Hard on the heels of the debate with European Commissioner for Trade, Karel De Gucht, the Committee welcomed three distinguished guests for a debate on the theme of ‘organised civil society and global governance.’ The three guests were: Laurence Parisot, President of the French Confederation of Business Enterprises (MEDEF); John Evans, General Secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC); and Jean Saldanha, representing the European Confederation for Relief and Development (CONCORD). In an impassioned opening speech Parisot first recounted how the parallel organisation B 20 had come into existence before insisting that we need to ‘get out of the technicalities of Europe and talk about the dream. We (pro-Europeans) must stop being anonymous.’ Following on from her, Evans recounted the development of another parallel organisation, L 20, pointing out that the G 20 itself (in its current incarnation) had grown out of a narrow composition of ministers of finance and economics. Saldanha spoke about the paradoxical challenge of creating an inclusive governance that does not feel like either co-option or symbolic involvement. If the world’s leaders fail this test then inevitably civil society organisations would seek alternative outlets for their opinions. It was a rich and fascinating debate. Afterwards, Parisot had to race to get her train and so had booked a motorbike taxi. The picture shows Parisot, like a feisty sprite, racing away.