Prime Minister Cossiga's Concluding Statement

Summits > 1980 Venice Summit

Venice, June 23, 1980

May I thank, on behalf of all the Heads of Government -- I thank all of you not only for being here but also for your collaboration in this Summit through the information that you, the press, have provided. This is the final press conference, the traditional press conference we have after a Summit, and it is up to me as chairman, president of this Summit of the seven industrialized countries of the West.

The message, I think, emerging from this Venice Summit, at the beginning of the 1980s -- the beginning of a difficult decade -- is a message of unity, solidarity, and cooperation.

You have before you the text of the final communiqué, or if not, it will be distributed to you. And yesterday you received the text on consultation that was taking place on the political themes. The problems that we've had to deal with in these two days, as you already understand, were numerous and by no means easy and nobody, I think, would have maintained that we could give an immediate response or reply or final reply, because, of course, this is never reality, either in history or in politics.

The truth emerging from this Summit is that the seven major industrialized countries are agreed on the strategy which should guide us in facing the challenges that we have before us. We also agree that our unity and solidarity is not enough in a world which is increasingly interdependent. We are all responsible for the fate of this world -- industrialized countries and developing countries, oil-producing countries and oil-consuming countries. In the communiqué, I think you will find an appeal to this general sense of a joint responsibility.

As you already know, the central problem that we discussed was that of energy, and we have set out a strategy which involves specific actions to save oil but also an accelerated or speedy effort to produce alternative sources of energy -- alternative to oil -- including nuclear energy, whose contribution is essential for a better balance between supply and demand in the energy field. We've decided on the general lines for the decade and how we are to monitor the execution of this program.

We have decided on the need to fight inflation, but we've also agreed that we will help investment to create more jobs, improving the economic structures in our countries. In particular, in the energy field, there will be new investments which can create new jobs, which is very important to solve what is a human, social, political problem; one of the most important, that of youth.

We also discussed in depth the problems of the less rich countries. And it is our intention to confirm our commitment, but at the same time, we wish to make aware of this commitment -- what should be a general opinion, a general commitment, a general responsibility -- the other industrialized countries, all of them, including the Communist industrialized countries and the oil-producer countries.

The increasing cost of oil doesn't only harm the industrialized countries but creates situations which sometimes are unbearable, especially in developing countries. And the problem cannot be solved merely through the recycling undertaken by private banks. In the final communiqué, you will find what other measures we intend to adopt in this field.

Venice has been the host in the past ten days of two summit meetings, two important meetings at the highest political level. In the first, that of the nine Heads of State, Heads of Government of the European Community, we found, in spite of the fears of many, the confirmation of the real vital unity of the Community. In this second meeting at the highest political level, which is drawing to an end today, we've taken economic and political decisions and indicated lines of action to reinforce international cooperation in the decade which is only now opened.

From Venice, then, we leave with a new spirit. We thank this marvelous city for its hospitality, with a spirit and a sense of openness to the world which has characterized the history of this beautiful city.

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Source: U.S., Department of State, Bulletin, No. 2041 (August 1980): 1.

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