Mark Carney is one of the people attending the meeting that will focus on populism

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Leading politicians, top figures in finance and influential journalists kick off their 66th gathering today discussing the wave of populism that swept over the continent.

The meeting takes place in Italy, an appropriate venue as the country's parliament just approved with a vote of confidence a new populist and heavily eurosceptic government.

The worry over populism taking over the continent has hugely increased since last year, when the topic was eight on the list in the 14-point meeting’s agenda, which included debates over the Trump administration, the "direction of the European Union", climate change and fake news.

Over the course of the last 12 months, populist parties won elections in the Czech Republic, anti-immigration and eurosceptic leaders increased their influence in Germany and Austria and they retained power in Hungary.