EU welcomes outcome of G7 summit in Japan
The EU led efforts for an ambitious G7 declaration that reflects global political will to boost economic resilience, tackle the global migration challenge and fight terrorism among others.
The EU, as a full G7 member represented by Presidents Juncker and Tusk, has inspired an ambitious outcome of the summit and welcomes its results. The G7 Leaders' Declaration identifies several global challenges such as moderate growth, potential financial and geo-political risks, terrorism and refugee flows and demonstrates the collective capacity to make tangible progress in tackling them.
Economy and Investment
To ensure economic growth and resilience, leaders agreed to adopt a three pronged approach- the G7 Ise-Shima Economic Initiative - of fiscal, monetary and structural policies and to do more to address the global demand supply gap of infrastructure investment. In this context, leaders insisted that the emphasis should be on quality climate resistant infrastructure.
The G7 also warned of the economic consequences of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union:
"A UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create, and is a further serious risk to growth."
Fair and transparent taxation
Leaders called for swift implementation of the G20/OECD commitments on fair and transparent taxation, notably on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, automatic exchange of information and on non-cooperative jurisdictions.
"Steady, consistent and concerted implementation of the G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) package is critical to restore public trust in tax systems and to achieve a global level playing field for all engaged in economic activities. We remain committed to lead the process by example."
China and Steel
The overcapacity in China’s steel sector and the country’s bid for market economy status received strong attention at the leaders’ gathering: “We recognize that global excess capacity in industrial sectors, especially steel, is a pressing structural challenge with global implications and this issue needs to be urgently addressed through elimination of market distorting measures and, thereby, enhancement of market function.”
Leaders committed to taking steps to enhance market function, including co-ordinated actions that eliminate subsidies and support.
Trade
The G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to open and fair global trade and a rules-based global trade system and called for swift progress on various regional trade agreements, including the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
Leaders welcomed the strong commitment of Japan and the EU "to reach agreement in principle on a comprehensive, high-level and balanced Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement as early as possible in 2016.
“We are committed to applying the necessary political will to reach a TTIP agreement as early as this year, provided that it is ambitious, comprehensive, high-standard and mutually beneficial, with a view to harnessing the full potential of the transatlantic economy as soon as possible."
Refugee Flows
Leaders agreed to tackle the root causes of large movements of people and to increase assistance to mitigate the global refugee crisis: “We commit to increase global assistance to meet immediate and long-term needs of refugees and other displaces persons as well as their host communities.”
"The G7 encourages international financial institutions and bilateral donors to bolster their financial and technical assistance for refugees and other displaced persons as well as their host communities (…) "
They call for "close coordination with existing facilities and funding mechanisms, such as the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis (‘Madad Fund’), the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey, and the EU Trust Fund for Africa" and stress the importance of increasing support to the most affected host countries.
"Legal channels for migration will be enhanced consistently with national and regional frameworks in tandem with addressing irregular migration. The G7 encourages the temporary admission of refugees and the establishment of resettlement schemes, to alleviate pressure on countries hosting the largest numbers of refugees."
Terrorism
Leaders recognised both that much had been done to align global efforts to detect and defeat terrorism and that a lot more could be done to fight this global security threat and adopted an Action Plan on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism.
“We stress the importance of continued co-operation with the private sector, civil society and communities and the “whole-of-society” approach.”
“We continue to work together to prevent he flow of foreign terrorist fighters and terrorism-related materials and equipment.”
Other issues
Leaders also made commitments to strengthen responses to global health emergencies, to empowering women as “agents of change” in society, to increase climate finance.
They reaffirmed their desire to lead by example and implement swiftly the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The G7 took a clear position on a number of foreign policy issues. On Ukraine/Russia they said:
"We recall that the duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia’s complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty. Sanctions can be rolled back when Russia meets these commitments. However, we also stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase cost on Russia should its actions so require. We recognize the importance of maintaining dialogue with Russia in order to ensure it abides by the commitments it has made as well as international law and to reach a comprehensive, sustainable and peaceful solution to the crisis. (…)"
Bilateral meetings
Presidents Juncker and Tusk had a number of bilateral meetings, including with Japan, Canada and Vietnam.