Brussels, 07/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The international political calendar for 2011 augurs well for the resolution of issues of world governance, in that no large-scale elections are planned in any of the world's major democracies - presidential elections will take place in the United States, Russia and France in 2012 - or in any of the larger countries of the European Union, although the delicate balances of power in the United Kingdom and Italy mean that there could be early elections (and in the UK, a referendum on the electoral system is due to be held on 5 May).
If 2011 is really going to be a year of electoral calm, the great and the good of this world may very well take advantage to consolidate recovery and better define global governance, including with regard to the co-existence of the G20 and the G8. Some impetus could be given to this debate by virtue of the fact that France will hold the presidency of both groups this year. Whatever the configurations, it is most likely that the push for China, India, Brazil, South Africa and the other emerging countries to have a greater say in the search for solutions to international problems will become stronger this year.
The main intentional diplomacy dates which affect the EU are the G8 summit in Nice and the G20 summit in Cannes, both scheduled for June. The EU will also hold its annual series of meetings with its main partners: in Brussels there will be the meetings with Japan (in April or June), Brazil (in July) and Russia (in December) while, for those with Canada (in the second half of the year), South Africa (possibly in July) and the United States (possibly in November), the EU delegations will travel abroad. (H.B./Gp/transl.rt)