Making the G8 More Representative, and More Effective
23/02/2009
Faced with the changing international scenario, we have to rethink the nature and structure of the G8 in an attempt to make it more representative and more efficient. Speaking in an interview that he granted to Paris daily Le Figaro ahead of bilateral talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi outlined Italy's proposal for a "variable geometry" summit designed to be inclusive, open to the emerging economies and capable of engaging in dialogue with the world's poorer regions.
Italy wants a stronger and more concrete G8, which is why it is proposing "a more stable and structured form of association with the G8 for the countries in the G5 group (China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa), plus Egypt to represent the Arab, Muslim and African world", the prime minister said. "It is crucial that we debate specific issues with individual groups of countries, for instance the African countries, on the basis of the 'variable geometry' principle. It is not a matter of empty formulas or names but of international governance, of democracy," Berlusconi stressed, adding "it is not going to be easy to organise a G8 with these ambitions, but I am sure that we will manage".
Discussing the G8 group's commitment to helping developing countries, Berlusconi explained that one of the Italian Presidency's objectives is to boost food security by fostering structured cooperation between producers, consumers and private individuals in an effort to stimulate investments and to increase the efficiency and coordination of aid. Another of the G8's priority projects under Italy's leadership involves imparting a fresh boost to e-governance, which is "a way of strengthening the institutions in the poorer countries and of promoting transparency and democratic participation in a concrete manner".
In the interview with the French daily, the Prime Minister also announced that, in the course of the upcoming G8 Summit, Italy will be submitting "a plan to support the economy on the West Bank" with particular reference to the tourist industry. Berlusconi explained that the plan "provides for the construction of an international airport capable of attracting Catholic visitors interested in visiting the holy places of Christianity, a plan for the construction of hotel infrastructures by the main groups in the business, and a plan for the construction of bathing establishments by the major international groups". The Prime Minister added that "this is the only way we can give the Palestinians an effective incentive to sit down at the negotiating table and the only way to ensure peaceful coexistence between the two peoples, redeeming the citizens of the Palestinian state from their current poverty".
