First day of the G20: update on all-out discussions

Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Joe Biden, met on Saturday October 30 on the sidelines of the G20 to talk about Iranian nuclear power.

AP - Stefan Rousseau

Text by: RFI Follow

5 mins

The heads of state and government of the twenty richest countries in the world gave Rome on Saturday, October 30 the last green light for a tax reform described as historic.

The goal is to end tax havens, but that does not go far enough in the eyes of some developing countries.

Update on this first day of the G20 summit.

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• Participants satisfied with the tax agreement

Announced by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the G20's decision should be formalized in the final press release on Sunday. In early October, 136 countries, or more than 90% of global GDP, had pledged under the aegis of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to tax multinationals more equitably, and to introduce a minimum worldwide tax of 15% from 2023.

The approved agreement is “ 

”, according to Ms. Yellen, who is enthusiastic like the participants of the summit.

Self-satisfaction of the French president in particular: “ 

 , ”Emmanuel Macron tweeted.

 " 

 ", also believes German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

All is not rosy.

Each country will have to translate this agreement into its national legislation, a different kettle of fish.

The taxation of companies where they make their profits, regardless of the location of their headquarters, meets with hostility within the United States Congress, for example.

In addition, the ICRICT, a think tank including economists like Joseph Stiglitz and Thomas Piketty, speaks of a " 

 ", of which "

", with concessions for countries fiscally. advantageous like Ireland, Estonia and Hungary.

► Read also: From a distance, Putin and Xi ask for mutual recognition of vaccines

• Fight for the climate: the moment of truth

This is the other major issue and stumbling block of this Rome summit: will the G20 countries manage to overcome their divisions to effectively fight against global warming, while the COP26 starts this Sunday in Glasgow?

The leaders are playing a balancing act this weekend on this subject, explains our special correspondent in Rome,

.

In the short term, they want to encourage the hydrocarbon producing countries to supply the market, and therefore to produce enough to calm soaring gas and electricity prices at the onset of winter.

But in the medium term, they are actively seeking a compromise on the reduction of greenhouse gases, an objective which this time involves reducing the production of fossil fuels.

Europe and the United States are determined to accelerate their energy transition.

On the other hand, emerging countries like India, China or Russia first want to accelerate their growth, or at least not to compromise it with a process that is too costly.

The first versions of the final communiqué in circulation are vague enough to generate consensus, but not really likely to create real momentum for the G20, before the opening of this new climate conference.

► Also listen: COP26 in Glasgow, the challenges of a crucial meeting for the planet

• The opportunity to discuss other issues

In the rest of the Roman news, the

 announced that he would give back to developing countries 20% of his special drawing rights (SDRs) issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to face the resulting crisis by the Covid-19 pandemic. As for the

, he promised to negotiate " 

" with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the end of a long and " 

" meeting with the director of the organization Kristalina Georgieva.

For their part, the leaders of the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, also met all four in Rome, with the program a

.

Result: a press release to jointly express their "

" about Tehran's nuclear activities, particularly in terms of uranium enrichment research, and calling on the Islamic Republic to " 

 " to save the agreement from 2015.

► Read also: On the sidelines of the G20 in Rome, several events in the Eternal City

• Outside the session, the bilateral is in full swing

Bilateral meetings are indeed the other G20 summit in Rome. After meeting the Pope, Mario Draghi and then Emmanuel Macron,

has a meeting on Sunday with his Turkish counterpart

, while the United States and Turkey, allies within NATO, are at odds, in particular since Ankara's decision to turn to Moscow for a contract on a defense system.

The interview was planned for next week in Scotland, on the sidelines of COP26, but a senior US official said on Saturday that it would be brought forward. Perhaps because the Turkish president has just given up expelling ten Western ambassadors, including that of the United States, who had mobilized in favor of the release of the philanthropist and patron Osman Kavala, in prison for four years without trial.

The French president will meet Boris Johnson

, in the midst of a dispute over fishing in the Channel and while the United Kingdom has raised the tone, this Saturday. It is a boxing fight that the two leaders are engaged in, and Mr Johnson is multiplying the hooks. “ 

”he said on Skynews.

Boris Johnson is even considering activating the dispute resolution tool for breach of the Brexit Treaty.

He persists in saying that his country has distributed 98% of the planned fishing licenses, the French reprisals being therefore unjustified in his eyes.

He complained about it to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, also in Rome.

The stage is set before the meeting this Sunday.

► To read again: Before their meeting in Rome, Macron and Johnson are increasing the pressure

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