Fact Sheet: G-8 Summit in Deauville, France

President Obama joined other heads of state and government from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, Russia, and the European Union at the annual G-8 Leaders’ Summit in Deauville, France, on May 26-27.  The President and his G-8 counterparts pledged solidarity with the people of Japan in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and offered continued assistance as needed to ensure a speedy and lasting recovery.

During the two-day Summit, the President and other Leaders agreed to closely cooperate on a wide range of key global priorities.  The Leaders:

• Announced an action plan to support democratization and economic modernization in the Middle East and North Africa.  G-8 Leaders met with the Prime Ministers of Egypt and Tunisia and expressed support for the historic transitions in both countries.
   
• Discussed drivers of economic growth in the United States and around the world, including innovation, green growth, and the role of the Internet, and agreed to work together to promote strong, sustainable, and balanced global growth.  The President’s top priority remains to create jobs and opportunity for all Americans.
   
• Reconfirmed their commitment to keep markets open and to work together to find a path forward for the liberalization of global trade.
   
• Emphasized that addressing climate change remains a top priority and committed to implementing the undertakings made in Copenhagen and Cancun to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
   
• Committed to promoting the highest levels of nuclear safety in the wake of the nuclear accident in Japan.
   
• Reaffirmed their commitment to a common approach to solving the world’s most pressing security challenges, including combating terrorism, drug trafficking, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.  G-8 Leaders remain united in addressing key sources of regional and global instability, including the use of force against civilians by the Libyan regime and Iran and North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

  ·         Renewed the G-8’s partnership with Africa.  President Obama and other G-8 Leaders met with the leaders of eight African countries (Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Niger, Senegal, and South Africa) to discuss common approaches to tackling the continent’s most pressing economic and security challenges.  Both the G-8 and African Leaders emphasized the important role that human rights, democratic governance, and sustainable development must play in strengthening growth and stability in Africa.

  ·         Emphasized mutual accountability of both G-8 and African countries for our respective commitments, as well as the importance of aid effectiveness.  The 2011 G-8 Accountability Report was released prior to the Deauville Summit and details progress, both collectively and individually, in the areas of food security and global health (see separate fact sheet).
   

• President Obama looks forward to welcoming G-8 Leaders to the United States in 2012 as next year’s G-8 host.