Members, invitees, summit meetings, agenda

This chapter examines the issue of G20 membership and invited non-member countries, surveys the series of G20 summits since they began in 2008 and traces the evolution of the agenda. For a related discussion regarding G20 ministers as well as task forces and similar sub-summit groups, see Chapter 3. Aspects of membership are also covered in Chapter 7. The Group of Twenty (G20) leaders initially invited the Netherlands and Spain to attend their meetings. The 2010 Seoul summit decided that from then on only Spain would attend as a 'permanent guest'. The principal consideration, when the G20 was first established in 1999 at the Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' level, was to include systemically significant countries 'able to contribute to global economic and financial stability'. Peter Debaere analyzes the EU's performance and effectiveness in the G20 and the extent to which EU countries that are not members of the G20 are involved in developing EU positions in the G20 context. The chapter provides a brief history of G20 summit meetings convened beginning with 2008, indicating their main achievements. The composition of the G20, based on the selection of systemically significant countries as members and on geographical representation, continues to remain constant.