Summit of the Eight

This is historical material, "frozen in time." The web site is no longer updated and links to external web sites and some internal pages will not work.

European Union at the Denver Summit

Both the President of the European Council, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Willem (Wim) Kok and the President of the European Commission, Jacques Santer will sit at the leader's table at the Denver Summit of the Eight.

The European Commission is a branch of the European Union, and its Presidency rotates every 5 years. The President of the European Commission has held a seat at the G-7 Economic Summit leader s table since the Summit in 1977. Jacques Santer, President of the European Commission will participate in the leader s meetings as he has for the past 2 years.

The European Council Presidency rotates every 6 months. Coincidently in most past years, the European Council Presidency was held by members of the G-7. For example, last year Italy held the European Council Presidency. As a member of the G-7, Prime Minister Romano Prodi was already at the Leader's table.

This year, however, the Netherlands holds the Presidency of the European Council through June 30, 1997. Since the Netherlands are not a member of the G-7, but hold the Presidency during the Denver Summit, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Willem (Wim) Kok, will sit at the Leader's table as the President of the European Council.