Main focus of Monday, November 17, 2008

A first step

Representatives of the 20 most important industrial and emerging countries (G20) met in Washington over the weekend to seek a solution to the global financial and economic crisis. The European press agrees it was a historic meeting, but opinions vary over what the summit achieved.

NRC Handelsblad - Netherlands

The Washington summit achieved positive results, writes NRC Handelsblad newspaper: "Another positive thing about the summit is that consultation over the global economy is no longer the exclusive domain of the established industrial countries in the G7. The meeting in Washington could go down in history as the event where the new balance of power was cemented in the G20. In future countries like China, India and Brazil will be able to voice their say on decisions taken. And just as important: they are now beholden to do so." (17/11/2008)

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Corriere del Ticino - Switzerland

The Swiss daily Corriere del Ticino writes: "The G20 has set in motion a process which will gain momentum over the coming months. ... Bailing out banks with government money is not a solution ... The money must be used to boost the real economy ... Everyone must agree that new regulations can't be effective as long as the international monetary system remains tied to the US dollar, which is an expression of the US's high foreign debt. In practice this means the implementation of a new Bretton Woods. It is likely that the meeting in Washington has triggered a process in which the extent of the crisis will force states to strive for much higher goals than those formulated in Washington." (17/11/2008)

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Financial Times Deutschland - Germany

The Financial Times Deutschland expresses surprise that the meeting in Washington has produced such detailed results. "Compared with the usual papers generated by international summit diplomacy, the final statement at Washington goes into an exceptional amount of detail. Those details include a precise deadline for the finance ministers of the G20 states to present proposals for watertight regulation of all actors on the financial markets by the next conference in spring 2009. They also include the express commitment of all participants not to react to the crisis with protectionist policies - which gives us hope that the old and new economic powers have not forgotten the historical lessons of the global economic crisis." (17/11/2008)

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Berlingske - Denmark

The summit can only be a first step, writes the Copenhagen daily Berlingske Tidende: "It is too early to declare the G20 summit in Washington either a success or a failure. A series of important principles were decided on there, but most are so vague that it is hard to say whether the meeting was indeed the beginning of the end of the financial crisis that has plunged the world practically into economic chaos. ... But there can be no doubt that the heads of government will only commit to binding agreements at the next meeting. It is difficult to decide on a new course of action with an American president who has only two more months in office." (17/11/2008)

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Aftonbladet - Sweden

For Stockholm's Aftonbladet newspaper, the summit heralds the end of a market ideology: "The G-20 summit points to the end of an epoch of social woe. This was based on the simple ideology of a form of capitalism free from all political control, rules or public inspection. The meeting in Washington gave a cordial nod to the free market but then proposed a series of restrictions, from the surveillance of banks to tighter control of the increasingly bizarre and economically ruinous methods of securities trading." (17/11/2008)

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Delo - Slovenia

Following the summit in Washington it's now clear that the countries of the West will have to grant the rest of the G20 states a greater role in international financial institutions, writes the daily Delo. "The erstwhile powerful 'West', which with its belief in the omnipotence of the free market got us into this mess and now threatens to go down in the face of an increasingly ominous recession, has this time been forced to call on the 'East' and the 'South', where most of the economic growth is expected to take place in coming years, for support. ... The West once pushed these countries aside, but now it will have to give them more power in international financial institutions, because the countries of the West are gradually becoming dependent on their help. This time they begged China to fork out around 2 billion US dollars in foreign reserves to help the impoverished International Monetary Union." (17/11/2008)

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ABC - Spain

The Spanish daily ABC writes: "There were no fireworks in Washington. They're saving those for [Barack] Obama's swearing-in ceremony in January. But there was plenty of white smoke after a long work process that, although it won't end the financial or economic crisis, will certainly ensure that the international community has better instruments at its disposal to identify, deal with and solve a crisis. No more and no less." (17/11/2008)

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