43rd G7 summit

43rd G7 summit
43rd G7 summit
Host country	Italy
Date	26–27 May 2017
Venue(s)	Taormina (ME), Sicily, Italy
Participants	Canada; France; Germany; Italy; Japan; United Kingdom; United States; European Union
Follows	42nd G7 summit
Precedes	44th G7 summit
Website	www.g7italy.it/en

The 43rd G7 summit was held on 26–27 May 2017^[1] in Taormina (ME), Sicily, Italy.^[2] 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.

It was the first time since 1987 that the G7 summit held in Italy was not hosted by Silvio Berlusconi. The participation of Angela Merkel and Theresa May made it the first time two G7 female leaders were principals in the G7 summit.

The choice of Taormina as the headquarters of the G7 was announced by then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on 4 July 2016. The summit was initially scheduled to take place in Florence. Among the reasons for the change of choice, Renzi cited the words of an international leader at a previous summit that with a joke had highlighted his prejudice against Sicily pointing out as the land of the Mafia and claimed that those words had convinced him to fix the G7 in Sicily.

Leaders at the summit

The attendees include the leaders of the seven G7 member states as well as representatives of the European Union. The President of the European Commission has been a permanently welcome participant at all meetings and decision-making since 1981.

The 43rd G7 summit was the first summit for British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, and US President Donald Trump. It was also the first and only summit for Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

Participants

Member		Represented by	Title
Core G7 members Host state and leader are shown in bold text.
	Canada	Justin Trudeau	Prime Minister
	France	Emmanuel Macron	President
	Germany	Angela Merkel	Chancellor
	Italy	Paolo Gentiloni	Prime Minister
	Japan	Shinzō Abe	Prime Minister
	United Kingdom	Theresa May	Prime Minister
	United States	Donald Trump	President
	European Union	Jean-Claude Juncker	Commission President
	European Union	Donald Tusk	Council President
Guest Invitees (Countries)
Member		Represented by	Title
	Ethiopia	Hailemariam Desalegn	Prime Minister
	Guinea	Alpha Conde	President
	Kenya	Uhuru Kenyatta	President
	Niger	Mahamadou Issoufou	President
	Nigeria	Yemi Osinbajo	Acting President
	Tunisia	Beji Caid Essebsi	President

Agenda

The G7 leaders emphasized common endeavours: to end the Syrian crisis, to fulfill the UN mission in Libya and reducing the presence of ISIS, ISIL and Da'esh in Syria and Iraq. North Korea was urged to comply with UN resolutions, Russian responsibility was stressed for the Ukraine conflict. Supporting economic activity and ensuring price stability was demanded while inequalities in trade and gender were called to be challenged. It was agreed to help countries in creating conditions that address the drivers of migration: ending hunger, increasing competitiveness and advancing global health security.^[3]