Towards the Summit
Italy, which took over the Presidency of the G8 on 1 January, is responsible for hosting and organising not only the annual Summit but also the preparatory meetings ahead of the three-day summit. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi kicked off Italy's G8 Presidency year with a round of talks with the main international leaders in an effort to define the priorities on which Italy will be focusing its action in the coming months.
Making the G8 More Representative and More Efficient
In some interviews to international dailies, Prime Minister Berlusconi and Foreign Minister Frattini have also stressed the need to rethink the nature and structure of the G8. The aim is to make it more representative and more efficient through the stable and structured involvement of the emerging economies (China, India, Brasil, Mexico and South Africa), along with Egypt to represent the Arab, Muslim and African world. In the course of the 27th Franco-Italian Summit, which was held in Rome on 24 February, Elysée chief Nicolas Sarkozy also underscored the importance of Italy's proposal that the emerging countries and Egypt be involved in the G8's work.
Bringing the Global Institutions Closer to People
Following the earthquake that struck Abruzzo and Italy on 6 April, a decision was reached to shift the Summit, initially due to be held in the Maddalena archipelago, to L'Aquila. This, both as a mark of consideration towards, and of solidarity with, the people and the places struck by the quake; and as a further sign pointing in the direction of sobriety and of the institutions' closeness to the people. The Italian Presidency's priority aim is thus to bring the global institutions closer to people by focusing on their real problems, with the financial and economic crisis heading the list. Thus, Italy is seeking to foster a new global governance by encouraging the reform of the international institutions and increasing cooperation between the G8 and the G20, the forum of economic and financial ministers and central bank governors. With a view to boosting cooperation, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who currently holds the G20 Presidency, met with Prime Minister Berlusconi in Rome on 19 February to finalise the priorities that need to be addressed at forthcoming international meetings.
The G8, an Opportunity To Rethink the Global Economy's Ground Rules
In an interview with a Spanish daily on 8 March, Prime Minister Berlusconi highlighted the fact that it is necessary to define common ethical and legal standards and new rules governing the transparency, propriety and integrity of international economic and financial activity at this time of global economic difficulty.
Following Italy’s proposal, the principal economy and economic institutions at world level leaders met in London for the G20 on 2 April accepted the final document by highlighting the social crisis and they commit themselves to sustaining the people with new job opportunities and welfare.
During their 15 June meeting in Washington, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and US President Barack Obama went through the agenda for the upcoming G8 Summit in L’Aquila point by point, focusing in particular on rules and principles for addressing the international economic crisis. Prime Minister Berlusconi voiced the hope that the eight major countries’ meeting in L’Aquila would impart fresh thrust to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations, known as the Doha Round.
G8 Agenda To Focus on Africa
In the course of an official visit to a number of African countries in February, Foreign Minister Frattini stressed that Italy intends to place development in Africa and the emerging countries at the very heart of its G8 agenda, also aiming to involve them in the debate on such issues as security, the environment, energy, food security and infrastructures.
At an Infrastructure Consortium for Africa - ICA meeting held on 10 and 11 March and focusing on the impact of the global financial crisis on the development of infrastructure in Africa, Italy proposed introducing financial mechanisms designed to facilitate greater private investment. The proposal is also going to be submitted to the Summit of L'Aquila in July.
The International Community’s Pledge on the Environment Issues
Italian Foreign Affairs Under Secretary Vincenzo Scotti stressed in his speech opening the conference on “Climate Change and Human Mobility in Africa,” which was held at the Farnesina on 21 April, that 2009 might mark a change of course in terms of the international community’s commitment to environment issues; the Italian G8 presidency thus provided an opportunity for stepping up the drive for consensus ahead of the UN conference on the climate in Copenhagen. Addressing a press conference at the P.A. [Civil Service] Forum, held at the new Rome Fair Ground on 8 May, Minister Plenipotentiary Guido La Tella, Italy’s Foreign Ministry Sous-Sherpa for the G8 Summit, emphasised that the G8 Summit in L'Aquila would devote a session, to be scheduled for 9 or 10 July, to climate change. It would thus show that governments worldwide were paying increasing attention to environment issues.During his 15 June meeting with Barack Obama in Washington, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he hoped the L’Aquila G8 would see the start of a move backed by all the countries in the direction of cutting carbon dioxide production.
Global Partnership Project for Farming and Food Security
Italy also plans to support a project for a global partnership for farming and food security in an attempt to facilitate coordination among all the organisations and players engaged in the struggle against hunger and poverty, Foreign Under Secretary Vincenzo Scotti announced. Agricultural Policies Minister Luca Zaia also addressed the issue when he introduced the first G8 ministerial meeting devoted to agriculture.Food security also loomed large in the 15 June talks at the White House between Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and US President Barack Obama and will be one of the chief items on the upcoming L’Aquila Summit’s agenda. Silvio Berlusconi cited the United States’ “concrete drive” in this connection, voicing the hope that other countries would do likewise, joining forces with the United States.
Ministerial Meetings
The Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G7 group of countries met in Rome on 13 and 14 February, kicking off a round of ministerial meetings that will continue until June. The meetings address specific issues such as labour, farming, the environment, economic development, justice and interior affairs, science and technology, finance and foreign affairs. The second meeting was the Labour Ministers' Meeting, which was held in Rome from 29 to 31 March, followed by the first ever Agriculture Ministers' Meeting, which was held in Cison di Valmarino (province of Treviso) from 18 to 20 April and the Environment Ministers’ Meeting which took place in Siracusa from 22 to 24 April. The Energy Ministers’ Meeting in Rome was held on 24-25 May. The Meeting of the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs was held on 29-30 May. The Development Ministers’ Meeting in Rome was held on 11-12 June. The last meeting on the agenda is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be held in Trieste on 25-27 June.
Foreign Delegations Visit the Summit Venue
The 2009 Summit was originally supposed to be held on the island of La Maddalena, in Sardinia, and the round preparatory visits by delegations from the countries involved in the G8 - designed to allow them to conduct an initial inspection of the site and structures, and to illustrate their own expectations and requirements in connection with the summit's organization, logistics and security - came to an end on 16 April. Following the earthquake that struck Italy, with its epicentre in the Abruzzo Region, a decision was reached to shift the summit venue to L'Aquila. A new round of visits got under way in early May, to allow foreign delegations to view the new site and the structures that will be hosting the July G8 in the Abruzzo regional capital.The round of visits by the foreign delegations to inspect the new venue and the facilities that are to host the July G8 in Abruzzo’s regional capital ended on 9 June.
