The G20 Summit Is Currently Taking Place In Brazil – Why Without Switzerland?
When the Group of 20 was founded, Switzerland was one of the 20 economically strongest countries in the world. Nevertheless, it is not a member of the G20 today. Why? A new analysis by ZHAW explains how this came about and shows how Switzerland is still involved.
The Group of 20, better known as the G20, has been in existence since 1999. It began as an informal gathering of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 leading industrialized and emerging economies and the EU. The group coordinates on international economic and financial issues in the so-called Finance Track. The G-20 became more visible from 2008, when it was expanded to include an annual “Leaders' Summit” at the level of heads of state and government and more and more topics, from climate change to anti-corruption, were dealt with in the overarching Sherpa Track.
The article that ZHAW lecturer Dominique Ursprung recently wrote for “Die Volkswirtschaft” shows what non-membership means for Switzerland and how it was nevertheless possible to find a way that allows at least some participation, even if the dependency on the host state, such as Brazil this year, remains unchanged.