This week, President Ursula von der Leyen was in Kananaskis, in Canada, where she participated in this year's G7 Summit.
Against the background of Russia's war against Ukraine, increasing instability in the Middle East, and China's weaponisation of its place in the global economy, the G7 Summit is a suitable forum to discuss amongst close partners and find common solutions.
President von der Leyen began her agenda in Kananaskis with a press conference together with the President of the European Council, António Costa.
Speaking to journalists, she thanked Prime Minister Mark Carney for hosting the summit and laid out the EU's priorities. She mentioned the need to address the uncertainty in the global economic, reduce economic dependencies that leave G7 partners at the mercy of aggressive trade practices, and deal with raging conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East and Iran.
The President highlighted the relation between these topics, and she also spoke of the connection between the different conflicts saying: "The recent events have underlined in the increasing interlinkage between the conflicts in Europe on one hand and the Middle East on the other hand. Today the same type of Iranian designed and made drones and ballistic missiles are indiscriminately hitting cities in Ukraine and Israel. As such, these threats need to be addressed together."
In the margins of the summit, the President met US President Donald Trump. The two leaders touched base on the ongoing trade negotiations between the EU and the US and instructed their respective teams to accelerate their efforts to strike a good and fair deal.
During the course of the sessions with fellow leaders, President von der Leyen opened the debates on the global economic outlook and on economic growth, security and resilience .
The common theme in her interventions was the need to reduce volatility in trade relations amongst partners, which have an impact on consumers and businesses. Instead, the President argued, the focus should be on common challenges, amongst which she highlighted China's behaviour in the global economy.
"China still defines itself as a developing country. This cannot be. China has largely shown that its unwillingness to live within the constraints of the rules based international system. While other opened their market China focused undercutting intellectual property protections, massive subsidies with the aim to dominate global manufacturing and supply chains. This is not market competition – it is distortion with intent," President von der Leyen told her fellow leaders.
She reiterated the goal to de-risk the economic relation with China, rather than decoupling, and explained that de-risking starts by reducing dependencies in key inputs such as rare earths and addressing the exports of Chinese subsidised overcapacity which threatens the G7's own industries.
"No single country should control 80% to 90% of the for essential raw materials and downstream products like magnets. Remember that Europe, the US and Japan all used to have magnet-manufacturing industries – until they were squeezed out of business by China. In the 1980s and 1990s, China invested strategically in mining and processing. By the early 2000s, it overtook other producers," the President insisted.
At the end of the summit, the leaders adopted a series of statements on specific topics such as a wildfire charter, a critical minerals action plan, a statement on transnational repression, a statement on migrant smuggling, one on AI for prosperity, and yet another one on the future of quantum technologies.
The principles laid out in the statements will form the basis for cooperation by the G7 partners.
Addressing interconnected conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East
The G7 leaders also held sessions on the current geopolitical situation.
President von der Leyen underlined the EU's unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to resist the Russian aggression, stressing that the EU has provided Ukraine with almost €150 billion in support.
She called on the G7 partners to continue putting pressure on Russia to bring it to the negotiating table and elaborated on the 18th sanctions package proposed by the Commission this month.
On the Middle East, and more specifically on the latest developments between Israel and Iran, the leaders adopted a statement reiterating their commitment for peace and stability in the region and their support for Israel's security.
"Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror. We have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza," the statement reads.
Bilateral agenda
Besides her meeting with President Trump, President von der Leyen held a series of trilateral meetings together with President Costa.
They met Canada's Prime Minister Carney, with whom they prepared the EU-Canada summit that will take place next week.
They also met the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres. President von der Leyen stressed her trust and support for the UN's work and committed to sustain the EU's role as a provider of global finance.
The Presidents met the newly elected President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Jae-myung and committed to continue common cooperation under the existing Security and Defence Partnership.
With the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, President von der Leyen emphasised bilateral cooperation, climate change, and the progress on the modernised EU-Mexico Global Agreement.
President von der Leyen had an exchange with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of India. They repeated their aim to open a new era of EU-India trade relations.
Finally, Presidents von der Leyen and Costa met the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese. The three leaders agreed to start negotiations on a Security and Defence Partnership to frame future cooperation in defence industry, cyber and counter-terrorism.
The new partnership, along with the renewed engagement to conclude a bilateral trade agreement, bears witness to the enduring friendship between the EU and Australia.
