Meeting of the G20 European Members in Berlin

Feb 25th, 2009 10:02 AM UTC
By Jessica.Gomez.Duran

On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted a meeting of the European members of the G20 group on Sunday.

Alongside the UK, who is presiding over the G20 this year, this weekend meeting was attended by France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands as well as Luxembourg for other Eurozone countries. President of the European Commission Barroso and the President of the European Central Bank Trichet were also present.

In recent weeks European leaders have been putting forward ideas for global rescue plans and ‘responsible capitalism’, such as Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s ‘Global Deal’ launched on February 18, and Chancellor Merkel’s ‘Charter for Sustainable Economics’.

The aim of the meeting this weekend was to agree on a coordinated EU position for the G20 meeting in March (Finance Minsters) and April (Heads of State).

The meeting ended with explicit reference to the situation of the poorest countries and acknowledgement that the financial crisis has far reaching consequences on developing countries. Leaders pledged that they remained committed to the Millennium Development Goals as part of ensuring a sustainable development policy. The poorest countries must also be given a real voice in the governing of international institutions, and concrete steps should be taken towards a more just trading system.

Although there was no formal communiqué, here are a few of the highlights from the Chair’s summary of the meeting:

• Commitment to engage in a debate in London with the aim of agreeing on a broad charter of principles for financial regulation
• Recognition of impact on developing countries – “More important than ever” to implement MDGs.
• Reiteration of the importance of avoiding measures that exacerbate the contraction of worldwide capital flows, including to developing countries, as agreed at the Washington Summit.
• Stating a shared interest in ensuring that emerging and developing markets continue to contribute to global demand, and in protecting the poor and vulnerable.
• Key role in the latter point for international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF – EU G20 support the doubling of IMF Funding for example.

The full version of the Chairs summary can be found here.

-Jessica Gomez-Duran

TAGS: G20, G20 London 2009, Policy News