Since its inaugural meeting, the G20 has become the most prominent forum for global economic policy coordination, bringing together largest world economies, including Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
The G20 summits – which have convened twice in the U.S. (in Pittsburg and Washington), and in London, Toronto, and Seoul – have become integral to the international calendar. Other countries and major non-state actors, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and United Nations (UN), support the G20’s agenda.
This year’s summit is hosted in Cannes, a tourist city on the French Rivera, from November 3rd to the 4th. G20 heads of state, alongside leaders from five invited countries (Ethiopia, Singapore, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and Equatorial Guinea) will discuss over working lunches and dinners a variety of international issues, including global governance, development, food security, climate change, and corruption.
The main focus of the Cannes agenda, however, will be the “global economic situation” – more specifically, the European debt crisis. An eleventh-hour plan negotiated by European Union (EU) leaders last Thursday was designed to prop up Greece’s finances and inject confidence into the Euro until G20 leaders outline a more durable solution.
But that plan unravelled on Monday, when Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou unexpectedly announced a national vote to accept or reject it, which caused stocks in major euro zone banks to plunge. Uncertainty over the immediate future of the Greek economy – whose default would send shockwaves through the Eurozone and the global economy at large – now reigns.
In response to Mr. Papandreou’s Monday announcement, French President and host of this year’s G20, Nicolas Sarkozy, commenced the summit a day prior to the official start. Two meetings are scheduled this evening with key players in the euro debt crisis: Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, as well as Prime Minister Papandreou and his Finance Minister, Evangelos Venizelos.
Global markets, and those who are affected by them, expect the world’s twenty most powerful countries to help restore economic confidence over the next two days. Will they?
To see live updates and more G20 news, visit our blog, On Point.
Photo courtesy of G20-G8 France 2011; L. Blevennec.
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The Opening of the G20
November 2, 2011
Since its inaugural meeting, the G20 has become the most prominent forum for global economic policy coordination, bringing together largest world economies, including Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
The G20 summits – which have convened twice in the U.S. (in Pittsburg and Washington), and in London, Toronto, and Seoul – have become integral to the international calendar. Other countries and major non-state actors, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and United Nations (UN), support the G20’s agenda.
This year’s summit is hosted in Cannes, a tourist city on the French Rivera, from November 3rd to the 4th. G20 heads of state, alongside leaders from five invited countries (Ethiopia, Singapore, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and Equatorial Guinea) will discuss over working lunches and dinners a variety of international issues, including global governance, development, food security, climate change, and corruption.
The main focus of the Cannes agenda, however, will be the “global economic situation” – more specifically, the European debt crisis. An eleventh-hour plan negotiated by European Union (EU) leaders last Thursday was designed to prop up Greece’s finances and inject confidence into the Euro until G20 leaders outline a more durable solution.
But that plan unravelled on Monday, when Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou unexpectedly announced a national vote to accept or reject it, which caused stocks in major euro zone banks to plunge. Uncertainty over the immediate future of the Greek economy – whose default would send shockwaves through the Eurozone and the global economy at large – now reigns.
In response to Mr. Papandreou’s Monday announcement, French President and host of this year’s G20, Nicolas Sarkozy, commenced the summit a day prior to the official start. Two meetings are scheduled this evening with key players in the euro debt crisis: Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, as well as Prime Minister Papandreou and his Finance Minister, Evangelos Venizelos.
Global markets, and those who are affected by them, expect the world’s twenty most powerful countries to help restore economic confidence over the next two days. Will they?
To see live updates and more G20 news, visit our blog, On Point.
Photo courtesy of G20-G8 France 2011; L. Blevennec.
