Bilderberg Group ( Conference )

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Bilderberg Group

The Bilderberg Group or Bilderberg conference is an unofficial annual invitation-only conference of around 130 guests, most of whom are persons of influence in the fields of business, academia, media, or politics.

Due to discussions by public officials and powerful business leaders (and others) being off the record, these annual meetings are the subject of much criticism (for circumventing the democratic process of discussing issues openly and publicly) and numerous conspiracy theories.

The elite group meets annually, in secret, at exclusive, five-star resorts throughout the world, normally in Europe, although sometimes in the United States or Canada. It has an office in Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands.

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Origin and purpose of the first annual conference
The original Bilderberg conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg, near Arnhem, from May 29 to May 30 in 1954. The meeting was initiated by Polish emigre and political adviser, Joseph Retinger. Concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, he proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting understanding between the cultures of America and Western Europe.

Retinger approached Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, who agreed to promote the idea, together with Belgian Prime Minister Paul Van Zeeland. The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one each to represent conservative and liberal (both terms used in the American sense) points of view.

The success of the meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A permanent Steering Committee was established, with Retinger appointed as permanent secretary. As well as organizing the conference, the steering committee also maintained a register of attendee names and contact details, with the aim of creating an informal network of individuals who could call upon one another in a private capacity. The declared purpose of the Bilderberg Group was to make a common political line tie between the United States of America and Europe in their opposition to the USSR and the global communist danger.

Dutch economist Ernst van der Beugel took over as permanent secretary in 1960, upon the death of Retinger. Prince Bernhard continued to serve as the meeting's chairman until 1976, the year of his involvement in the Lockheed scandal. There was no conference that year, but meetings resumed in 1977 under Alec Douglas-Home, the former British Prime Minister. He was followed in turn by Walter Scheel, ex-President of Germany, Eric Roll, former head of SG Warburg and Lord Carrington, former Secretary-General of NATO.

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Heads of Government and Heads of State

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
Bill Clinton, (1991), US President, 1993 - 2001
Tony Blair (1993), current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Angela Merkel (2005), current Chancellor of Germany
Romano Prodi (Steering Committee Member of Bilderberg in the 1980s), current Italian Prime Minister and former President of the European Commission
Jean Chrétien (2003), Canadian Prime Minister, 1993 - 2003
Paul Martin (2003), Canadian Prime Minister, 2003 - 2006
Stephen Harper (2003), Canadian Prime Minister, 2006 - Present
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Fredrik Reinfeldt, elected Prime Minister of Sweden, 2006 - Present
Margaret Thatcher (1975), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
 
Members of United States administrations

Henry Kissinger (2005,2006), Secretary of State, 1973 - 1977
Richard Perle (2003), assistant Secretary of Defense, 1981 - 1987
Donald Rumsfeld (2003), Secretary of Defense, 2001 - Present
 
Heads of major corporations

Josef Ackermann (2005), CEO of Deutsche Bank
Lord Browne of Madingley (2004), Chief Executive BP
Jorma Ollila (2005), Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and Nokia Corporation
Jürgen E. Schrempp (2005), CEO of DaimlerChrysler
Peter Sutherland (2005), former Chairman of BP
Martin Taylor (1997), former CEO, Barclays
Daniel Vasella (2005), Chairman and CEO of Novartis
Percy Barnevik (2001), former CEO of ASEA.
Harald Norvik (2006), former CEO of Statoil.
Andrew Knight - Director of News Corporation, 1991-present, CEO of News International, 1900-1994, CEO and Editor-in-Chief The Daily Telegraph Group, Editor of The Economist, 1974-1984
 
UK Cabinet Ministers

Kenneth Clarke - Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1993-1997; member of the Opposition 1998-1999, 2003-2004
Denis Healey- Secretary of State for Defence 1963-1970, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974-1979 (Founder Member)
George Osborne- Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer 2004-Present; member of the opposition 2001-Present
 
Journalists

Paul Gigot - Editor of the Editorial Page of The Wall Street Journal; 2003- Present
Juan Luis Cebrián - Ex-director of El País Spanish journal, and delegated advisor of PRISA Group
Peter Jennings
 
EU Commissioners

European Union Commissioners who have attended include:

Ritt Bjerregaard (1995)
Hans van den Broek (1995)
Emma Bonino (1998)
Leon Brittan (1998)
Mario Monti (1996) - former or present member of the Steering Committee and Trilateral Commission as well
Erkki Liikanen
Pedro Solbes
Günter Verheugen
António Vitorino
Frederik Bolkestein
Romano Prodi - Steering Committee Member of Bilderberg in the 1980s
Wim Duisenberg
Pascal Lamy
Lord Patten of Barnes
Peter Mandelson (1999)
Étienne Davignon, conference chairman in 2005
Neelie Kroes (2005, 2006) - present Commissioner for Competition
 
UK Civil servants

Eric Roll (Steering committee), Department of Economic Affairs, 1964

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Meetings

1954 Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, Netherlands
1955 (March 18-20) in Barbizon, France and (September 23-25) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany
1956 (May 11-13) in Fredensborg, Denmark
...
1976 no conference
1977 (April 22-24) in Torquay, England
1978 (April 21-23) in Princeton, NJ, United States
1979 (April 27-29) in Baden, Austria
1980 (April 18-20) in Aachen, West Germany
1981 (May 15-17) in Bürgenstock, Switzerland
1982 (May 14-16) in Sandefjord, Norway
1983 (May 13-15 at the Château Montebello in Montebello, Quebec, Canada
1984 (May 11-13) in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden
1985 (May 10-12) in Rye Brook, NY, United States
1986 (April 25-27) in Gleneagles, Scotland
1987 (April 24-26) in Villa d'Este, Italy
1988 (June 3-5) in Telfs-Buchen, Austria
1989 (May 12-14) in La Toja, Spain
1990 (May 11th-13) in Glen Cove, NY, United States
1991 (June 6-9) in Baden-Baden, Germany
1992 (May 21-24) in Evian-les-Bains, France
1993 (April 22-25) in Vouliagmeni, Greece
1994 (June 2-5) in Helsinki, Finland
1995 (June 8-11) in Zurich, Switzerland
1996 (May 30-June 2) at the CIBC Leadership Centre in Toronto, Canada
1997 (June 12-15) at the Pine Isle resort in Lake Lanier, Georgia, United States
1998 (May 14-17) in Turnberry, Scotland
1999 (June 3-6) at the Caesar Park Hotel Penha Longa in Sintra, Portugal
2000 (June 1-3) at the Chateau Du Lac Hotel in Brussels, Belgium
2001 (May 24-27) in Gothenburg, Sweden
2002 (May 30-June 2) at the Westfield Marriott[1] [2] in Chantilly, Virginia, United States
2003 (May 15-18) in Versailles, France
2004 (June 3-6) in Stresa, Italy
2005 (May 5-8) at the Dorint Sofitel Seehotel in Rottach-Egern, Germany
2006 (June 8-11) at the Brookstreet Hotel [3][4] in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. See picture of meeting location at time of meeting.