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The European Commission and the Council Presidents’ message at the recent G7 meeting in mid-June were three-fold: a) to address the structural challenges of the global economy; b) to focus on crises affecting Europe and around the world; and c) the digital transition and AI issues. Below is a short version of the EU’s position at G7; the EU ideas and discussions with the G7 leaders concerning the global cooperation efforts will be subject to review at the European Council.
Background
The 52nd G7 summit has been taking place at a defining moment: hence the choices made at the summit would send a clear signal about our willingness to act, to cooperate, and to defend the principles that underpin global stability. Taking place during 15-17 June 2026 in Évian-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie, France), makes Évian the first French city to host a G7 or G8 leaders’ summit twice. Évian-les-Bains previously hosted the 29th G8 Summit in 2003.
G7 takes place each year depending on the priorities of the host nation, which sets the agenda and invites specific non-member states to participate in their summit. The seven states at the G7-in 2026 are: the US, France, the UK, Japan, India, Brazil and South Afrika; Ukraine was a special quest-country together with the EU leaders. The recurring guest invitations reflect the G7’s focus on aligning with major emerging economies (like the G20) and addressing critical global security conflicts (like the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East).
The G7 was created over fifty years ago to resolve economic crises. The aim of the G7 French Presidency -as underlined by the French President- “was simple: returning to the original G7 idea, making it a forum for dialogue between major economic powers, both within and beyond its members, to identify existing imbalances and work to correct them together through coordinated national and international policies supported by international institutions”.
Source and citation from: https://www.elysee.fr/en/G7evian/2025/12/15/the-presidents-message
The structural issues
A key topic for this year’s G7 was the global economic imbalances, mentioned the EU officials; this means that some countries produce too much and do not consume enough, and vice versa. And such “mis-dynamics” are increasingly dangerous for the stability of the global economy. That is why the EU welcomed President Macron’s focused on this topic, also due to its increasing relevance to the whole European Union. E.g. in the previous years, for the first time ever, all EU member states have had trade deficit with China; the EU, in general recorded in 2025 its largest ever trade deficit of € 360 billion. This situation is not sustainable; hence the EU strategy is clear – de-risk, not decouple; concretely, this means that the EU states have -first – to step up and accelerate building domestic capacity; and secondly, the EU is forced to “weave worldwide net of free trade agreements” because this is the means to diversify European supply chains.
At the same time, the EU-27 also needs to protect its market from unfair practices: over the last years, the EU has developed and deployed regulatory means including the safeguards to anti-subsidy measures to address unfair competition and even cases of coercion.
Thus, at the present G7 summit, there was a general understanding that unity and coordination among G7 are “paramount”: i.e. all states experience the same economic challenges, specifically in the critical raw materials.
The “group of seven” expressed a solid view of “consolidation” in order to achieve the adequate scale for these critical raw materials. And this is why the EU is working with the G7 and other partner countries on a critical raw material agreement; hence, the unity is the precondition for G7 to achieve a level playing field in the economic coordination globally.
General reference to: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_26_1365
The ongoing crises
The main attention was devoted to an agreement reached between the United States and Iran, showing that it needed a solid implementation process: the Strait of Hormuz must be reopen, and freedom of navigation must be restored – toll-free. This is essential for the regional stability and of course also for the global economy.
The agreement should open the door to wider talks and lead to the end of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic programs. However, as the EU leaders noted and underlined: there could be no lasting peace while Lebanon remains in flames. Hence, the G7 called for a genuine ceasefire and the full respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty.
The present crisis in the Middle East has also carried a clear lesson for the global community: once again, the world has seen that the energy dependency is being weaponised.
In this framework, the leaders have to discuss how to reduce their dependences on transit through the Strait. For example, alternative export routes could have been created that are more resilient and offer choices established, such as new and/or other routes, for example, a typical one could be that of the IMEC.
The India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a planned multimodal trade network designed to connect South Asia, the Middle East, and Europe through railways, maritime routes, and high-speed data and energy cables. Announced in September 2023, it aims to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative and provide a faster, more secure supply chain alternative to the Suez Canal.
More in: https://mei.edu/backgrounder/the-india-middle-east-europe-economic-corridor/?__cf_chl_f_tk=UlhD7fsh1H_AOheeFlsm5zwZKnu26am7XgMOkDzoN8k-1782829020-1.0.1.1-X4h0VIsxj2VySYvs5SLj9B_G7YhBVaQuoz40jIbBCl0
AI issues
The world has seen impressive advances in frontier digital models that would drive progress in science and technology; at the same time, these models also multiply the risks.
The key question of today is how to introduce new models safely: i.e. testing before entry into service is not, actually, new; it is very much what the states were used to, for example, for airplanes and medical devices.
In this regard, the cooperation of G7 countries is paramount: the states should exchange information and ensure cooperation of independent entities that are evaluating models before their market release.
The other important dimension is how to reap the benefits of the AI revolution, and the adoption of digital tools: the European Union and the United States are “at par in terms of AI adoption”; however, as is known, much more shall be done in terms of industrial AI and transforming the manufacturing sectors, in which the AI adoption has been the key issues.
As soon as the G7 countries have to “win the battle of adoption”, comes the issue about the digital application. For example, the European Union have recently presented the Tech Sovereignty package to drive AI innovation in Europe. The EU wants “its own AI future”, however, not in isolation, but together with the trusted partners.
More on the EU “sovereignty package” in: https://www.integrin.dk/2026/06/17/digital-sovereignty-within-global-and-european-context/
For example, the EU has adopted the rules concerning protection children’s online; the Commission President was thankful to President Macron for addressing this crucial topic at the summit: because the opportunities of the digital world are clear, but so are the risks.
The debate, as the Commission President notes, is not whether young people should have access to social media, the debate is whether social media should have access to our children and teenagers, and when. And here the case for social media delays, because of the risks, is getting stronger. It is known that childhood and early adolescence are formative years, for the brain functioning but, most importantly, also for the development of a personality. Children need to develop their skills to act with autonomy offline but, of course, also online.
Thus, the EU decided to give them the needed protection, the time to mature and, of course, the means to do so. There is also a vast responsibility of the tech companies around the world: i.e. in the EU the digital platforms must prove that they are safe by design, and this principle is especially important for the children and teenagers, noted the President.
Source and references from: Statement by President von der Leyen with President Costa at the G7 Summit: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_26_1365