The defence of multilateralism will once again be high on the European Union's agenda at the upcoming G20 summit to be held on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 June in Osaka, Japan, a senior European official told the press on Wednesday 19 June.
"This will be an opportunity for us to defend multilateralism, to build confidence in the global economy before the reform of the [World Trade Organisation]", he said of the working lunch that will take place on the first day of the summit. He also emphasised: "This year, we clearly want to show that multilateralism is at the very heart of the G20 DNA" (see EUROPE 12151/17).
According to this official, while the world is now facing an escalation of trade and geopolitical tensions, particularly between the United States and China, the EU will have to "find a compromise so that everyone remains at the table and progress in the area of trade can be achieved".
The main ambition, another source admits, is above all to maintain the status quo with regard to the declaration obtained at the Buenos Aires summit.
With regard to WTO reform (see EUROPE 12271/16), the summit would simply aim to "guide the process" without going into the details of the reform. In particular, the EU hopes that a timetable will be adopted to guide the reform.
In addition to the economy and world trade, the other main theme of the first day of the summit will be digital transformation and, in particular, the concept of Data Free Flow with Trust, proposed by the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe, and supported by the EU (see EUROPE 12242/1).
The EU will also support the taxation of the digital economy, a subject on which G20 finance ministers recently committed themselves to "redoubling their efforts" to reach an agreement on international tax reform in 2020 (see EUROPE 12272/3) and for which a roadmap has already been agreed (see EUROPE 12267/17).
The second day of the summit will be mainly devoted to two other topics: (1) inequalities and an ageing population; (2) the environment and the fight against climate change. The latter point could become a problem during talks between G20 leaders, as well as the issue of migration, the senior European official pointed out.
The G20 sherpas will meet as early as Tuesday 25 June, to identify a compromise on the summit declaration. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot with Hermine Donceel)