G8 l'Aquila: Barroso on Agenda, EU Representation

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso lays out the agenda for this week's G8 Summit in l'Aquila, Italy. Barroso will represent the Commission at the G8 summit for the fifth time, which this year takes place under Italian chairmanship in L'Aquila (Italy). Before this Summit, President Barroso has spoken about the priorities of the European Commission. G8 leaders will notably address the global economy, including trade, climate change and energy, Africa/development and food security. Along with the leaders of Sweden (as holder of the EU Council presidency), the four other European Union G8 members (France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom) as well as the United States, Russia, Canada, and Japan, President Barroso will push for a coordinated international response to common challenges related to the economic and financial crisis, trade, climate change and energy, development/Africa and food security.

On climate change, significant discussions are expected both in G8 formation, and in the meeting of the Major Economies Forum. President Barroso will stress the importance of the science and remaining within a 2C temperature rise, and call for reaffirmation of a goal of at least a 50% reduction of global emissions by 2050. In addition, all developed countries should be ready to reduce emissions by at least 80% in the same period and make a solid start through robust mid-term reductions, with comparable efforts by all developed countries.
On the world economy, President Barroso will call on the G8 to send a strong signal that protectionist pressures in trade and investment relations must be resisted in times of economic crisis. President Barroso will finally highlight the continued importance of global food security, where the Commission has since the last G8 meeting agreed to and begun to implement the EUR 1 billion Food Facility. He welcomes the renewed attention from other G8 partners to this pressing problem.

In terms of participation, this year's G8 summit will reflect the strong willingness of G8 leaders to develop the dialogue with their global partners and to make it an integral and important part of the summit while also building bridges towards other ongoing processes, notably the UN climate negotiations and the G20.