The G7 of the great powers: since when has it been celebrated and which countries have been part of this 'club of the rich'?
The G7, which is holding its first summit in two years in the southwest of England this weekend, is an informal group of great powers created in 1975, initially to discuss the economy and gradually expanding its scope.. It usually addresses issues such as peace, the environment and security, and this year it must dedicate an important place to the coronavirus pandemic..
The 2020 summit, scheduled in the United States, was canceled due to the global health crisis. The meeting is held annually in the country that has the rotating presidency. The members of the G7 are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.. The last edition was held in August 2019, when the heads of state and government met in Biarritz, in the south-west of France, in a context of strong tensions between the then US President Donald Trump and his Western allies.. Although the meetings usually end with a joint declaration, the atmosphere between the member countries is sometimes tense, as in 2018 in Canada, when Trump refused to sign the conclusions that he had nevertheless accepted..
What issues are on the table?
This year's summit takes place from Friday to Sunday on the English coast, in the touristy seaside town of Carbis Bay. It should be an opportunity for his host, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, to promote his idea of a post-Brexit “global Britain”, aimed at boosting the UK's international influence following its full exit from the European Union on 31 September. December.
The debates will be dominated by the consequences of the pandemic, the economic recovery and the vaccination campaigns, which have an uneven pace in different parts of the world.. Climate change will also be high on the agenda ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in November..
Among the priorities of the British presidency will also be to strengthen trade cooperation and multilateralism after the Trump years and improve girls' access to education.
Since when is it celebrated and which countries are part of it?
The first meeting was held in the French town of Rambouillet in 1975, after the oil crisis.. Six countries -France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States- participate in this “G6”, which Canada joined in 1976 to form the “G7”.. It was at the initiative of French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who proposed that the leaders meet from time to time as the Finance Ministers used to do..
During the 1980s, the tension in relations between the East and the West gave a more political aspect to the meetings. The Williamsburg Summit, in 1983 in the United States, adopted for the first time a declaration on security in Europe. This text in support of US President Ronald Reagan's policy towards Moscow was approved despite the reservations of French François Mitterrand. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991 changed things.. Russia was invited in 1992 and from 1998 it participated in the summits of the group, renamed “G8”..
Why is he always surrounded by controversy?
As of 1999, financial crises followed one another and the G8 was accused of being “a club of the rich”. They then began to meet with emerging countries, such as China, Brazil or South Africa, with a new configuration, the G2″, to try to solve or avoid these crises..
In 2001, the Genoa summit in Italy was marked by violent clashes between security forces and anti-globalization activists.. A young Italian man died from a bullet to the head fired by a carabiniere and more than 500 people were injured. There were also demonstrations at other summits, always held under close police surveillance..
Russia, expelled
In 2014, Russia, under the presidency of Vladimir Putin, was expelled from the G8 after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and subjected to sanctions. The G8 summit scheduled for that year in Russia was canceled and the G8 reverted to G7. Trump spoke in favor of Russia's return, but without much support among his allies, although French President Emmanuel Macron considered the possibility.. The new US president, Joe Biden, will meet in his first summit with Putin shortly after the G7, on June 16 in Geneva..