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G7/G8 Genova Summit (Italy)

This year's G7/G8 Summit will take place in Genova, Italy, between 20 and 22 July.

The G8 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US. The European Commission also takes part in all G7/G8 meetings and Summits as well as in all the preparatory process.

The rotating G8 Presidency is, this year, held by Italy. As such, in the run up to the Summit, the Finance Ministers of the G7 countries (G8 without Russia) also met in Italy, in Rome, on 7 July. The Foreign Ministers of the G8 countries meet, in Rome, on 18-19 July.

As is customary, whenever a G7/G8 Summit takes place at a time when the EU presidency is held by a non-G8 EU Member State, the President of the European Council attends the G7/G8 Summit. As such, Prime Minister Verhofstadt will take part in the Genova Summit.


The G8 Summits

The first Summit took place in 1975, in Rambouillet, France. Gathered together were the six heads of State or government from France, Italy, Germany, the UK, Japan and the US. Canada became a member in 1976.

Russia's involvement in the summit process started in 1994, and first joined the others in covering the full summit agenda at the 1997 Denver Summit. However, it was with the 1998 Birmingham Summit that the G7 officially became the G8.

The G7/G8 Summit has consistently dealt with macroeconomic management, international trade, and relations with developing countries. Questions of international economic relations, energy, and terrorism have also been of recurrent concern. From this initial foundation the Summit agenda has broadened considerably to include microeconomic issues such as employment and the information technology, transnational issues such as the environment, crime and drugs, and a host of political-security issues ranging from human rights through regional security to arms control.

The President of the European Commission first took part in 1977. The European Commission has become a full participant in the G8 Summit process. However it does not hold the rotating presidency and does not host a Summit.

The 1989 G7 Summit in Paris was a turning point in European Commission relations within the G7. The Commission was asked to co-ordinate assistance to Poland and Hungary. The 1990 G7 Summit in Houston commended the EC's PHARE programme.

In 1995 the European Commission hosted the G7 Information Society Conference, which took place in Brussels in the European Parliament building.


This year's Summit agenda

The Italian G7/G8 presidency has set the agenda for the Summit under the theme of "vanquishing poverty".

In preparing the Genova Summit, the Commission has been especially active on the areas in which President Prodi is particularly keen on a successful outcome: the poverty reduction strategy, trade, food safety and climate change.


G7 Agenda

There should be a message on the state of the world economy, which will include macro-economic aspects, the price of crude oil and the reform of the international financial architecture. Trade will also be addressed. President Prodi will insist on the need to launch of an ambitious new round of multilateral trade talks within the WTO at the ministerial Conference in Doha in November.

An assessment will be made of how the Enhanced HIPC Initiative ("Highly Indebted Poor Countries") for debt relief is progressing. The G7 took an early lead on third world debt and should now seek to go further. The EC is the single largest donor to the HIPC initiative President Prodi and Prime Minister Verhofstadt will refer to the European Council decision in May this year calling for the total alleviation of all remaining special loans granted to the least developed countries under the First, Second and Third Lomé Conventions.


G8 Agenda

The focal point will be poverty reduction strategies. The Commission hopes to identify measures to support the economy of the weakest countries on the basis of an integrated strategy. The main areas to be looked at include:

• Trade - in view of the EC "Everything But Arms" initiative the Commission will insist that other G8 members follow suit by providing duty free and quota free access for all products originating from least developed countries;
  
  
• social investments with particular regard to the sectors of education and health. President Prodi will refer to the EC Action Plan on fighting communicable diseases, which was adopted by the European Council earlier this year.

The United Nations General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS, New York, 25-27 June) endorsed the establishment of a Global AIDS and Health Fund. At the Summit, the G8 will respond to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's appeal by providing political and financial backing to his proposal.

Also in the context of the fight against poverty is the activity conducted by two task forces set up at the G7/G8 Summit in Okinawa: the Digital Opportunities Task Force, with a mandate to identify solutions to bridge the digital divide between industrialized countries and poor countries, and the Task Force on renewable energy. In both cases, work has been carried out in an innovative manner with public sector participation extended to non-G8 countries, as well as that of the private sector and non-profit sector, of international organizations and of the international financial institutions.

Reference will also be made to the fight against cross-border organized crime, in the field of judicial co-operation, the fight against corruption, computer-based crimes, on-line child pornography, and trafficking in human beings.

Finally, two highly sensitive issues are to be discussed:

• the environment with a discussion on climate change. President Prodi will be keen, as will no doubt the other European participants, to discuss our concerns about the US's present stance on climate change and on the ratification of the Kyoto protocol.
  
  
• and food safety - President Prodi is keen that the G8 conclusions include reference to the precautionary principle. The Commission remains committed to making systems responsive to the growing public awareness of food safety issues, the potential risks associated with food and the accelerating pace of developments in biotechnology.

Pre-Summit meeting

The Italian government, as G8 presidency, will host a meeting with the Presidents of Obasanjo of Nigeria, M'Beki of South Africa, Bouteflika of Algeria, Konaré of Mali and Flores of El Salvador as well as Ms Sheikh Hazina of Bangladesh on 20 July. Also present at the meeting will be UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the World Health Organization (Dr. Brundlandt), the Secretary General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (Mr. Diouf) the President of the World Bank (Mr. Wolfensohn) and the Secretary General of the World Trade Organization (Mr. Moore).

The above will discuss the issues of poverty reduction and the global AIDS and health fund with G8 leaders including President Prodi and Prime Minister Verhofstadt.

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