A sherpa[1] is the personal representative of a head of state or head of government who prepares an international summit, such as the annual G7 and G20 summits. Between the G7 summits there are multiple sherpa conferences where possible agreements are laid out. This reduces the amount of time and resources required at the negotiations of the heads of state at the final summit. The name sherpa—without further context—refers to sherpas for the G7 summit, but the designation can be extended to different regular conferences where the participation of the head of state is required. The sherpa is generally quite influential, although they do not have the authority to make a final decision about any given agreement.

The name is derived from the Sherpa people, a Nepalese ethnic group, who serve as guides and porters in the Himalayas, a reference to the fact that the sherpa does all the heavy lifting for the principal to reach a major summit.

European Union

In the European Union, the name was originally used informally for representatives of the member states. Usually, representatives conduct preparatory work for the ministers. The only decisions with legislative power are made by ministers at the Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers), which is generally attended by representatives of ministerial rank although they can be replaced by delegates.

The position of a chief negotiator can be traced back under varying names to the first years after the founding of the European Union, including the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) meetings.

The name was enshrined in an official document since 2005 with the designation of a high-profile group on competition regulation in the chemistry industry that names officially a "Sherpa-Subgroup".[2][3][4][5]

Examples

Sherpa pre-summit

During the preliminary preparatory process which takes place in advance of a G7 summit, the leader of a G7 host country conventionally invites representatives from the other G7 participants to send representatives known as "sherpas" to develop the agenda topics and other matters.[10] They often produce communiques which show the current state of negotiations.

Apart from conferences of the sherpas of the head of state there are additional conferences held in specific domains that are routinely attended by other state secretaries in the government—most of the G8 countries have national sherpa teams in the field of foreign affairs (Foreign Affairs Sous-Sherpa) and finance (Finance Sous-Sherpa).[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://club.bruxelles2.eu/les-conclusions-du-sommet-premiere-analyse/ Analyse par Nicolas Gros-Verheyde auteur du blog Bruxelles2 (B2), Bruxelles2.eu et de Bruxelles2 - Le Club (Club de B2) suite au sommet européen concernant la situation Ukraine-Russie
  2. ↑ European Union, L 156/34, 16. June 2007, Articles 4, 5 and 6)
  3. ↑ L 156/34 (2007/418/EC): "setting up the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Chemicals Industry in the European Union", Commission Decision of 14 June 2007, Official Journal of the European Union of 16 June 2007
  4. ↑ also earlier in L 36/43, 23. December 2005, Articles 3 and 4.
  5. ↑ L 36/43 (2006/77/EC) "setting up a High Level Group on Competitiveness, Energy and the Environment", Commission Decision of 23 December 2005, Official Journal of the European Union of 8 February 2006
  6. ↑ Spiegel Online: "Merkel beruft neuen Super-Sherpa"
  7. ↑ "Suresh Prabhu out, Piyush Goyal in as India's G20 Sherpa". The Hindu. September 7, 2021.
  8. ↑ Chakraborty, Subhayan (November 28, 2017). "Former DEA secretary Shaktikanta Das confirmed as G-20 sherpa". Business Standard. New Delhi. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  9. ↑ "India Needs Full Time Sherpa For G20, Says Arvind Panagariya". News 18. New Delhi. August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  10. ↑ Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada Archived 2010-04-20 at the Wayback Machine, 18 March 2010; excerpt, "I think many people are probably not aware that the relatively brief leaders’ summits are the culmination of months of work at various levels of our governments to arrive at the final declarations and next steps forward. You, as the so-called ‘sherpas’ of your countries, play a leading role in this process."
  11. ↑ "G7/G8 Finance Minister Meeting - 2009 Italian Presidency". Archived from the original on 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
    "The G8 mainly operates at the level of Heads of State and Government, who meet once a year on the occasion of the G8 Summit. The Summit is the conclusion of a process that involves coordination between the Ministry of the Economy and Finance (MEF), the Prime Minister's Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). The coordination between the ministries is left up to the Sherpa (the Prime Minister's personal representative) who, in turn, has two representatives: the Foreign Affairs Sous-Sherpa with regard to MAE related matters and the Financial Sous-Sherpa with regard to MEF responsibilities. // The Finance Ministers meet three times each year in the G7 format, together with the Central Banks’ Governors. Preliminary meetings at the level of Ministers’ Deputies and Deputies' Deputies are convened more frequently. A fourth meeting, known as the Pre-Summit, as it precedes and prepares the Summit of the Heads of State and Government, is held in the G8 format (thus including Russia), but without the participation of the Central Banks’ Governors. // The Communiqués issued at the conclusion of the Finance Ministers’ meetings and the Summits are political documents setting out the decisions made in relation to the measures to be adopted"
    — Website for the G7 Finance Minister Meetings during Itialian 2009 Presidency
  • Sherpa's Blog- Official site on the pre-summits leading up to the G8 summit of 2010 in Canada.
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