Topics on the agenda for the three-day summit first held on 29 May 1954 will include: does privacy exist?
It’s been a week of celebrations for Henry Kissinger. On Tuesday he turned 91, on Wednesday he broke his personal best in the 400m hurdles,
and on Thursday in Copenhagen, he’ll be clinking champagne flutes with
the secretary general of Nato and the queen of Spain, as they celebrate
60 glorious years of Bilderberg. I just hope George Osborne remembered to pack a party hat.
Thursday is the opening day of the influential three-day summit and
it’s also the 60th anniversary of the Bilderberg Group’s first meeting,
which took place in Holland on 29 May 1954. So this year’s event is a
red-letter occasion, and the official participant list shows that the 2014 conference is a peculiarly high-powered affair.
The chancellor, at his seventh Bilderberg, is spending the next three days deep in conference with the heads of MI6, Nato, the International Monetary Fund, HSBC, Shell, BP and Goldman Sachs International,
along with dozens of other chief executives, billionaires and
high-ranking politicians from around Europe. This year also includes a
visit from the supreme allied commander Europe, and a return of royalty –
Queen Sofia of Spain and Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, the daughter of the Bilderberg founder Prince Bernhard.
Back in the 1950s, when Bernhard sent out the invitations, it was to
discuss “a number of problems facing western civilization”. These days,
the Bilderberg Group prefers to call them “megatrends”. The megatrends
on this year’s agenda include: “What next for Europe?”, “Ukraine”, “Intelligence sharing” and “Does privacy exist?”
That’s an exquisite irony: the world’s most secretive conference
discussing whether privacy exists. Certainly for some it does. It’s not
just birthday bunting that’s gone up in Copenhagen:
there’s also a double ring of three-metre (10ft) high security fencing.
The hotel is teeming with security: lithe gentlemen in loose slacks and
dark glasses, trying not to kill the birthday vibe. Or anyone else.
Already, two reporters have been arrested trying to interview the
organisers of the conference in the Marriott hotel bar. It’s easy enough
to keep your privacy intact when you’re employing so many people to
guard it.
There’s something distinctly chilling about the existence of
privacy being debated, in extreme privacy, by people such as the
executive chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, and the board member of
Facebook Peter Thiel: exactly the people who know how radically
transparent the general public has become.
And to have them discussing it with the head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, and Keith Alexander,
the recently replaced head of the National Security Agency. And with
people such as the head of AXA, the insurance and investment
conglomerate – Henri de Castries.
Perhaps no one is more interested in data collection and public
surveillance than the insurance giants. For them, privacy is the enemy.
Public transparency is a goldmine.
Back in 2010, Osborne proudly launched “the most radical transparency
agenda the country has ever seen”. However, this transparency agenda
doesn’t seem to extend to Osborne himself making a public statement
about what he has discussed at this meeting. And with whom.
We know, from the agenda and list, that Osborne will be there with
the foreign affairs ministers from Spain and Sweden, and the deputy
secretary general of the French presidency. And from closer to home, the
international development secretary, Justine Greening, and fellow
Bilderberg veteran and shadow chancellor, Ed Balls.
We know that he’s scheduled to discuss the situation in Ukraine with
extremely interested parties, such as the chief executive of the
European arms giant Airbus, Thomas Enders. Not to
mention the chief executive and chairman of “the defence & security
company” Saab: Håkan Buskhe and Marcus Wallenberg. And billionaire
investors including Henry Kravis of KKR, who is “always looking to sharpen” what he calls “the KKR edge”. Helping Kravis sharpen his edge is General David Petraeus, former director of the CIA, now head of the KKR Global Institute – a massive investment operation.
The Bilderberg Group says the conference has no desired outcome. But
for private equity giants, and the heads of banks, arms manufacturers
and oil companies, there’s always a desired outcome. Try telling the
shareholders of Shell that there’s “no desired outcome”
of their chairman and chief executive spending three days in conference
with politicians and policy makers.
Try telling that to the lobbyists who have been working so hard to push the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal that is being negotiated. Bilderberg is packed to the gills with senior members of powerful lobby groups. Will members of British American Business’s international advisory board,
such as Douglas Flint and Peter Sutherland, express BAB’s fervent
support of TTIP when discussing “Is the economic recovery sustainable?”
Or will they leave their lobbying hats at the door?
MP Michael Meacher describes Bilderberg as “the cabal of the
rich and powerful” who are working “to consolidate and extend the grip
of the markets”. And they’re doing so “beyond the reach of the media or
the public”. That said, every year, the press probes a little
further behind the security fencing. Every year the questions for the
politicians who attend, but remain silent, get harder.
They can try to laugh it off as a “talking shop” or a glorified
knees-up, but these people haven’t come to Bilderberg to drink fizzy
wine and pull party poppers. It’s possible that Reid Hoffman, the head
of LinkedIn, has turned up for the birthday cake. But I doubt it. This is big business. And big politics. And big lobbying.
Bilderberg is big money, and they know how to spend it. From my spot
outside, I’ve just seen three vans full of fish delicacies trundle into
the hotel service entrance. I always thought there was something fishy
about Bilderberg. Turns out that for tonight at least, it’s the
rollmops.
Participants
Bilderberg Meetings
Copenhagen, Denmark 29 May – 1 June 2014
Current list of Participants
Status 26 May 2014Chairman
| FRA | Castries, Henri de | Chairman and CEO, AXA Group |
| DEU | Achleitner, Paul M. | Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG |
| DEU | Ackermann, Josef | Former CEO, Deutsche Bank AG |
| GBR | Agius, Marcus | Non-Executive Chairman, PA Consulting Group |
| FIN | Alahuhta, Matti | Member of the Board, KONE; Chairman, Aalto University Foundation |
| GBR | Alexander, Helen | Chairman, UBM plc |
| USA | Alexander, Keith B. | Former Commander, U.S. Cyber Command; Former Director, National Security Agency |
| USA | Altman, Roger C. | Executive Chairman, Evercore |
| FIN | Apunen, Matti | Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA |
| DEU | Asmussen, Jörg | State Secretary of Labour and Social Affairs |
| HUN | Bajnai, Gordon | Former Prime Minister; Party Leader, Together 2014 |
| GBR | Balls, Edward M. | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer |
| PRT | Balsemão, Francisco Pinto | Chairman, Impresa SGPS |
| FRA | Baroin, François | Member of Parliament (UMP); Mayor of Troyes |
| FRA | Baverez, Nicolas | Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP |
| USA | Berggruen, Nicolas | Chairman, Berggruen Institute on Governance |
| ITA | Bernabè, Franco | Chairman, FB Group SRL |
| DNK | Besenbacher, Flemming | Chairman, The Carlsberg Group |
| NLD | Beurden, Ben van | CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plc |
| SWE | Bildt, Carl | Minister for Foreign Affairs |
| NOR | Brandtzæg, Svein Richard | President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA |
| INT | Breedlove, Philip M. | Supreme Allied Commander Europe |
| AUT | Bronner, Oscar | Publisher, Der STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H. |
| SWE | Buskhe, Håkan | President and CEO, Saab AB |
| TUR | Çandar, Cengiz | Senior Columnist, Al Monitor and Radikal |
| ESP | Cebrián, Juan Luis | Executive Chairman, Grupo PRISA |
| FRA | Chalendar, Pierre-André de | Chairman and CEO, Saint-Gobain |
| CAN | Clark, W. Edmund | Group President and CEO, TD Bank Group |
| INT | Coeuré, Benoît | Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank |
| IRL | Coveney, Simon | Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine |
| GBR | Cowper-Coles, Sherard | Senior Adviser to the Group Chairman and Group CEO, HSBC Holdings plc |
| BEL | Davignon, Etienne | Minister of State |
| USA | Donilon, Thomas E. | Senior Partner, O’Melveny and Myers; Former U.S. National Security Advisor |
| DEU | Döpfner, Mathias | CEO, Axel Springer SE |
| GBR | Dudley, Robert | Group Chief Executive, BP plc |
| FIN | Ehrnrooth, Henrik | Chairman, Caverion Corporation, Otava and Pöyry PLC |
| ITA | Elkann, John | Chairman, Fiat S.p.A. |
| DEU | Enders, Thomas | CEO, Airbus Group |
| DNK | Federspiel, Ulrik | Executive Vice President, Haldor Topsøe A/S |
| USA | Feldstein, Martin S. | Professor of Economics, Harvard University; President Emeritus, NBER |
| CAN | Ferguson, Brian | President and CEO, Cenovus Energy Inc. |
| GBR | Flint, Douglas J. | Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings plc |
| ESP | García-Margallo, José Manuel | Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation |
| USA | Gfoeller, Michael | Independent Consultant |
| TUR | Göle, Nilüfer | Professor of Sociology, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales |
| USA | Greenberg, Evan G. | Chairman and CEO, ACE Group |
| GBR | Greening, Justine | Secretary of State for International Development |
| NLD | Halberstadt, Victor | Professor of Economics, Leiden University |
| USA | Hockfield, Susan | President Emerita, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| NOR | Høegh, Leif O. | Chairman, Höegh Autoliners AS |
| NOR | Høegh, Westye | Senior Advisor, Höegh Autoliners AS |
| USA | Hoffman, Reid | Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, LinkedIn |
| CHN | Huang, Yiping | Professor of Economics, National School of Development, Peking University |
| USA | Jackson, Shirley Ann | President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| USA | Jacobs, Kenneth M. | Chairman and CEO, Lazard |
| USA | Johnson, James A. | Chairman, Johnson Capital Partners |
| USA | Karp, Alex | CEO, Palantir Technologies |
| USA | Katz, Bruce J. | Vice President and Co-Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution |
| CAN | Kenney, Jason T. | Minister of Employment and Social Development |
| GBR | Kerr, John | Deputy Chairman, Scottish Power |
| USA | Kissinger, Henry A. | Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc. |
| USA | Kleinfeld, Klaus | Chairman and CEO, Alcoa |
| TUR | Koç, Mustafa | Chairman, Koç Holding A.S. |
| DNK | Kragh, Steffen | President and CEO, Egmont |
| USA | Kravis, Henry R. | Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. |
| USA | Kravis, Marie-Josée | Senior Fellow and Vice Chair, Hudson Institute |
| CHE | Kudelski, André | Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group |
| INT | Lagarde, Christine | Managing Director, International Monetary Fund |
| BEL | Leysen, Thomas | Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group |
| USA | Li, Cheng | Director, John L.Thornton China Center,The Brookings Institution |
| SWE | Lifvendahl, Tove | Political Editor in Chief, Svenska Dagbladet |
| CHN | Liu, He | Minister, Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs |
| PRT | Macedo, Paulo | Minister of Health |
| FRA | Macron, Emmanuel | Deputy Secretary General of the Presidency |
| ITA | Maggioni, Monica | Editor-in-Chief, Rainews24, RAI TV |
| GBR | Mandelson, Peter | Chairman, Global Counsel LLP |
| USA | McAfee, Andrew | Principal Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| PRT | Medeiros, Inês de | Member of Parliament, Socialist Party |
| GBR | Micklethwait, John | Editor-in-Chief, The Economist |
| GRC | Mitsotaki, Alexandra | Chair, ActionAid Hellas |
| ITA | Monti, Mario | Senator-for-life; President, Bocconi University |
| USA | Mundie, Craig J. | Senior Advisor to the CEO, Microsoft Corporation |
| CAN | Munroe-Blum, Heather | Professor of Medicine and Principal (President) Emerita, McGill University |
| USA | Murray, Charles A. | W.H. Brady Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research |
| NLD | Netherlands, H.R.H. Princess Beatrix of the | |
| ESP | Nin Génova, Juan María | Deputy Chairman and CEO, CaixaBank |
| FRA | Nougayrède, Natalie | Director and Executive Editor, Le Monde |
| DNK | Olesen, Søren-Peter | Professor; Member of the Board of Directors, The Carlsberg Foundation |
| FIN | Ollila, Jorma | Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell, plc; Chairman, Outokumpu Plc |
| TUR | Oran, Umut | Deputy Chairman, Republican People’s Party (CHP) |
| GBR | Osborne, George | Chancellor of the Exchequer |
| FRA | Pellerin, Fleur | State Secretary for Foreign Trade |
| USA | Perle, Richard N. | Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute |
| USA | Petraeus, David H. | Chairman, KKR Global Institute |
| CAN | Poloz, Stephen S. | Governor, Bank of Canada |
| INT | Rasmussen, Anders Fogh | Secretary General, NATO |
| DNK | Rasmussen, Jørgen Huno | Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Lundbeck Foundation |
| INT | Reding, Viviane | Vice President and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, European Commission |
| USA | Reed, Kasim | Mayor of Atlanta |
| CAN | Reisman, Heather M. | Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc. |
| NOR | Reiten, Eivind | Chairman, Klaveness Marine Holding AS |
| DEU | Röttgen, Norbert | Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, German Bundestag |
| USA | Rubin, Robert E. | Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury |
| USA | Rumer, Eugene | Senior Associate and Director, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |
| NOR | Rynning-Tønnesen, Christian | President and CEO, Statkraft AS |
| NLD | Samsom, Diederik M. | Parliamentary Leader PvdA (Labour Party) |
| GBR | Sawers, John | Chief, Secret Intelligence Service |
| NLD | Scheffer, Paul J. | Author; Professor of European Studies, Tilburg University |
| NLD | Schippers, Edith | Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport |
| USA | Schmidt, Eric E. | Executive Chairman, Google Inc. |
| AUT | Scholten, Rudolf | CEO, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG |
| USA | Shih, Clara | CEO and Founder, Hearsay Social |
| FIN | Siilasmaa, Risto K. | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Interim CEO, Nokia Corporation |
| ESP | Spain, H.M. the Queen of | |
| USA | Spence, A. Michael | Professor of Economics, New York University |
| FIN | Stadigh, Kari | President and CEO, Sampo plc |
| USA | Summers, Lawrence H. | Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University |
| IRL | Sutherland, Peter D. | Chairman, Goldman Sachs International; UN Special Representative for Migration |
| SWE | Svanberg, Carl-Henric | Chairman, Volvo AB and BP plc |
| TUR | Taftalı, A. Ümit | Member of the Board, Suna and Inan Kiraç Foundation |
| USA | Thiel, Peter A. | President, Thiel Capital |
| DNK | Topsøe, Henrik | Chairman, Haldor Topsøe A/S |
| GRC | Tsoukalis, Loukas | President, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy |
| NOR | Ulltveit-Moe, Jens | Founder and CEO, Umoe AS |
| INT | Üzümcü, Ahmet | Director-General, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons |
| CHE | Vasella, Daniel L. | Honorary Chairman, Novartis International |
| FIN | Wahlroos, Björn | Chairman, Sampo plc |
| SWE | Wallenberg, Jacob | Chairman, Investor AB |
| SWE | Wallenberg, Marcus | Chairman of the Board of Directors, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB |
| USA | Warsh, Kevin M. | Distinguished Visiting Fellow and Lecturer, Stanford University |
| GBR | Wolf, Martin H. | Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times |
| USA | Wolfensohn, James D. | Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn and Company |
| NLD | Zalm, Gerrit | Chairman of the Managing Board, ABN-AMRO Bank N.V. |
| GRC | Zanias, George | Chairman of the Board, National Bank of Greece |
| USA | Zoellick, Robert B. | Chairman, Board of International Advisors, The Goldman Sachs Group |
| AUT | Austria | GRC Greece |
| BEL | Belgium | HUN Hungary |
| CAN | Canada | INT International |
| CHE | Switzerland | IRL Ireland |
| CHN | China | ITA Italy |
| DEU | Germany | NLD Netherlands |
| DNK | Denmark | NOR Norway |
| ESP | Spain | PRT Portugal |
| FIN | Finland | SWE Sweden |
| FRA | France | TUR Turkey |
| GBR | Great Britain | USA United States of America |
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