17th G7 summit

Last updated
17th G7 summit
Lancaster House (5880536589).jpg
Lancaster House in London
Host countryUnited Kingdom
Dates15–17 July 1991
Follows 16th G7 summit
Precedes 18th G7 summit

The 17th G7 Summit was held in England between 15 and 17 July 1991. The venue for the summit meetings was Lancaster House in London. [1]

Contents

The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada (since 1976), [2] and the President of the European Commission (starting officially in 1981). [3] 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 Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the first Group of Six (G6) summit in 1975. [4]

Leaders at the summit

Summit leaders at the Lancaster House: (left to right) Francois Mitterrand, George H. W. Bush, Giulio Andreotti, Jacques Delors, Toshiki Kaifu, John Major, Brian Mulroney, and Helmut Kohl 17th G7 summit member 19910715.jpg
Summit leaders at the Lancaster House: (left to right) François Mitterrand, George H. W. Bush, Giulio Andreotti, Jacques Delors, Toshiki Kaifu, John Major, Brian Mulroney, and Helmut Kohl

The G7 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [3]

The 17th G7 summit was the first summit for British Prime Minister John Major. It was also the last summit for Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti and Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu.

Participants

These summit participants are the current "core members" of the international forum: [5] [1] [6]

Core G7 members
Host state and leader are shown in bold text.
MemberRepresented byTitle
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Brian Mulroney Prime Minister
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg France François Mitterrand President
Flag of Germany.svg Germany Helmut Kohl Chancellor
Flag of Italy.svg Italy Giulio Andreotti Prime Minister
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Japan Toshiki Kaifu Prime Minister
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom John Major Prime Minister
Flag of the United States.svg United States George H. W. Bush President
Flag of Europe.svg European Community Jacques Delors Commission President
Ruud Lubbers Council President
Guest Invitees (Countries)
MemberRepresented byTitle
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev President

Major sent a letter to other members of the G7, asking for their permission to invite Mikhail Gorbachev, who has been pressing to come to London to plead for more Western economic support for his country. Pressure to invite Gorbachev had come mainly from the leaders of France, Germany, and Italy who have made public appeals for him to be invited to attend; but Britain sent the official invitation inviting the Soviet Union to participate. [7] A wry comment which was oft repeated during the summit was that G7 had become the G8½ with the participation of the European Community and the meetings with Gorbachev. [8]

Issues

The "grand gallery" runs the length of one side of the building. The 1827 layout of the principal floor is largely unchanged from the initial construction plans. YORK HOUSE Plan of the Principal Floor.jpg
The "grand gallery" runs the length of one side of the building. The 1827 layout of the principal floor is largely unchanged from the initial construction plans.

The summit was intended as 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. [4] In anticipation of this conference, a new 35-foot-long table was built for the Long Gallery, where the main negotiating sessions were planned to unfold. [8] Issues which were discussed at this summit included:

Accomplishments

In 1991, the summit leaders proclaimed "concern" about protecting existing forests, but there is little evidence of follow-up action. [9]

Core G7 participants

Guest Invitees

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA): Summit Meetings in the Past.
  2. ↑ Saunders, Doug. "Weight of the world too heavy for G8 shoulders," Archived 2008-10-11 at the Wayback Machine Globe and Mail (Toronto). July 5, 2008 -- n.b., the G7 becomes the Group of Eight (G7) with the inclusion of Russia starting in 1997.
  3. 1 2 Reuters: "Factbox: The Group of Eight: what is it?", July 3, 2008.
  4. 1 2 Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998). Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations, p. 205.
  5. ↑ Rieffel, Lex. "Regional Voices in Global Governance: Looking to 2010 (Part IV)," Archived June 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Brookings. March 27, 2009; "core" members (Muskoka 2010 G-8, official site). Archived June 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ MOFA: Summit (17); European Union: "EU and the G8" Archived 2007-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Schmidt, William E. "Britain Is Proposing to Invite Gorbachev to London Talks," New York Times. June 7, 1991.
  8. 1 2 Apple, R.W. "Reporter's Notebook; British Hosts, Being British, Plan an Understated Splendor," New York Times. July 15, 1991.
  9. ↑ Sadruddin, Aga Khan. "It's Time to Save the Forests," New York Times. July 19, 2000.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th G7 summit</span> 1983 G7 summit in Williamsburg, Virginia, US

The 9th G7 Summit was held at Williamsburg, Virginia, United States between May 28 and 30, 1983. The venue for the summit meetings was Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st G7 summit</span> 1995 G7 summit in Halifax, Canada

The 21st G7 summit was held on June 15–17, 1995 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The venue for this summit meeting was Summit Place in Halifax. It was labelled by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as a "Chevrolet Summit", using a utilitarian automobile as a metaphor for the summit being less expensive than previous summits in Versailles and Venice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">16th G7 summit</span> 1990 G7 summit in Houston

The 16th G7 Summit was held at Houston between July 9 and 11, 1990. The venue for the summit meetings was the campus of Rice University and other locations nearby in the Houston Museum District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd G7 summit</span> 1976 summit in Dorado, Puerto Rico

The 2nd G7 Summit, also called Rambouillet II, was held at Dorado, Puerto Rico, between June 27 and 28, 1976. The venue for the summit meetings was the Dorado Beach Hotel, now Dorado Beach Resort, which is near San Juan, Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd G7 summit</span>

The 3rd G7 Summit was held in London, United Kingdom between 7–8 May 1977. The venue for the summit meetings was the British Prime Minister's official residence at No. 10 Downing Street in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th G7 summit</span>

The 4th G7 Summit was held at Bonn, West Germany between 16 and 17 July 1978. The venue for the summit meeting was at the former official residence of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn, the Palais Schaumburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th G7 summit</span>

The 5th G7 Summit was held at Tokyo, Japan between June 28 and 29, 1979. The venue for the summit meetings was the State Guesthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6th G7 summit</span>

The 6th G7 Summit was held at Venice, Italy between 22 and 23 June 1980. The venue for the summit meetings was the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in the Venetian lagoon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th G7 summit</span>

The 7th G7 Summit was called the Ottawa Summit, and was held in Montebello, Quebec, Canada and nearby Ottawa between July 20 and 21, 1981. The venue for the summit meetings was the Château Montebello.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">25th G8 summit</span>

The 25th G8 Summit was held in Cologne, Germany, on 18–20 June 1999. The venue for this summit meeting was the Museum Ludwig in the central city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24th G8 summit</span>

The 24th G8 Summit was held in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom on 15–17 May 1998. The venue for this summit meeting was the International Convention Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">13th G7 summit</span>

The 13th G7 Summit was held in Venice, Italy between 8 and 10 June 1987. The venue for the summit meetings was the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in the Venetian lagoon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12th G7 summit</span> G7 summit in Tokyo, Japan in 1986

The 12th G7 Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan between May 4 and May 6, 1986. The venue for the summit meetings was the State Guesthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">11th G7 summit</span>

The 11th G7 Summit was held in Bonn, West Germany between May 2 and May 4, 1985. The venue for the summit meeting was at the former official residence of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn, the Palais Schaumburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">15th G7 summit</span> 1989 G7 summit in La Defense, France

The 15th G7 Summit was held in the business district of La Défense to the west of Paris, France between 14 and 16 July 1989. The venue for the summit meetings was the Grande Arche which was rushed to completion for celebrations marking the bicentennial of the French Revolution and for the world economic summit meeting that was held in the top of the Arche. This event was also called the "Summit of the Arch."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10th G7 summit</span> 1984 G7 summit in London, United Kingdom

The 10th G7 Summit was held in London, England, United Kingdom from 7 to 9 June 1984. The venue for the summit meetings was Lancaster House in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th G7 summit</span>

The 8th G7 Summit was held in Versailles, France from 4 to 6 June 1982. The venue for the summit meetings was at the Palace of Versailles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">18th G7 summit</span>

The 18th G7 Summit was held in Munich, Germany between 6 and 8 July 1992. The venue for the summit meetings was at the Residenz palace in central Munich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">19th G7 summit</span> 1993 meeting in Tokyo, Japan

The 19th G7 Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan, on July 7–9, 1993. The venue for the summit meetings was the State Guesthouse in Tokyo, Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20th G7 summit</span>

The 20th G7 Summit was held in Naples, Italy, on 8–10 July 1994. The venue for the summit meetings was the former Royal Palace in Naples.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.