With everything decided beforehand, international summits are purely for show

Where is the action itself? The cut-and-thrust of debate between world leaders? There is actually very little

What actually happens inside an international summit? The answer to this question is not as obvious as you may think.

There is an air of the Potemkin about such meetings. There are huge security cordons, often closing entire city blocks, around a massive conference venue. Inside, there are lots of people sitting in a huge hall. Who are they? Journalists. What are they doing? Mostly reporting on the summit. But where is the action itself? The cut-and-thrust of debate between world leaders? There’s actually very little.

There was a clue in the news leading up to last Sunday’s Brexit showdown here in Brussels. Diplomats were briefing that Angela Merkel would not bother turning up at the meeting unless a withdrawal agreement had already been finalised, ready for her to approve.

This might appear odd to someone who has not been to such a gathering. Surely the purpose of something like the European Council or G20 is for the leaders to get together and get important things done?

But in a strange way, the whole thing is a mirage. World leaders have more important things to do than work out international agreements – such as appearing on television. And in any case, they are not lawyers.

The actual work for these meetings is done well in advance by officials, questionably known in the trade as “sherpas” – after the Nepalese ethnic group famous for helping mountaineers to the summit of mount Everest.

By the time leaders show up it is usually all done. There are occasional exceptions where things don’t go to plan and the presidents and prime ministers have to actually negotiate, but they are extremely rare. Last Sunday’s Brexit summit was not one of these exceptions – leaders had a couple of meetings, each about half an hour.

They generally say things mostly agreed beforehand – these matters are far too important to ad-lib and must be heavily choreographed after consulting with advisers. Statements are often read from a sheet of paper. None of this section is even open to the press, though silent pictures are sometimes released to prove it happened. Sometimes the meeting is styled as a “working dinner” to make it sound more interesting.

The rest of the agenda is essentially commentary on this – briefings, press conferences about the summit. It suits both the media and the politicians to make it all sound more dramatic, so the show continues.

Yours,

Jon Stone
European correspondent