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The G7 summit takes place from June 26-28 under the German presidency, as the rotating chair of the G7. But what does this informal forum deal with but with so much weight?
Group Seven includes Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada and the United States. Russia was part of this group from 1998 to 2014 and this group was then called G8. But Russia was expelled because of the annexation of Crimea.
When it was formed in the mid-1970s, the countries ofG7 ishin the largest economies in the world. Today they describe themselves as “the economically strong democracies of the world,” as Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently put it. A community of values, whose members are committed to freedom and human rights, democracy and the rule of law, as well as prosperity and sustainable development.
The G7 is not an international organization, but an informal forum. The group cannot make legally binding decisions, but agrees on common positions and initiatives in various policy areas. The results of the talks are recorded in the joint statements of the heads of state and government, the so-called communiqués.
Meeting topics?
While heads of state and government initially wanted to talk only about financial and currency issues in small groups, today almost all issues of global importance are on the G7 agenda. In recent years, the main topics have been the world economy, foreign and security policy, development and migration, and climate change.
The content of the summit is determined by the host. Germany holds the G7 presidency this year. The next summit takes place at Elmau Castle in southern Bavaria and has the theme “Progress towards a just world”. Initially, the theme of the fight against climate change and the acceleration of the global energy transition dominated. But after Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, the climate has passed into the background. Chancellor Scholz has invited Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj to virtually attend the G7 summit.
How often does the G7 meet?
What started as annual G7 meetings in small groups has now become a permanent collaboration at the level of ministers and senior government officials. They coordinate national positions continuously and ensure the positions of the parties for the highest level meetings on the eve of ministerial meetings and summits.
The European Commission has observer status, while the most important EU representatives attend the G7 summits. Developing countries are often invited as guests. In 2022, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa participated in these meetings.
Criticism of the G7?
The population of the G7 countries makes up only about 10 percent of the world’s population, but generates about 45 percent of gross global income. So the G7 are particularly rich countries. Even if they cannot agree on any binding resolution, their positions formulated together have considerable political weight. G7 meetings always pave the way for multilateral initiatives and agreements.
The biggest criticism is that their interests dominate and, above all, that very little attention is paid to the South. Civil society organizations regularly demand that the G7 fight the causes of hunger more intensively and seek to allocate more money to this fight. In 2015, the G7 set the goal of eliminating hunger for 500 million people by 2030.
How much does a summit cost?
This year’s G7 summit takes place at Elmau Castle in Bavaria, in the same place as in 2015, when Germany last held the G7 presidency. Costs for security alone are estimated at 180m euros. This is paid by the federal government and the state of Bavaria./DW
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