G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting Chantilly, 17-18 July

The G7 Finance track’s work will culminate in the meeting of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Chantilly on 17th and 18th July 2019. It is the last G7 ministerial meeting to be held before the Biarritz Summit (24 to 26 August 2019) of heads of state. It is fully aligned with the G7 Presidency’s cross-cutting priority of fighting inequalities and will focus on making capitalism fairer.

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The G7 Finance goals for Chantilly « Working for a fairer capitalism »

Working for a fairer capitalism requires strong actions. Three areas are of particular priority: (i) addressing risks in the global economy and the financial system in order to support strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth; (ii) accelerate work on addressing new challenges, including building a fairer international tax system, facing up to the competition challenges raised by the digital economy and stepping up the transition towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy; and (iii) ensuring that the benefits of growth are more widely shared by reducing inequalities within countries and between developed and developing countries.

Addressing risks in the global economy and the financial system

Address risks in the global economy: act together to prevent and respond to any risks that might affect global economic growth, including by increasing efforts to ensure a level playing field in globalization.

Strengthen cybersecurity in the financial sector: improve international cooperation between G7 members and draw lessons from the first G7 cross-border cyber crisis simulation exercise conducted between 4 and 6 June 2019.

Provide a regulatory framework for stable coins such as Libra: draw initial lessons from the interim report produced by the working group set up by the G7 to look further into the risks associated with these assets, in particular with respect to money laundering, terrorist financing, financial stability and monetary policy transmission.

Addressing emerging tax, digital and environmental challenges

Build a fairer international tax system: strengthen the fight against tax evasion, tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning schemes with a G7 agreement on a global minimum corporate tax and defining the architecture for a global solution to which will adapt international taxation rules to the growing digital economy.

Respond to the competition challenges raised by the digital economy: agree on a common understanding among G7 countries of the competition challenges raised by the digital economy and possible adaptations of the regulatory framework in order to maintain healthy competition, including in the new economy.

Face up to the challenge of making the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy happen, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement: increase public and private funds invested in the transition by rallying G7 countries ahead of the UN Climate Action Summit on 23 September and, more broadly, all private and public players (international financial institutions, development banks, Green Climate Fund, regulators and supervisors).

Fighting inequalities within and between countries

Take forward efforts to reduce inequalities within developed countries: promote exchanges of good practice in equality of opportunities, gender equality and pay transparency.

Increase efforts in support of the development of the poorest countries: refocus public resources on the poorest countries, rally more private investment in low income countries and increase women’s digital financial inclusion in Africa by supporting the initiatives identified by the Gates Foundation in the report submitted to the G7 Finance Ministers.

What is the G7?

The G7 is an informal discussion forum aimed at guiding and informing policy-making among international leaders.

G7 stands for the Group of 7. The seven G7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States: their Heads of State and Government meet for a summit each year. The European Union has been involved in G7 work since 1977. Together, the G7 countries represent 40% of global GDP and 10% of the world’s population.

The Presidency is held each year by one of the seven countries turn, which provides the necessary resources for the group’s work and sets out its priorities.

Founded with a purpose to work together in response to the first oil shock in 1973, the G7 meets every year at the level of the Heads of State and Government to discuss matters such as peace and security, counter-terrorism, development, education, health, the environment and climate change. All of these issues concern the different players and call for common responses.

The G7 countries share common core values: democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, free and fair markets, and respect for international law.

France’s Presidency of the G7 in 2019

France has held the Presidency of the G7 since 1 January 2019. It sets out the schedule for work for 2019 as a whole and is responsible for organising the various G7 ministerial meetings in preparation for the Summit of the Heads of State and Government in Biarritz from 24 to 26 August 2019.

France took up the baton from Canada, host of the 2018 Summit, and will hand on the Presidency to the United States in 2020.

(France has hosted 6 G7 Summits in the past: Rambouillet in 1975, Versailles in 1982, Paris in 1989, Lyon in 1996, Évian in 2003 and Deauville in 2011).

To fight against inequalities, the President of the French Republic this year wants to adjust the format of the G7, and involve major democracies – South Africa, Australia, Chile and India – as well as African partners and key representatives of civil society.

Five main priorities for the G7 French Presidency:

Fight inequality of opportunity, particularly in healthcare, education and employment.
Safeguard our planet with a focus on preserving biodiversity, the oceans and the climate via multi-stakeholder coalitions to promote tangible solutions that quickly and effectively address these challenges.
Promote gender equality by supporting girls’ access to education, combating all forms of violence and fostering women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship, particularly in Africa.
Work for peace against terrorist threats, particularly in Africa, by focusing on the protection of women affected by conflict and encouraging their participation in peace processes, while also enhancing online trust and security.
Reap the benefits of opportunities created by digital development and artificial intelligence by setting up an International Panel on Artificial Intelligence, developing a partnership for information and democracy, and pledging to ensure an open, free and safe internet: this includes commitments to fight against online bullying, hate speech and terrorist content with the main web platforms.
Lastly, against a complex economic and trade backdrop, the French Presidency of the G7 wishes to promote greater fairness for all businesses when it comes to tax, promote international rules for responsible finance and develop regulation of competition adapted to digital transformation.

A partnership with Africa as equals

The French Presidency of the G7 will also be marked by a renewed partnership with Africa, working through the year in the lead-up to the Biarritz Summit with countries that play a leading role on the continent.

The priority will be to develop concrete tools together to foster sustainable economic development in Africa, supporting women’s entrepreneurship, transparency and digital skills. A particular effort will focus on the Sahelian countries with their multiple vulnerabilities. At the request of the french presidency of G7 Finance, the Gates foundation has produced a report on digital financial inclusion of women in Africa which the G7 will discuss.

A year-long focus on dialogue

A number of ministerial meetings have taken place throughout 2019 to prepare for the Summit of Heads of State and Government in Biarritz from 24 to 26 August 2019:

4-5 avril 2019 : G7 des ministres de l'Intérieur
5-6 avril 2019 : G7 des ministres des Affaires étrangères
5-6 mai 20109 : G7 des ministres de l'Environnement
9-10 mai 2019 : G7 des ministres de l'Égalité femmes/hommes
16-17 mai 2019 : G7 des ministres de la Santé
6-7 juin 2019 : « G7 social » des ministres de l'Emploi
4-5 juillet 2019 : G7 des ministres du Développement et éducation
17-18 juillet 2019 : G7 des ministres des Finances

Alongside these meetings for Heads of Member States and Ministers, experts also meet throughout the G7 year, while civil representatives get involved and form working groups.

The so-called Sherpas, who are the leaders’ personal diplomatic representatives, liaise right throughout the year to pave the way by representing the stance and goals of their respective Heads of State and Government.