Group brings together the presidents of the G20 parliaments of the world’s largest economies, plus the European Parliament and the African Union
From November 6 to 8, the Brazilian Congress will host the tenth meeting of the presidents of the G20 Parliaments, a group of the world’s largest economies, along with the European Parliament and the African Union. The group of parliaments, known as the P20, was created in 2010 with the aim of involving parliamentarians in G20 discussions in order to strengthen global cooperation and the implementation of international agreements proposed by the group of countries.
As the Chamber’s legislative consultant Acauã Leotta points out, if the G20’s decisions result in international treaties or agreements, these documents must be ratified. This means that they must be approved by each country’s parliament.
In addition, he explains, the G20 debates revolve around public policies. And the legislative houses – in Brazil’s case, the House and Senate – are the spaces for debating these policies. If parliamentarians are involved in the discussions from the outset, this facilitates the adoption of government actions resulting from the meetings of heads of state and government.
The theme of this year’s G20 parliamentary leaders’ meeting in Brasília will be Parliaments for a Just World and a Sustainable Planet. Sustainable development is one of the G20’s priorities this year, with Brazil holding the presidency. The other two priority topics proposed by the Brazilian government for debate include the formation of an alliance against poverty and hunger, and the reform of so-called global governance.
According to consultant Acauã Leotta, Brazil has already made some progress this year while leading the G20. “It’s clear that progress has been made. Task forces have been established to address key global issues, including poverty and hunger, and climate change. Recently, there has been a groundbreaking initiative to convene the G20 foreign ministers to discuss global governance reform. Of course, all these advances are slow and gradual, as they depend on negotiations. What we have so far are declarations, foundational texts in these areas, but that’s the point. Brazil has managed to push its peace and development agenda, demonstrating a strong commitment to these issues,” he said.
Brazil assumed the G20 presidency in December of last year. Since then, it has held 130 preparatory meetings for the summit of Heads of State and Government, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro on November 18 and 19 this year. The G20 presidency rotates annually among its members, with each country holding the position for one year. In Rio, Brazil will hand over the presidency to South Africa.
As president of the G20, Brazil also chairs the group of parliaments. In this context, the country organized the first P20 Women Parliamentarians’ Meeting in Maceió (AL) in July.
According to the coordinator of the Women’s Caucus in the Chamber, Congresswoman Benedita da Silva (PT-RJ), at the meeting the P20 parliamentarians discussed the Brazilian government’s priority proposals and issues of interest to women. Among them were the inclusion of women in the labor market and politics, as well as the fight against violence. Benedita da Silva stated that she remains in dialogue with representatives from other countries to organize the debate within the Brazilian Parliament.
“We are sending a letter requesting that each country hold its own P20 meeting and also send us their report so that we can, through these reports, gather ideas, which will then be discussed at the P20 – and, consequently, the outcome will be forwarded to the G20,” she said.
The G20 was established in 1999 to address financial crises affecting emerging countries like Mexico, Russia, and Brazil. Initially, the group focused on coordinating global macroeconomic and financial policies, with meetings led by each country’s finance minister.
But when the financial crisis hit the United States in 2008, leadership of the meetings shifted to heads of state and government. The agenda also expanded to include political and social issues.
Senate News Agency
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