n January this year, France published its priorities for the G7 during its presidency in 2026. At the center of its whole agenda? Growing imbalances and rivalries that threaten the global economy and exacerbate geopolitical tensions: predatory competition, industrial overcapacity, underinvestment, debt, deregulation, Global South investment, and receding international solidarity. French leaders are casting this focus on reducing global imbalances as restoring “the G7’s initial vocation, making it a forum for dialogue between major economic powers, both within and beyond its members themselves.” At the 52nd G7 Leaders’ Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France on June 15–17, the formal agenda is divided into six thematic clusters: resolving geopolitical crises, establishing shared understandings of what causes excessive macroeconomic imbalances, building a fairer and more effective international solidarity system, securing value chains, developing reliable digital tools accessible to all, and combating illegal flows and organized crime.
Context
The context is complicated. From one perspective, France is uniquely positioned for impact this year, with the G7 gathering overlapping with the tenth anniversary of Europe’s largest tech and startup event, VivaTech 2026. Questions around regulation, deployment of, and access to tech innovation are deeply embedded in every agenda item leaders are grappling with. From another perspective, geopolitical and macroeconomic disruption threaten to derail France’s intended focal points. In publishing its priorities, the French government indicated its agenda is a return to the G7’s true original mission—but this is an assertion naturally if indirectly contested by the U.S. articulation of its 2026 G20 presidency. This mix of tension, disruption, and possibility makes this G7 Leaders’ Summit unpredictable in the extreme.
What’s on the agenda
Heading into the 52nd G7 Leaders’ Summit in Paris on June 15–17, here’s what to expect:
How will Paris’ agenda stand up to disruption? The thematic clusters for this year’s agenda are pointed directly at disruption points. The question is really whether it is possible to dig into establishing shared understandings of and responses to underlying issues creating these disruptions—which is what the agenda seeks to do—or whether the need to react to emergency after emergency makes this more about triage and survival. (A recent meeting of G7 finance ministers, for instance, was cast as “an emergency meeting in all but name.”) It is hard to imagine ministers dissecting base causes of macroeconomic imbalances, the true core of Paris’ ambitions this year, when there will be immense pressure to react to more immediate and obvious emergencies.
Europe’s tech future takes shape. At the start of June, the EU unveiled its EU Tech Sovereignty Package, which combined legislative and policy proposals aimed at strengthening Europe’s tech sovereignty. These proposals will likely shape the thinking of EU leaders in conversations and negotiations at the summit itself, as well as conversations at crossover events where policymakers in Paris for G7 meet innovators and C–suite executives in town for VivaTech. The week should prove a sort of live stress test of the ideas underpinning a more tech–independent and self–sufficient Europe.
Supply chain and value chain resilience. Tariffs are stressing supply and value chains and making them unpredictable, difficult to invest around. War is doing the same, most notably in Southwest Asia. Ministers have met in recent weeks and will continue to meet on things like energy and critical minerals, but it remains to be seen what fruit those conversations will bear, and whether any actions are basically short–term bandages or something more forward looking and centered around resilience.
What is the state of international solidarity? Until recently, it was uncertain whether U.S. President Trump would attend the G7 meetings, an extraordinary state of affairs that highlights a growing sense of grievance—especially within the NATO alliance. France aims to build better mechanisms for cooperation and international solidarity through the G7 system itself, and to that end has invited Brazil, India, Kenya, and South Korea as guests, particularly to discuss redressing regional and systemic macroeconomic imbalances. Meanwhile, Ukraine was already on the agenda (and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy is also expected to be in attendance) but impacts of the war in Iran have also become a top agenda item, controversy over which could further complicate solidarity.
Is Paris in June a bellwether for Ankara in July? NATO members convene in Ankara, Turkey, just weeks after G7 convenes. There is some concern over the future of NATO: how involved will the U.S. be, how integrated will European defense become, what will be the scope of NATO’s mission as we move toward 2030? G7 isn’t tackling any of these issues as such, but how well leaders are able to work together in June should give us an idea of what to expect next month as well.
What they’re saying
From the EU point of view, we do not think that this is a time to ease pressure on Russia…which is gaining from the war in Iran and the increase in fossil fuel prices. European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis
Crushing the threat of terrorism compels all of you to step up and join us [in sanctioning Iran]. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
We all share a common view. Those imbalances are not sustainable. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure
The scenario Tokyo most fears is a Trump-Xi summit that opens the door to a 'Group of Two' dynamic, with Washington and Beijing carving out arrangements over Japan's head. Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center Director of Economic Foresight Charles Lichfield
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Paris’ ambition for G7, redressing global imbalances
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Image via Adobe Stock.
June 15, 2026
At this year’s G7 Leaders’ Summit, France seeks to leverage its presidency to focus on the structural causes of global imbalances by making it a forum for dialogue, within and beyond its membership. But profound disruption may mean leaders will be more reactive than proactive.
I
n January this year, France published its priorities for the G7 during its presidency in 2026. At the center of its whole agenda? Growing imbalances and rivalries that threaten the global economy and exacerbate geopolitical tensions: predatory competition, industrial overcapacity, underinvestment, debt, deregulation, Global South investment, and receding international solidarity. French leaders are casting this focus on reducing global imbalances as restoring “the G7’s initial vocation, making it a forum for dialogue between major economic powers, both within and beyond its members themselves.” At the 52nd G7 Leaders’ Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France on June 15–17, the formal agenda is divided into six thematic clusters: resolving geopolitical crises, establishing shared understandings of what causes excessive macroeconomic imbalances, building a fairer and more effective international solidarity system, securing value chains, developing reliable digital tools accessible to all, and combating illegal flows and organized crime.
Context
The context is complicated. From one perspective, France is uniquely positioned for impact this year, with the G7 gathering overlapping with the tenth anniversary of Europe’s largest tech and startup event, VivaTech 2026. Questions around regulation, deployment of, and access to tech innovation are deeply embedded in every agenda item leaders are grappling with. From another perspective, geopolitical and macroeconomic disruption threaten to derail France’s intended focal points. In publishing its priorities, the French government indicated its agenda is a return to the G7’s true original mission—but this is an assertion naturally if indirectly contested by the U.S. articulation of its 2026 G20 presidency. This mix of tension, disruption, and possibility makes this G7 Leaders’ Summit unpredictable in the extreme.
What’s on the agenda
Heading into the 52nd G7 Leaders’ Summit in Paris on June 15–17, here’s what to expect:
How will Paris’ agenda stand up to disruption? The thematic clusters for this year’s agenda are pointed directly at disruption points. The question is really whether it is possible to dig into establishing shared understandings of and responses to underlying issues creating these disruptions—which is what the agenda seeks to do—or whether the need to react to emergency after emergency makes this more about triage and survival. (A recent meeting of G7 finance ministers, for instance, was cast as “an emergency meeting in all but name.”) It is hard to imagine ministers dissecting base causes of macroeconomic imbalances, the true core of Paris’ ambitions this year, when there will be immense pressure to react to more immediate and obvious emergencies.
Europe’s tech future takes shape. At the start of June, the EU unveiled its EU Tech Sovereignty Package, which combined legislative and policy proposals aimed at strengthening Europe’s tech sovereignty. These proposals will likely shape the thinking of EU leaders in conversations and negotiations at the summit itself, as well as conversations at crossover events where policymakers in Paris for G7 meet innovators and C–suite executives in town for VivaTech. The week should prove a sort of live stress test of the ideas underpinning a more tech–independent and self–sufficient Europe.
Supply chain and value chain resilience. Tariffs are stressing supply and value chains and making them unpredictable, difficult to invest around. War is doing the same, most notably in Southwest Asia. Ministers have met in recent weeks and will continue to meet on things like energy and critical minerals, but it remains to be seen what fruit those conversations will bear, and whether any actions are basically short–term bandages or something more forward looking and centered around resilience.
What is the state of international solidarity? Until recently, it was uncertain whether U.S. President Trump would attend the G7 meetings, an extraordinary state of affairs that highlights a growing sense of grievance—especially within the NATO alliance. France aims to build better mechanisms for cooperation and international solidarity through the G7 system itself, and to that end has invited Brazil, India, Kenya, and South Korea as guests, particularly to discuss redressing regional and systemic macroeconomic imbalances. Meanwhile, Ukraine was already on the agenda (and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy is also expected to be in attendance) but impacts of the war in Iran have also become a top agenda item, controversy over which could further complicate solidarity.
Is Paris in June a bellwether for Ankara in July? NATO members convene in Ankara, Turkey, just weeks after G7 convenes. There is some concern over the future of NATO: how involved will the U.S. be, how integrated will European defense become, what will be the scope of NATO’s mission as we move toward 2030? G7 isn’t tackling any of these issues as such, but how well leaders are able to work together in June should give us an idea of what to expect next month as well.
What they’re saying
From the EU point of view, we do not think that this is a time to ease pressure on Russia…which is gaining from the war in Iran and the increase in fossil fuel prices. European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis
Crushing the threat of terrorism compels all of you to step up and join us [in sanctioning Iran]. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
We all share a common view. Those imbalances are not sustainable. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure
The scenario Tokyo most fears is a Trump-Xi summit that opens the door to a 'Group of Two' dynamic, with Washington and Beijing carving out arrangements over Japan's head. Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center Director of Economic Foresight Charles Lichfield
