Meet in Hiroshima What you need to know about the G7

The global economic crisis of 1975 gave Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing the idea of ​​a summit of the largest industrialized nations to find a solution. At the first meeting at Rambouillet Castle near Paris, heads of state and government from France, Germany, the US, Great Britain, Japan and Italy gathered. A year later, Canada finished the G7 for nearly the next 30 years.

Failed G7 zoom

Russia received full membership in 2002, but the G8 only existed until 2013. Due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, a summit in Sochi, Russia, on the Black Sea broke up in 2014. Since then, the group has reverted to being called the G7.

The G7 originally included the world’s seven largest industrialized nations. This is no longer the case today: Italy and Canada have been knocked out of the top 7 by China and India. However, economic power is no longer considered the most important link between member countries. The shared values ​​of the seven democracies are increasingly important in the face of increasing competition from autocracies such as China and Russia.

Every year, several guests are invited to the summit which is chosen by the host. Today there are many Asian countries, including India and Indonesia, which are the most populous next to China. India leads the larger G20 grouping, which holds its summit in New Delhi in September. Indonesia currently chairs the ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Vietnam, South Korea and Australia have also been invited to Hiroshima. The Cook Islands will represent many of the smaller island nations in the Pacific. This time around, only Comoros is currently chairing the African Union of the 55 African nations attending from Africa. Brazil, which will assume the presidency of the G20 next year, has been invited from South America.

The next meeting will take place in Hiroshima

Initially, the summit was primarily about the economy. That’s why the meeting is also called the world economic summit. Today we are dealing with all sorts of global issues, this time including the Ukrainian war and its consequences and relations between the West and China. But climate protection will also be a major topic, as it does every year.

The annual summit of heads of state and government is prepared by a meeting of negotiators and their line ministers. Binding resolutions do not come out of the summit meeting at the end. However, in the final document, common positions and objectives are defined to measure heads of state and government. In addition, further papers on special topics are decided upon. Five are planned this year, covering Ukraine, economic security, nuclear disarmament, renewable energy and food security.

The seven member countries take turns. Last year it was Germany’s turn, this year it was Japan, then Italy.

mkb DPA