status of World Nuclear Forces". Fas.org. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  46. ^ David Miller "Spinning the G8", Zednet, May 13th 2005.
  47. ^ Italy officials convicted over G8, BBC News
  48. ^ http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/16/news/international/japan_china/index.htm?hpt=T2
  49. ^ "Reuters, via Straits Times". Straitstimes.com. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  50. ^ "G8 Has Had Its Day « mingle Trend". Mingle-trend.respondi.com. 2010-06-22. Retrieved 2010-06-27.

References

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