Infobox G8
summit_name = 29th G8 summit
year = 2003
caption = 29th G8 Summit official logo
country = France
dates = June 1 – June 3,The 29th G8 summit took place in Évian-les-Bains, France, in June 2003. As is usual for G8 summits, there were a range of protests.
Composition of summit leaders
The core membership of the G8 has remained constant since Russia joined the talks at the 1997 summit in Denver.
Permanent
Leaders of the G8 members; [G8 Research Group: [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2003evian/delegations.html Delegations, 2003.] ]
*flagicon|Canada Canada - Jean Chrétien
*flagicon|France France - Jacques Chirac
*flagicon|Germany Germany - Gerhard Schröder
*flagicon|Italy Italy - Silvio Berlusconi
*flagicon|Japan Japan - Junichiro Koizumi
*flagicon|Russia Russia - Vladimir Putin
*flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom - Tony Blair
*flagicon|USA United States - George W. Bush
Invited (partial participation)
The leaders of a number of non-G8 countries were invited to the summit (Algeria, Brazil, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa) as well as the President of the Swiss Confederation and representatives of the UN, the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO, providing a unique opportunity for an exchange of views on issues relating to sustained growth and international co-operation.
National leaders
* Algeria
* Brazil
* China
* Egypt
* Greece
* India
* Malaysia
* Mexico
* Nigeria
* Saudi Arabia
* Senegal
* South Africa
* Switzerland
Heads of international organizations
Leaders of the major international organizations were invited to attend the summit.
* United Nations
*flagicon|EU European Union - Romano Prodi and Konstantinos Simitis[cite web| url = http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/union/showpage_en_union.external.g8.php| title = EU and the G8| accessdate = 2007-09-25| publisher = European Commission] ]
* ""
* International Monetary Fund
* "'Priorities
Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national civil servants in the weeks before the summit itself, leading to a joint declaration which all countries can agree to sign.
Citizens' responses and authorities' counter-responses
The protests, as well as the usual demonstrations, included a protest at the Aubonne bridge in Switzerland between Lausanne and Geneva, in which two activists suspended themselves from the bridge via a rope, with the rope stretching across the bridge, halting traffic and displaying a banner. As well as arresting various protestors, the police also cut the rope, causing one of the protestors, Briton Martin Shaw, to plunge 20m into a rocky river, resulting in multiple fractures (the other activist, German Gesine Wenzel, was caught by other protestors and could later abseil safely). In January 2005, following a long campaign, a judge said that the police involved should be charged with causing bodily harm by negligence. However in a ruling on 17 February 2006 a judge has acquitted the two police officers found responsible on the grounds that their actions had been based on "a series of unfortunate misunderstandings" and therefore were not criminal [http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=6479130&cKey=1140192829000 1] [http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=6463231 2] .
References
ee also
* G8
External links
* G8 Research Group: [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca G8 Information Centre] , University of Toronto
* Official G8 website: [http://www.g8.fr/evian/english/home.html Évian]
* [http://www.aubonnebridge.net/ Campaign relating to police behaviour at a protest at the Aubonne bridge]
* [http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/evian/ Évian - Protest Reports & Photos ]
