Portugal was represented by former Prime Minister and EC chief Durão Barroso, who has also now been promoted to the organisation’s steering committee. He would have been responsible for sending out invitations to the former Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque and Galp CEO Carlos Gomes da Silva.
The key topics at the year’s meeting were current events, China, Europe: migration, growth, reform, vision, unity. The Middle East, Russia, the US political landscape, economy: growth, debt, reform, cyber security, geo-politics of energy and commodity prices, the precariat and middle class and technological innovation.
The Bilderberg meetings, which are described by its organisers as a simple get together to discuss world affairs, have previously had attendees such as Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, former Portuguese Prime Ministers José Sócrates and Pedro Santana Lopes who were invited prior to taking charge of their respective countries.
Ricardo Salgado, former CEO of the collapsed BES bank, has also attended the conference in the past, with his great uncle Manuel Espírito Santo, regularly entertaining Bilderberg founder Prince Bernard of Holland at his home in Lisbon prior to the Portuguese Revolution.
Barroso’s presence in 2004 was well-timed, as four months later he resigned as prime minister and was unveiled as the new European Commission president, a position he held for ten years.
The meeting is usually held at the beginning of June, and normally follows the G7 summit.
Organisers of the event have, in recent years, become more public as to the nature of the event, and issued the usual statement that it is “an annual meeting designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America.”
In the statement issued before the gathering of world leaders, Bilderberg said that about two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; approximately one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields.
“The conference is a forum for informal discussions about major issues facing the world. The meetings are held under the Chatham House Rule, which states that participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speakers nor any other participant may be revealed”, the organisation said.
“Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no desired outcome, no minutes are taken and no report is written. Furthermore, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued”, the Bilderberg statement concludes.
Despite the apparent openness of the organisation, all communications are blocked around the vicinity of the meeting, not only hampering news coverage, which is minimal, but also in an apparent bid to keep details of what is discussed from becoming public knowledge should a rogue participant decide to spill the beans.
Besides the Portuguese attendees, publications such as the Washington Post, NBC, Bloomberg, the Financial Times, the Economist and the Wall Street Journal were once again represented.
They were accompanied by bankers, and several leading EU officials and finance ministers from countries such as Germany and France, while Henry Kissinger once again made time to attend.
Several British figures were also present, but the only political representation was by Labour MP Helen Goodman.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, who made his debut at Bilderberg last year, obviously impressed, as he was invited back this year.
While Brexit did not directly feature on the agenda, Bilderberg Chairman and CEO of the AXA Group, Henri de Castries said shortly after the gathering that Britain leaving the EU would have serious implications.
In comments to Bloomberg this week, de Castries said that if the UK votes to leave the EU, this “would accelerate the unraveling of Europe.”
He explained that there is an “extremely high” probability that the UK will vote to leave the European Union and investors will face “a true landscape of uncertainties.”
He added that “if they remain, the situation isn’t simple either, and this is underestimated by lots of people.”