The secretive Bilderberg Group is meeting in Italy this weekend - and the rise of populism is at the top of their agenda
- The annual Bilderberg Meeting is happening in Turin from June 7 to 10.
- The powerful politicians, financiers, and CEOs from Europe and North America are attending.
- Discussions are held under the Chatham House rule, which means people can't be identified by what they say.
- Participants are banned from revealing what was discussed, and very few details are ever made public.
- Populism is at the top of this year's agenda, having moved from eighth place last year.
- See the full agenda below.
Some of the most powerful figures in politics, finance, journalism, and and academia will gather in Turin, Italy, for the secretive annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group.
The Bilderberg Meeting, founded in 1954, was designed to facilitate dialogue between Europe and North America, and gives influential people the chance to discuss issues without details being made public.
The discussions are held under the Chatham House rule, which means people can use the information gleaned from those talks, but are not allowed to identify the person who shared it.
The event's 131 attendees include Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, tech billionaire Peter Thiel, and John Hickenlooper, the Colorado governor rumoured to be running for the 2020 presidency.
A press release published this week included this agenda for the talks:
1. Populism in Europe
2. The inequality challenge
3. The future of work
4. Artificial intelligence
5. The US before midterms
6. Free trade
7. US world leadership
8. Russia
9. Quantum computing
10. Saudi Arabia and Iran
11. The "post-truth" world
12. Current events
The topic of populism was moved to the top of the meeting's agenda after being in the eighth place last year, suggesting that the subject has increased in importance.
Since the 2017 Bilderberg Meeting, populist parties won elections in the Czech Republic and also in Italy, where the meeting is being held.