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The city of Biarritz emptied, barricaded. We are far from the traditional postcard this weekend G7. The French city of the Basque coast welcomes from tonight the summit, annual meeting of the seven major industrialized powers: France, United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Japan.
With our special envoys in Biarritz , Nicolas Falez and Valérie Gas
Hot topics and points of contention are not lacking, at this summit that will be the subject of a presidential address.
In addition to the seven countries mentioned, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, invited other leaders . Burkina Faso, Senegal, Egypt, Rwanda are indeed invited to Biarritz for this summit that France must devote as a priority to the fight against inequalities.
The arrival of the Egyptian Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has already raised criticism because of the repression in this country. A working session on this partnership between the G7 and Africa is scheduled tomorrow morning here in Biarritz.
In its official program, the G7 distinguishes another group of invited countries, qualified as great democracies and also partners engaged in the protection of the planet and the digital transformation. These are South Africa, Australia, Chile and India , whose leaders were also invited by the French Presidency of the summit.
Renew the ambition of the G7
So this burst of invitations corresponds to the desire of Emmanuel Macron to renew both the format and ambition of the G7. For example, on Monday, August 26, we will see a working session bringing together the G7 countries and all its African and non-African guests to discuss climate, biodiversity and the ocean.
It is an open G7 so, and it is true that we can question the usefulness of this small club in its current form. When it was established in the 1970s, member countries accounted for 70% of the world's gross domestic product. Today, they account for only 40% of this global GDP. And the G7 countries are inhabited by only 10% of the population of our planet.
Presidential intervention
And it's still an exercise in pedagogy that Emmanuel Macron will engage in. After answering questions from the press in Paris to explain the issues of the G7, he speaks directly to his fellow citizens since Biarritz, Saturday, August 24, 13 hours before the opening of the summit. One way to show his willingness to change his method.
At the Elysee, we explain that its purpose is to tell the French that these international summits, where leaders meet in "bunkerized" areas to discuss among themselves - in Biarritz this situation has also provoked the discontent of traders, inhabitants - have a utility and can have an impact on the life of the French.
► See also: World economy at half-mast and international crises on the menu of the G7 Biarritz
Whether it is the question of climate, which has become a priority of Emmanuel Macron for this G7, and which has also earned him tense exchanges with the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, about the fires of the the Amazonian forest, whether it is trade agreements or the fight against inequality, security in the Sahel or the Iran crisis, tensions between China and the United States, these are the themes that will be addressed by the President of the Republic.
Critics around this summit
It must also be said that Emmanuel Macron wants to cut criticism short. Indeed, because on the left, among the rebellious, ecologists, socialists, critics have rocked on the uselessness of an obsolete, hypocritical summit. So, the President of the Republic has chosen to explain what he wants to do to, indeed, involve the French in his policy. But it's a risk-taking if behind it does not get any result.
On the side of the presidency of the Republic, it does not exclude incidentally that Emmanuel Macron speaks after the G7 to make an assessment.
► Also read: G7: Will the big counter-demonstration be peaceful?