European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso speaks about hopes for a deal on food security at today's G8 summit in l'Aquila, Italy.

José Manuel Barroso, EC President and Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish Prime Minister held a joint press conference on the occasion of the start of the G8 summit which takes place under Italian Presidency. José Manuel Barroso represents the European Commission as full member of the G8 summit for the 5th time this year.

Alongside with the leaders of Sweden as holder of the EU Council presidency, the four European Union G8 members - France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom - as well as the United States, Russia, Canada, and Japan, José Manuel Barroso pushes for a coordinated international response to common challenges related to the economic and financial crisis, trade, climate change, development and food security.

On the first day, the 8th of July, the summit starts with a G8 working lunch on the world economy, followed by a session on global issues, bilateral political meetings and a working dinner on international issues.
The second day is expected to see a meeting of the G8 + G5 leaders (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa) and Egypt, followed by the Junior 8 meeting as well as the Major Economies Forum (G8 + their counterparts from Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Republic of Korea and South Africa). The third and last day will bring together the G8 with African leaders from Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, South Africa and Ethiopia as well as Libya as holder of the presidency of the African Union and Angola.

The summit takes place at a time where multiple global challenges require more than ever the commitment and determination of G8 leaders and their partners to promote coordinated international action. A series of events, like the G20 process, initiated last year by the EU, and the ongoing UN climate change negotiations have been helping to shape this response. The G8 summit therefore is a crucial occasion to provide political impetus in finding and implementing solutions and to ensure a link with the other ongoing processes.

The United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Energy Agency, the International Labour Organisation, the World Trade Organisation, the African Union, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Programme will also attend some of the meetings.

The G8 group's member countries are Canada, the Russian Federation, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, together with the European Union represented by the European Council's duty President and by the President of the European Commission.

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