Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who takes over the G8`s rotating presidency next year, insisted Sunday that the Group of Eight industrialised nations remains relevant despite the rise of the Group of 20.

Berlusconi defended the G8 one day after leaders from the G20, which groups wealthy nations and emerging economies, met at a summit in Washington aimed at tackling the global financial turmoil.

`From January 1, we will have the presidency of the G8, which was not eclipsed by the G20,` Berlusconi, who attended Saturday`s G20 summit, said in a conference call with political associates gathered in Verona, Italy.

`In reality, certain problems must be discussed by countries that have full-fledged democracies as other countries, which are part of the G20, are still on the path to democracy,` he said.

The G8 groups the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Italy.

The G20 includes the G8 nations plus the European Union as a bloc, as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.

The conservative Italian newspaper La Stampa, in an article headlined `Ciao Old Europe,` wrote Sunday that by being `too present in the traditional` G8, Europe `risks having little weight in the new G20.`