Summit Name: | 11th G7 summit |
Country: | West Germany |
Dates: | May 2–4, 1985 |
Cities: | Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia |
Venues: | Palais Schaumburg |
Follows: | 10th G7 summit |
Precedes: | 12th G7 summit |
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.[1] The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, West 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]
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 11th G7 summit was the first summit for Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
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. | |||
Member | Represented by | Title | |
---|---|---|---|
Canada | Brian Mulroney | Prime Minister | |
France | François Mitterrand | President | |
West Germany | Helmut Kohl | Chancellor | |
Italy | Bettino Craxi | Prime Minister | |
Japan | Yasuhiro Nakasone | Prime Minister | |
United Kingdom | Margaret Thatcher | Prime Minister | |
United States | Ronald Reagan | President | |
European Community | Jacques Delors | Commission President | |
Bettino Craxi | Council President |
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] Issues which were discussed at this summit included: