45Th G7 Summit

In March 2014, the G7 declared that a meaningful discussion was currently not possible with Russia in the context of the G8. Since then, meetings have continued within the G7 process. However, according to a senior Trump administration official, US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron had agreed that Russia should be invited to the next G7 Summit to be held in 2020.

45th G7 summit
Host country	France
Date	24–26 August 2019
Venue(s)	Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Participants	Canada  France  Germany  Italy  Japan  United Kingdom  United States  European Union
Follows	44th G7 summit
Precedes	46th G7 summit
Website	www.elysee.fr/en/g7

Five points were agreed at the issue of the summit, about:

• the World Trade Organization, "with regard to intellectual property protection, to settle disputes more swiftly and to eliminate unfair trade practices"
• the "G7 commits to reaching an agreement in 2020 to simplify regulatory barriers and modernize international taxation within the framework of the OECD"
• the G7 shares objectives on Iran: "to ensure that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons and to foster peace and stability in the region."
• on Libya: "We support a truce in Libya that will lead to a long-term ceasefire. We believe that only a political solution can ensure Libya’s stability. We call for a well-prepared international conference to bring together all the stakeholders and regional actors relevant to this conflict. We support in this regard the work of the United Nations and the African Union to set up an inter-Libyan conference."
• in an opaque reference to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, "France and Germany will organize a Normandy format summit in the coming weeks to achieve tangible results."
• in light of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, "The G7 reaffirms the existence and the importance of the 1984 Sino-British agreement on Hong Kong and calls for avoiding violence."

In the final press conference, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "Iran should never be allowed to get a nuclear weapon", and Trump spoke about Iran in a joint news conference with Macron. Whereas the European powers sought to appease Iran, Trump said in apparent reference to combative rhetoric by the Iranian government about its ability to attack US interests:

They can't do what they were saying they were going to do because if they do that, they will be met with really very violent force.

France, as the host of the 2019 G7 summit, held it at the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz.

Attendees included leaders of the G7 member states plus representatives of the European Union. The President of the European Commission has been a permanent participant at all meetings since 1981, but current President Jean-Claude Juncker did not attend due to medical problems. The President of the European Council has been the EU's co-representative since the 36th G8 summit hosted by Canada in 2010.

The 45th G7 summit was the first summit for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the last summit for European Council President Donald Tusk. It was also the final summit for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, as the planned 46th G7 summit was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Abe handed over power to Yoshihide Suga on September 16, 2020; Trump handed over power to Joe Biden on January 20, 2021; and Conte handed over power to Mario Draghi on February 13, 2021.

For this summit, Abe had prepared to discuss about the situation in Hong Kong, where China is imposing a new security law.

Macron invited the Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez, and the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to attend the outreach session of the summit as special invitees.

Participants

Core G7 members Host state and leader are shown in bold text.
Member		Represented by	Title
	Canada	Justin Trudeau	Prime Minister
	France	Emmanuel Macron	President
	Germany	Angela Merkel	Chancellor
	Italy	Giuseppe Conte	Prime Minister
	Japan	Shinzō Abe	Prime Minister
	United Kingdom	Boris Johnson	Prime Minister
	United States	Donald Trump	President
	European Union	Donald Tusk	Council President
Invitees
Guest		Represented by	Title
	Australia	Scott Morrison	Prime Minister
	Burkina Faso	Roch Marc Christian Kaboré	President
	Chile	Sebastián Piñera	President
	Egypt	Abdel Fattah el-Sisi	President
	India	Narendra Modi	Prime Minister
	Rwanda	Paul Kagame	President
	Senegal	Macky Sall	President
	South Africa	Cyril Ramaphosa	President
	Spain	Pedro Sánchez	Acting President of the Government

•  
    Canada
  Justin Trudeau,
  Prime Minister
•  
    France
  Emmanuel Macron, President (Host)
•  
    Germany
  Angela Merkel, Chancellor
•  
    Italy
  Giuseppe Conte,
  Prime Minister
•  
    Japan
  Shinzō Abe,
  Prime Minister
•  
    United Kingdom
  Boris Johnson,
  Prime Minister
•  
    United States
  Donald Trump,
  President
•  
    European Union
  Donald Tusk, Council President

Invited guests

Presidents and Heads of government

The following leaders were invited to the Outreach Session of the G7 Summit.

•  
    Australia
  Scott Morrison, Prime Minister
•  
    Burkina Faso
  Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, President
•  
    Chile
  Sebastián Piñera, President
•  
    Egypt
  Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President
•  
    India
  Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
•  
    Rwanda
  Paul Kagame,
  President
•  
    Senegal
  Macky Sall,
  President
•  
    South Africa
  Cyril Ramaphosa, President
•  
    Spain
  Pedro Sánchez, President of the Government

Heads of international organisations

•  
  OECD
  José Ángel Gurría, Secretary-General
•  
    United Nations
  António Guterres, Secretary-General
•  
  World Bank Group
  David Malpass, President
•  
  African Union Commission
  Moussa Faki, Chair
•  
  African Development Bank
  Akinwumi Adesina, President
•  
  International Monetary Fund
  David Lipton,
  Acting Managing Director
•  
  World Trade Organization
  Roberto Azevêdo,
  Director-General
•  
  International Labour Organization
  Guy Ryder, Director-General
•  
    United Nations
  Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
•  
  Angélique Kidjo, Beninese-American singer-songwriter

Participation

The Prime Ministers of Italy and Spain, Conte and Sanchez, took part in the summit as caretaker Prime Ministers. Juncker of the European Commission did not attend due to bad health.

In a surprise move, Macron invited to attend on the margins Javad Zarif, who flew in on an Iranian government plane. Macron, who "attempted a high-risk diplomatic gambit", thought that the Foreign Minister of Iran might be able to defuse the tense situation over the Iranian nuclear programme in spite of the recent uptick in tensions between the Islamic Republic and the United States and Britain. A highly placed French political source said that

It doesn’t mean that Mr Trump is actively supporting the talks, only that he is allowing them to happen. If there are advances, he can welcome them and perhaps share the credit. If nothing comes of it, he won’t have to disown it because it was a French initiative. If it does succeed in reducing tension, it will be a huge diplomatic coup for Mr Macron.

 

Topics discussed included global trade, global warming, and taxing technology companies. Tusk said leaders at the summit should discuss the Iran nuclear deal, which was at risk due to the U.S. government's decision to pull out.

On August 23, Macron urged the G7 to lead the summit discussions with the 2019 Amazon wildfires, which he described as an "international crisis". He said, "Our house is burning. Literally", adding that the Amazon rainforest produces 20% of the world's oxygen. Trump offered to take the position of the Brazilian government to the meeting, and said that the US government did not agree to discuss the issue without Brazil's presence. The United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Spain, and Chile also support Brazil. During the meeting, it was reported that there were "sharp differences" among the participants.

On a request from the Macron, François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of the luxury group Kering, presented the Fashion Pact during the summit, an initiative signed by 32 fashion firms committing to concrete measures to reduce their environmental impact. By 2020, 60 firms had joined the Fashion Pact.

More than 13,000 police were required for security. The French government wished to avoid anti-globalization movements. The protesters of the summit had several motivations, such as anti extractivism and anti-globalization. Protesters included human rights groups and climate change activists.

A number of small French and Basque organizations joined to organize a "Contre G7" summit, over the same days as the G7, in the south of the French Basque country.