The 2013 Bilderberg Conference took place June 6–9, 2013, at The Grove hotel in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. It was the first Bilderberg Group conference to be held in the United Kingdom since the 1998 meeting in Turnberry, Scotland.
The Daily Telegraph likened the annual conference to "a political version of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which draws members of high society to discuss business and the economy." A British Member of Parliament and former Bilderberg attendee quoted by the Independent on Sunday also likened the annual conference to the World Economic Forum, and said it was "...not that exciting, in fact it's a bit run of the mill".
Around 140 participants are expected to participate in the meetings annually. Attendance to the event is by invitation only. No delegates pay to attend the conferences, and no delegates attend by conference phone or satellite. The conference programme never includes entertainment or performances.
The confidential nature of Bilderberg led to criticism of the group's lack of transparency and accountability, along with concerns about potential lobbying. Outside the 2013 meeting, Labour MP Michael Meacher said, "If there is any conference which required transparency, which required democratic accountability, it is the Bilderberg conference because this is really where the top brass of Western finance capitalism meet ... including government ministers." Conservative MP Douglas Carswell was also concerned about the privacy of the meetings, by saying "...you would have thought the least our ruling elite could do is discuss these issues in public."
There has also been speculation from conspiracy theorists about the purpose of the meetings. The secretive approach to staging the conferences has led to the younger generation of Bilderberg attendees being uncomfortable with the policy of total media exclusion, as reported by the Independent on Sunday. A previous attendee told the Independent that he sympathised with "those who tell us the confidentiality policy only encourages the conspiracy theorists. It does."
Of the format and outcome of the conference, the Bilderberg website said, "There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued."
A Bilderberg Fringe Festival was held near the conference. The festival featured speakers, comedy, music, workshops, arts and entertainment.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, attended the conference on 7 June. Cameron attended in a private capacity and was not accompanied by civil servants, even though it is customary for the Prime Minister to be accompanied by civil servants when he meets business leaders.
Journalists were banned from attending the event, with the exception of Lilli Gruber, although a press office was provided by the Bilderberg Group. The group is represented by a German corporate communications firm.
The meeting was well covered by the British media, with frequent Bilderberg writer Charlie Skelton noting the presence of Reuters, the Associated Press, Channel 4 News, The Times and the Press Association.
A list of key topics for discussion at the 2013 Bilderberg conference was published on the Bilderberg website shortly before the meeting. Topics for discussion included:
"Can the U.S. and Europe grow faster and create jobs?""Jobs, entitlement and debt""How big data is changing almost everything""Nationalism and populism""U.S. foreign policy""Africa’s challenges""Cyber warfare and the proliferation of asymmetric threats""Major trends in medical research""Online education: promise and impacts""Politics of the European Union""Developments in the Middle East"For the first time, a list of expected delegates was published by the Bilderberg Group.
Paul Achleitner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche BankJosef Ackermann, Chairman of the Board, Zurich Insurance Group LtdMarcus Agius, former Chairman, BarclaysHelen Alexander, Chairman, UBM plcRoger C. Altman, Executive Chairman, Evercore PartnersMatti Apunen, Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVASusan Athey, Professor of Economics, Stanford Graduate School of BusinessAslı Aydıntaşbaş, columnist, Milliyet NewspaperAli Babacan, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial AffairsEd Balls, Shadow Chancellor of the ExchequerFrancisco Pinto Balsemão, Chairman and CEO, IMPRESANicolas Barré, Managing Editor, Les EchosJosé Manuel Barroso, President, European CommissionNicolas Baverez, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLPOlivier de Bavinchove, Commander, EurocorpsJohn Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine, University of OxfordFranco Bernabè, Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia S.p.A.Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO, Amazon.comCarl Bildt, Swedish Minister for Foreign AffairsAnders Borg, Swedish Minister for FinanceJean-François van Boxmeer, CEO, HeinekenSvein Richard Brandtzæg, President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASAOscar Bronner, publisher, Der Standard MedienweltPeter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, former Honorary Chairman, Bilderberg MeetingsJuan Luis Cebrián, Executive Chairman, Grupo PRISAEdmund Clark, President and CEO, TD Bank GroupKenneth Clarke, Cabinet MinisterBjarne Corydon, Danish Minister of FinanceSherard Cowper-Coles, Business Development Director, International, BAE Systems plcEnrico Cucchiani, CEO, Intesa Sanpaolo SpAÉtienne Davignon, Belgian Minister of State; Former Chairman, Bilderberg MeetingsIan Davis, Senior Partner Emeritus, McKinsey & CompanyRobbert Dijkgraaf, Director and Leon Levy Professor, Institute for Advanced StudyHaluk Dinçer, President, Retail and Insurance Group, Sabancı Holding A.S.Robert Dudley, Group Chief Executive, BP plcNicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, American Enterprise InstituteEspen Barth Eide, Norwegian Minister of Foreign AffairsBörje Ekholm, President and CEO, Investor ABThomas Enders, CEO, EADSMichael Evans, Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs & Co.Ulrik Federspiel, Executive Vice President, Haldor Topsøe A/SMartin Feldstein, Professor of Economics, Harvard University; President Emeritus, NBERFrançois Fillon, former French Prime MinisterMark Fishman, President, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical ResearchDouglas Flint, Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings plcPaul Gallagher, Senior CounselTimothy Geithner, Former Secretary of the TreasuryMichael Gfoeller, US Political ConsultantDonald Graham, Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post CompanyUlrich Grillo, CEO, Grillo-Werke AGLilli Gruber, journalist - Anchorwoman, La 7 TVLuis de Guindos, Spanish Minister of Economy and CompetitivenessStuart Gulliver, Group Chief Executive, HSBC Holdings plcFelix Gutzwiller, Member of the Swiss Council of StatesVictor Halberstadt, Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg MeetingsOlli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School of GovernmentSimon Henry, CFO, Royal Dutch Shell plcPaul Hermelin, Chairman and CEO, Capgemini GroupPablo Isla, Chairman and CEO, Inditex GroupKenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman and CEO, LazardJames A. Johnson, Chairman, Johnson Capital PartnersThomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board, Swiss National BankVernon E. Jordan, Jr., Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co. LLCRobert D. Kaplan, Chief Geopolitical Analyst, StratforAlex Karp, founder and CEO, Palantir TechnologiesJohn Kerr, Independent Member, House of LordsHenry A. Kissinger, Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO, AlcoaKlaas Knot, President, De Nederlandsche BankMustafa Koç, Chairman, Koç Holding A.S.Roland Koch, CEO, Bilfinger SEHenry Kravis, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.Marie-Josée Kravis, Senior Fellow and Vice Chair, Hudson InstituteAndré Kudelski, Chairman and CEO, Kudelski GroupUlysses Kyriacopoulos, Chairman, S&B Industrial Minerals S.A.Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary FundKurt Lauk, Chairman of the Economic Council to the CDU, BerlinLawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership, Harvard Law SchoolThomas Leysen, Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC GroupChristian Lindner, Party Leader, Free Democratic Party (FDP NRW)Stefan Löfven, Party Leader, Social Democratic Party (SAP)Peter Löscher, President and CEO, Siemens AGPeter Mandelson, Chairman, Global Counsel; Chairman, Lazard InternationalJessica T. Mathews, President, Carnegie Endowment for International PeaceFrank McKenna, Chair, Brookfield Asset ManagementJohn Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief, The EconomistThierry de Montbrial, President, French Institute for International RelationsMario Monti, former Italian Prime MinisterCraig Mundie, Senior Advisor to the CEO, Microsoft CorporationAlberto Nagel, CEO, MediobancaH.R.H. Princess Beatrix of The NetherlandsAndrew Ng, co-founder, CourseraJorma Ollila, Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell, plcDavid Omand, Visiting Professor, King's College LondonGeorge Osborne, British Chancellor of the ExchequerEmanuele Ottolenghi, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of DemocraciesSoli Özel, Senior Lecturer, Kadir Has University; Columnist, Habertürk NewspaperAlexis Papahelas, Executive Editor, Kathimerini NewspaperŞafak Pavey, Turkish MPValérie Pécresse, French MPRichard Perle, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise InstituteDavid H. Petraeus, General, U.S. Army (Retired)Paulo Portas, Portugal Minister of State and Foreign AffairsRobert Prichard, Chair, Torys LLPViviane Reding, Vice President and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, European CommissionHeather Reisman, CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.Hélène Rey, Professor of Economics, London Business SchoolSimon Robertson, Partner, Robertson Robey Associates LLP; Deputy Chairman, HSBC HoldingsGianfelice Rocca, Chairman,Techint GroupJacek Rostowski, Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime MinisterRobert Rubin, Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the TreasuryMark Rutte, Dutch Prime MinisterAndreas Schieder, Austrian State Secretary of FinanceEric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google Inc.Rudolf Scholten, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AGAntónio José Seguro, Secretary General, Portuguese Socialist PartyJean-Dominique Senard, CEO, Michelin GroupKristin Skogen Lund, Director General, Confederation of Norwegian EnterpriseAnne-Marie Slaughter, Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton UniversityPeter Sutherland, Chairman, Goldman Sachs InternationalMartin Taylor, Former Chairman, Syngenta AGTidjane Thiam, Group CEO, Prudential plcPeter A. Thiel, President, Thiel CapitalCraig B. Thompson, President and CEO, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterJakob Topsøe, Partner, AMBROX Capital A/SJutta Urpilainen, Finnish Minister of FinanceDaniel Vasella, Honorary Chairman, Novartis AGPeter Voser, CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plcBrad Wall, Premier of Saskatchewan Province, CanadaJacob Wallenberg, Chairman, Investor ABKevin Warsh, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford UniversityGalen Weston, Executive Chairman, Loblaw CompaniesBaroness Williams of Crosby, Member of the House of LordsMartin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial TimesJames D. Wolfensohn, Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn and CompanyDavid Wright, Vice Chairman, Barclays plcRobert Zoellick, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International EconomicsA private security company provided security at the hotel; in addition, the Bilderberg Group agreed to contribute toward the policing costs of the event. The local police force, Hertfordshire Police, were in talks with the Home Office about a grant for potential "unexpected or exceptional costs". The grant is provided if the costs threaten the "stability of their policing budget". A combined force of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Cambridge constabularies prepared for the conference, with the assistance of specialist officers from the Metropolitan Police. Five rugby pitches belonging to the Fullerians RFC were hired by police for the duration of the event. The police operation for the Bilderberg conference was called Operation Discuss, and had been running for eighteen months prior to the start of the conference. The cost of policing was revealed after the conference to have been in the region of £1.3 million, with £500,000 having been offered to the police by the Bilderberg Group.
The mayor of Watford, Dorothy Thornhill, said that she had concerns that the conference "does attract people who can and do cause violence and disturbance" but was confident that the police will "be able to minimise that and give them their right to protest". She was additionally "ambivalent about whether this is a good thing. It's potentially a positive thing as long as things don’t kick off."