G7: What is it and what power does it have? What you need to know about the world leaders summit

(CNN) – President Joe Biden’s first trip abroad since taking office includes a G7 summit in which he will seek to reestablish America’s leadership on the world stage.

But what is the G7 and what power does it have? This is what you need to know:

What is the G7?

The G7 is short for the Group of Seven, an organization of leaders from some of the world’s largest economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Russia was indefinitely suspended from the group, which at the time was known as the G8, in 2014 after most member countries allied against its annexation of Crimea. It was the first violation of the borders of a European country since World War II.

What does the G7 do?

The G7 members meet each year at a summit to discuss pressing issues on the global stage and coordinate policies.

International security and the global economy are often topics of discussion, although recovery from the covid-19 pandemic is expected to dominate this year’s meeting.

In a statement ahead of the summit, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he will urge his fellow G7 leaders at the summit to make concrete commitments to vaccinate the world, as well as support the ‘Global Pandemic Radar »(« Global Pandemic Radar ») – a new global surveillance system designed to protect immunization programs.

What power does the G7 have?

G7 summit in Germany in 2015.

The G7 is primarily a place of coordination, and the group has produced decisions of global importance.

Before this year’s summit, for example, the G7 finance ministers agreed to back a global minimum tax of at least 15% for multinational companies. The G7 also agreed that larger companies must pay taxes where they generate sales, and not just where they have a physical presence.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Saturday that the deal was a “significant and unprecedented commitment” by the world’s richest economies aimed at preventing companies from avoiding taxes by shifting profits abroad.

What is the history of the G7?

G7 summit in Venice, Italy, in 1980.

The meetings began as the “Library Group,” founded in the 1970s by then-US Secretary of the Treasury George Shultz.

Finance ministers from the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom met for “informal talks” to try to stabilize the currency turbulence.

Japan joined soon after, and in 1975, with two of the original participants who by then had become the president of France and the president of Germany, the meetings became meetings of heads of state and government.

Canada and Italy soon came together and became known as the Group of Seven.