The 37th G8 summit was held on May 26–27, 2011, in

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Previous G8 summits have been hosted by France in locations which include Rambouillet (1975);

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

(1982);

Grande Arche La Grande Arche de la Défense (; "The Great Arch of the Defense"), originally called La Grande Arche de la Fraternité (; "Fraternity"), is a monument and building in the business district of La Défense and in the commune of Puteaux, to the west ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

(1989);

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

(1996); and

Évian-les-Bains Évian-les-Bains (), or simply Évian ( frp, Èvian, , or ), is a commune in the northern part of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 9,100. A high-market holid ...

(2003). G20/G8 France 2011
official site

; retrieved 13 February 2011

Overview

Nicolas Sarkozy at the 37th G8 Summit in Deauville 020

The

Group of Six The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is officiall ...

(G6) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries:

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Japan, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

starting in 1976. The

Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is officiall ...

(G7), meeting for the first time in 1979, was formed with the addition of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Hence, The

Group of Eight The Group of Eight (G8) was an inter-governmental political forum from 1997 until 2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the Group of Seven, or G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia left in 2014. The forum originate ...

(G8), meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

.Parliament (UK)
"G20 rises, G7 & G8 fall?"
see G8 + G20 + BRICs represented in relational graphic at bottom of page; retrieved 13 February 2011 In addition, the President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981. "Factbox: The Group of Eight: what is it?"
Reuters (UK), 3 July 2008; retrieved 13 February 2011 The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Chancellor

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Ch ...

as they conceived the initial summit of the

( G6) in 1975.Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998)
''Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations,'' p. 205.
/ref> The G8 summits have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.
BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development). 2008; retrieved 13 February 2011 The form and functions of the G8 were reevaluated as the

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigatio ...

summits evolved into the premier forum for discussing, planning and monitoring international economic cooperation. The "new G8" is refocusing on the subjects of common interest to the G8 countries, including geopolitical and security issues. The forum continues to be in a process of transformation.

Leaders at the summit

The G8 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The 37th G8 summit was the last summit for

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

Nicolas Sarkozy,

Italian Prime Minister The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

Japanese Prime Minister The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

Naoto Kan is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011. Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to serve for ...

and Dmitry Medvedev as

President of Russia The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

(Medvedev would return to the

38th G8 summit The 38th G8 summit was held in Camp David, Maryland, United States, on 18–19 May 2012. The event occurred just before the year's NATO summit. The G8 summit was moved from Chicago, where it was going to be held back-to-back with the NATO summ ...

the following year as Prime Minister of Russia, leading Russian delegates in place for the newly elected President Vladimir Putin).

Participants

These summit participants represent the current core members of the international forum:"G8 highlights euro debt risk to world economy,"
''Independent'' (UK). May 26, 2011; retrieved 2011-05-26.Wintour, Patrick
"G8 summit: UK offers Egypt and Tunisia £110m to Boost Democracy,:
''Guardian'' (UK). 26 May 2011; retrieved 2011-05-26. "AU demands end to NATO Libya strikes,"
''Agence France Presse'' (AFP), 26 May 2011; retrieved 2011-05-26

Priorities

Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, but world events caused the list of topics to expand, including such issues such as the Fukushima nuclear accident the

European sovereign debt crisis The European debt crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis or the European sovereign debt crisis, is a multi-year debt crisis that took place in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until the mid to late 2010s. Several eurozone memb ...

, the conflict in Libya, Iran's nuclear programme, Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protests, and the selection of a new managing director for the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

Issues

The summit is a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions. The G8 has become a forum for political and strategic discussions, and as a caucus within the

Schedule and Agenda

The agenda for the summit included some issues which remained unresolved from previous summits. French general priorities included: # New common challenges: the Internet, innovation, green growth and a sustainable economy, and nuclear safetyG20/G8 France 2011
"The priorities of the French Presidency"
# The 'Arab Springs': a partnership for democracy # Strengthening the partnership with Africa: a long-term vision # Peace and security: traditional themes of the G8 Some of the specific topics on the agenda were: * Afghanistan; * G8 + Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA); * The Internet: new challenges * Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction * The G8's Partnership with Africa * Transatlantic Cocaine Trafficking * Counter-terrorism * G8 political and security issues

Citizens' responses and authorities' counter-responses

Manifestation anti-G8 au Havre - 21 mai 2011 - 061

Protest groups and other activists were expected to make a showing at the summit. The slogan ''G8 dégage'' ("G8 Go Away") was a recurring element of the demonstrations.Haddadi, Anissa
"Obama in Deauville tomorrow: Farewell to the UK and Hello anti G8 Protesters,"
''International Business Times'' (UK). 25 May 2011; retrieved 2011-05-27 Protesters expressed their concerns about capitalism and what they perceive as the imperialism of western liberal democracies. The demonstrators are widely understood to be against globalisation.

Accomplishments

This annual gathering of international leaders is an international event which is observed and reported by news media; and the G8's relevance and accomplishments are continuing topics of discussion. The event brings leaders together not so they can dream up quick fixes, but to talk and think about them together. The 2011 summit meeting was marked by what the G8 called the "Deauville Partnership" with the people of North Africa. As a start, $20 billion were pledged in support for Tunisian and Egyptian reforms due to the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

Security

Police vehicles - 37th G8 summit in Deauville 025

Security planning was designed to ensure that the summit's formal agenda can remain the primary focus of the attendees' discussions; but effectively this meant converting the seaside resort into a fortress for the G8.

Budget

In 2010, President Sarkozy projected that the summits in Deauville and Cannes would cost "ten times less" than the preceding Canadian summits.

Business opportunity

For some, the G8 summit became a profit-generating event. For example, the ''G8 Summit'' magazines have been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998. According to the Mayor of Deauville, "Our main interest is the economic implications."Schuetze, "A French Town"; retrieved 2011-05-26

Gallery

Core G8 participants

File:Stephen-Harper-Cropped-2014-02-18.jpg,
Stephen Harper,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

File:Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010.jpg,
Nicolas Sarkozy,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

File:Angela Merkel - Juli 2010 - 3zu4 cropped.jpg,

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

, Chancellor File:Berlusconi-2010-1.jpg,

File:Kan Naoto.jpg,

File:Dmitry_Medvedev_official_large_photo_-1.jpg,
Dmitry Medvedev,

File:David Cameron official.jpg,
David Cameron,

File:Official portrait of Barack Obama by Pete Souza.jpg,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

File:Herman Van Rompuy at the 37th G8 Summit in Deauville 030.jpg,

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

Herman Van Rompuy Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy (; born 31 October 1947) is a Belgian politician, who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009 and then as the first permanent president of the European Council from 2009 to 2014. A politicia ...

, Council President File:José Manuel Barroso MEDEF 2.jpg,
José Manuel Barroso, Commission President

Notes

References

* Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998)
''Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations.''
London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

. ;
OCLC 39013643

External links

G8 Information Centre

Graphic: G20 is not simply the 20 largest economies

NB: No official website is created for any G7 summit prior to 1995 -- ''see'' the 21st G7 summit. {{G7 summits 2011

G8 summit The Group of Eight (G8) was an inter-governmental political forum from 1997 until 2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the Group of Seven, or G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia left in 2014. The forum originated ...

G8 summit 2011 G8 summit 2011

21st century in Normandy Deauville May 2011 events in Europe