Order Code RS22403
March 17, 2006
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
The Group of Eight Summits:
Evolution and Possible Reform
Martin A. Weiss
Analyst in International Trade and Finance
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade
Summary
The Group of Eight (G8) summit is a forum to informally discuss and create
policies on major foreign policy issues among the heads of state of the United States,
France, Germany, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Russia. The 2006
summit will be hosted by Russia and is scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg on July
15-17, 2006. Russian participation in the G8 has prompted congressional concern
particularly over the direction of its international governance. This report discusses the
evolution of the G8 and possible reform as background for the meeting. This report will
not be updated. For more information on Russia, see CRS Issue Brief IB92089, Russia,
by Stuart D. Goldman.
The Group of Eight (G8) is a heads of state forum to informally discuss and create
policies on major foreign policy issues. It was established following a 1975 conference
among the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United
States in Rambouillet, France. Canada was added at the second meeting, held in Puerto
Rico in 1976. In 1997, Russia was added to the forum and will host the 2006 summit in
St. Petersburg on July 15-17.1
At the annual G8 meetings, heads of state seek to reach agreement on various policy
initiatives, which they can then implement both unilaterally and through international
institutions. Unlike these institutions, the G8 has no standing bureaucracy, staff, or
infrastructure (according to one British diplomat, “it hasn’t got either a cafeteria or
pension plan”).2 Nevertheless, the G8, and the system of international summitry that has
sprung up around it, have helped resolve several major international security and
economic concerns over the past 30 years.
1 This report will use the designation “G8” to refer to the heads of state summits. After Russia
was added to the group in 1997, they were invited to participate in all meetings except finance
ministerial meetings. “G7” refers to meetings of finance ministers.
2 Penttila, Risto E. J., “The Role of the G8 in International Peace and Security,” Adelphi Papers,
vol. 355, May 2003, p. 1.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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In its current incarnation, one analyst discerns three main goals of the G8 summits:
(1) Exercise political leadership by launching new ideas and resolving problems that
cannot be settled at lower levels; (2) Reconcile the international and domestic pressures
on policy-making generated by growing economic interdependence; and (3) Promote
collective management between Europe, North America, and Japan on issues of global
political and economic governance.3
Left out of this agenda are the developing countries. Developing countries, such as
China, are growing rapidly and are increasingly relevant to the global economy and
international security. The future role of the G8 may likely be determined by how it
decides to engage the developing world.
There is a wide range of views on the G8. To its critics, the G8 meetings represent
an expensive photo opportunity for the presidents and prime ministers of the wealthiest
nations. The July 2000 summit in Okinawa, Japan was deemed a success by G8
members, “based largely on the lack of controversy and the sheaf of joint communiques
worked out in advance by their staffs.”4 An informal group, the G8 has no actual
international enforcement power, no formal crisis management capacity, no long-term
policy making capacity, limited continuity, and weak capacity to implement many of its
prior commitments. Other institutions, such as the United Nations and the international
financial institutions, where developing countries have more influence, may thus be better
suited for addressing international problems.
Others see the G8 emerging alongside the United Nations as a separate facility for
global governance. With a flexibility borne out of no given mandate, agenda, or
bureaucratic infrastructure, the members of the G8 can act very quickly and decisively
when its members are in agreement. G8 members are often the largest shareholders or
financial contributors of the more formal international institutions. Through informal
dialogue at the G8 meetings, these countries can often set the agenda and priorities of the
other institutions. On several issues including debt relief for the poorest countries, conflict
in the former Yugoslavia, and curbing international terrorist financing, the G8 has been
able to effectively coordinate international action.
Organization
Over the past 30 years, an elaborate G8 system has been established. At the apex
is the leaders’ summit, typically held in the summer and hosted by one of the G8 member
countries. The responsibility of the host country rotates throughout the summit cycle at
the end of the calendar year, as follows: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia
(as of 2006), Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada. The G8 president sets the agenda and
determines if nonmember countries and stakeholders (such as nongovernmental
organizations) are invited to the summit.
3 Nicholas Bayne, “Prospects for the 2005 G8 Gleneagles Summit,” available at
[http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/speakers/bayne2004.htm].
4 Doug Strick, “U.S. Weighs North Korea Offer,” Washington Post, July 23, 2000.

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The second layer consists of increasingly widespread meetings at the minister level.
The G8 has developed a network of supporting ministerial meetings, which allow
ministers to meet regularly throughout the year in order to continue the work set out at
each summit. These include the meetings of the finance ministers, foreign ministers, and
environment ministers, among others. G8 ministers and officials also meet on an ad hoc
basis to deal with pressing issues, such a terrorism, energy, and development. From time
to time, the leaders also create task forces or working groups to focus intensively on
certain issues of concern, such as drug-related money laundering, nuclear safety, and
transnational organized crime.
A final layer is the leaders’ personal representatives known as the G8 “sherpas” or
guides. The G8 sherpas meet in the run-up to the summit to prepare the summit agenda
and documents. Following the summit, the sherpas meet to review progress on previous
G8 initiatives.
The principal document of each summit is the communiqué, or since 2002, the
chair’s summary. The content of the document is determined by the host country. One
commentator has remarked that “[t]he communiqué has grown into a long, unwieldy
‘Christmas tree’ with each country adding its cherished special interest ‘ornament’.”5 In
recent years, the chair’s summary has been supplemented by various action plans,
declarations, and statements.
G8 members have a large amount of economic and political power individually and
can bring that power to bear to advocate for G8 initiatives at the more formal international
institutions. The directives of the G8 leaders often serve as guidance to their ministers.
At the ministers meetings, members consult among themselves about ways to carry
forward the ideas of their principals. An example can be seen in the work of the G7
finance ministers in pressing forward an agenda for reforming the architecture of the
international financial system, with agendas drawn up by the finance ministers at Fukuoka
and Rome (the finance ministerial meetings) being endorsed by the leaders at G-7
meetings in Okinawa (2000) and Genoa (2001). Most of the items on those agendas have
since been carried forward or are in process. Another example is reform of the Heavily
Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program. HIPC reform was a central component of the
1999 G8 summit at Cologne and the 2005 summit in Scotland.6
Evolution of the Membership
The first summit was held in Rambouillet, France on November 15-17, 1975, and
included the six “major industrialized democracies”: the United States, France, Germany,
Italy, the United Kingdom, and Japan. According to the 1975 Rambouillet communique:
“We came together because of shared beliefs and shared responsibilities. We are each
responsible for the government of an open, democratic society, dedicated to individual
liberty and social advancement.” The communique continued to state the purpose of the
newfound group: “to assure in a world of growing interdependence ...closer international
5 William E. Whyman, “We Can’t Go On Meeting Like This: Revitalizing the G-7 Process,” The
Washington Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 3 (Summer 1995), pp. 139-165.
6 See CRS Report RL33073, Debt Relief for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries: Issues for
Congress, by Martin Weiss.

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cooperation and constructive dialogue among all countries, transcending differences in
stages of economic development, degrees of resource endowment and political and social
systems.”7 The primary focus and reason for convening the conference was to discuss
responses to several international economic crises of the early 1970s, primarily the 1971
collapse of the Bretton Woods financial system, as well as the 1973 Yom Kippur war and
the ensuing oil shock. U.S. President Gerald Ford decided to host a second conference
in Puerto Rico in June 1976 and invited Canada to the meetings. This brought an
additional North American country into a Europe-heavy forum.
The G7 was joined by the European Community (now the European Union) at the
London Summit of 1977. The EU participates at the G8 summit and is represented by the
President of the European Commission and the leader of the country that holds the
Presidency of the European Union. When a European member of the G8 hosts the
summit at the same time as holding the EU Presidency, the two roles are combined.
The Addition of Russia to the G7. Russia, the most recent member, joined in
1997.8 During and following the collapse of the Soviet Union, some argue that the G7
summits played a role in integrating Russia into the club of global democracies. In 1991
to 1993, first the Soviet Union, and then Russia, participated in post-summit meetings
with the G7. During the 1994 - 1996 summits, the G7 met with Russia at each summit
as the “Political 8” after the G7 meetings. The 1997 Denver Summit of the Eight was a
major milestone, allowing for full Russian participation in all meetings except the finance
ministers meetings. At the Kananaskis Summit in Canada in 2002, it was announced that
Russia would host the G8 summit in 2006.
Russia’s hosting of the G8 summit has raised some concern in Congress. Legislation
has been introduced in the 109th Congress, expressing the sense of Congress that Russia’s
continued participation in the Group of Eight nations should be conditioned on the
Russian government voluntarily accepting and adhering to “the norms and standards of
democracy (H.Con.Res. 143 and S.Con.Res. 14).” The House resolution was referred to
the House International Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging
Threats and the Senate resolution was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. No further action has been taken on either piece of legislation.
Although the G8 had largely shifted from its focus on economic policy to also global
and political issues, the addition of Russia to the G8 marked the pinnacle of this
transition. Russia was added to the G8 on the basis of political considerations, namely
the need for its cooperation on three pressing issues: (1) Eastern European entry into
NATO, (2) terrorism, and (3) nuclear proliferation. In exchange for being allowed to join
the G7, Russia subsequently relaxed its long-stated opposition towards Poland, Hungary,
and the Czech Republic joining NATO.9
7 1975 Rambouillet G8 Communique, available at [http://www.g7.utoronto.ca/summit/
1975rambouillet/communique.html].
8 Although the EU has become a full participant in the G8 summit process, it does not chair or
host a summit. Thus “G8” only refers to its sovereign country members.
9 Penttila, Risto E. J., “The Role of the G8 in International Peace and Security,” Adelphi Papers,
vol. 355, May 2003, p. 43.

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Including Russia in the G8 has raised many questions regarding the nature of the G8
as a forum, and how Russia fits into it. To what extent is Russia an “open, democratic
society, dedicated to individual liberty and social advancement?” Since the G8 has its
origins as a group of the largest (democratic) economies, what role should level of
development have in determining membership? These questions have yet to be fully
addressed by G8 policy makers, but their answers will be crucial to the future of the G8.
The fact that there is no formal G8 charter or membership criteria complicates the issue.
Table 1 presents the gross domestic products of G8 members and several large
developing economies. Among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) countries, the GDPs of Spain ($1,124 billion), Korea ($800 billion), and Brazil
($789 billion) are larger than Russia’s $772 billion.
Table 1. 2005 Total GDP of G8 and Other Major Economies
(in billions of U.S. dollars)
G8 Members
Non-G8 Members
GDP
United States
$12, 452
Japan
4,672
Germany
2,800
United Kingdom
2,197
France
2,113
China
1,910
Italy
1,719
Spain
1,124
Canada
1,106
Korea
800
Brazil
789
Russia
772
Mexico
758
India
746
Source: International Monetary Fund
The G8 and China. China is a major growing economy and crucially important
to global economic and political stability. In one fashion or another, the G8 will likely
be forced to engage China. Like the inclusion of Russia, how the G8 engages China could
dramatically alter the role of the institution. China participated on a consultative basis
with the G7 finance ministers, for the first time, at the October 1-3, 2004, G7 finance
ministers meeting in Washington, DC. China also participated in the February 2005
finance ministers meeting in London. Outside of the G8, China has been very active in
the G20 group of finance ministers and holds the G20 presidency for 2005. Like the G7
finance ministers meetings, the G20 is an informal forum for finance ministers from the
industrial and emerging market countries to seek consensus on international financial and
economic matters.
Introducing China to the G7 finance ministers, albeit initially only as a participant,
may be an effective first step toward eventual G8 (G9) membership. Bringing China in
the G8, as bringing Russia in, would create trade-offs for the forum. China is not a
democracy, has human rights concerns, and is often not like-minded with G8 members
on international economic or security policies (although there are often divisions among
G8 members). This may make decision-making increasingly difficult. On the other hand,
allowing China to participate in the G8 may create an important informal forum for
industrialized democracies to discuss issues with China and help resolve disputes away

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from more formal institutions like the United Nations or through highly visible state
visits.
The Future of the G8
G8 experience with Russia and China points toward two possible options for the G8:
(1) Continue to function as an informal forum for industrially developed nations to seek
consensus on policy priorities and collectively pursue them; or (2) Slowly expand to
include major developing countries, and through the informal “G8 Plus” meetings try to
reach consensus among industrial and developing nations on international policy
concerns.
The G8’s current members are often the major shareholders of the international
institutions and can use their influence to push policies put forth at the G8 summits.
When members agree as they did on international financial institution reform and the
HIPC initiative, there are institutional and procedural means to carry out decisions.
However, when they disagree — as they have on environment or agriculture issues —
there is little likelihood that the majority view will be pushed through international
agencies over the resistance of the minority G8 voices. An inability to come to agreement
may likely increase if the G8 expands to include countries such as China that are often at
odds with individual G8 members. Expansion may also undermine the original purpose
and flexibility of the group.
Some analysts, nevertheless, have thus proposed expanding the G8. David Owen,
a former British foreign secretary, advocates adding India in 2007 and bringing in China
and Brazil shortly thereafter.10 Colin Bradford, an analyst at the Brookings Institution,
has called for an elevating the G20, a group of finance ministers created by then Canadian
finance minister Paul Martin in 2001, to the leader level.11 The G20 is composed of 10
industrial countries (the G-7 countries plus Australia, Russia, and the EU president) and
10 emerging market economies (Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Korea,
Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey).
Regardless of whether the G8 formally expands to include major developing
countries, or coordinates with them at the margins of other meetings, the cooperation of
the developing countries is important for advancing many of the issues that the G8 is
currently undertaking. Although the G8 may be helpful in securing international
agreements on some issues of concern to the developed countries alone (such as financial
regulation among OECD countries), successfully addressing most international concerns
(on issues such as international development and security) would require the full
participation of the developing countries themselves. Without developing country
participation in setting the international agenda it will be difficult to secure their
agreement.
10 David Owen, “G8 to G9: a formula for democracy,” The Times, March 2, 2006.
11 Colin I. Bradford, Jr. and Johannes F. Linn, “Global Economic Governance at a Crossroads:
Replacing the G-7 with the G-20,” Brookings Institution Policy Brief 131, April, 2004.

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