The current format of the Group of Eight (G8) summit will be maintained when the leaders of the world's most industrialised countries meet next on the island of La Maddalena next year, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said on Tuesday.
Speaking to the press at the end of the second day of the 2008 G8 summit in Japan, Berlusconi said that a proposal from France to expand the G8 to include members of the Group of Five (G5) emerging economies - China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa - had not found sufficient support.
The G8 is made up of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia.
''My opinion is that it is best to keep together countries which share the same principles and I suggested that in 2009 the first day of the summit should see just the G8 meet,'' Berlusconi told the press.
''On the second day the table can be expanded in the morning to include the G5, with the G8+5 also discussing Africa, while the G8 would then meet alone in the afternoon to draw their conclusions,'' the premier added.
''This program was unanimously accepted and will be used at the G8 summit in Italy which I can confirm will be held on the island of La Maddalena,'' Berlusconi said.
La Maddalena is off the northeast coast of Sardinia and until recently was the home to a US submarine base.
In regard to the G5, Berlusconi singled out China and said that it was ''unacceptable'' that China did not abide by international rules and regulations.
''We all agreed that China needed to respect international accords because it is unacceptable that while we respect environmental norms and rules regarding worker rights and financial markets, China, which is the most responsible for the surge in the prices of prime materials and oil, does not,'' Berlusconi said.
Looking back at the first two days of the summit, which wraps up on Wednesday, Berlusconi said ''we've had good discussions. It is a great satisfaction to see that those taking part are united in a cordial way and, I have to admit, without the personality clashes I witnessed in other summits''.
The summit has already produced a document in which medium and long-term goals for cutting the emission of greenhouse gases were set not only for the G8 but also for emerging economies.
The goal is to cut emissions by 50% by 2050.
The G8 also pushed for building more nuclear plants to meet the global energy demand - Berlusconi spoke of 1,000 new plants - and recognised the importance of renewable energy and biofuels as a means to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
In the short term, the G8 expressed its concern over the effect the high cost of fuel is having on the world economy and food supplies and urged OPEC to boost production as a means to bring down oil prices.
According to Berlusconi, the G8 has decided to ask the United Nations Security Council to increase sanctions against Zimbabwe unless progress is made on a power-sharing deal between the government and the opposition, in the wake of what the US called the ''sham'' election which kept Robert Mugabe in power.
Berlusconi said the decision was ''very important'' because Russia joined in the unanimous vote to ask the Security Council to take action.
During his press conference, Berlusconi said it was no longer a priority for his government to be admitted to the 5+1 group which is trying to convince Iran to down-scale its nuclear ambitions.
Rome had previous argued that, as Iran's biggest western trading partner, it should be part of the group made up of the Security Council's five permanent members - US, Russia, Britain, France and China - plus Germany.
Iran claims it is only seeking to produce power but Western countries are convinced it is intent on building an atomic bomb.
