Leaders of the G7 will gather in in Ise-Shima, Japan on 26-27 May for their annual summit in which counter-terrorism, the world economy, the Middle East, Ukraine, North Korea, climate change and various social initiatives will be high on the agenda.

The EU will be represented by Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission. For the third year running, Russia has been excluded from the gathering.

Speaking at the plenary session in Brussels, GUE/NGL MEP and Vice-Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Javier Couso believes the G7 itself is an outdated entity:

“The G7 is part of defending the old establishment that emerged at the end of the 1960s and 70s. We have to be in a multipolar world – we have the BRICS, for example.”

“Populists are trying to do away with fair trade but I have to laugh at that! Like TTIP – how does that even make it a fair world?”, he reasoned.

“We need a multipolar world, a fairer world – not a neoliberal world”, Couso concluded.

His views were echoed by fellow GUE/NGL MEP Barbara Spinelli who believes Russia's absence from the G7 summit will do more harm than good:

“It's time to rebuild the G8 and the economic opening up of Russia. It is critical that we revive this relationship. As far as Russia is concerned, I wonder if we really need a quadruple NATO force on its border with Europe?!”

Meanwhile, GUE/NGL MEP Tania González is worried that little will be achieved at the summit in addressing the root causes facing the global economy.

“Instead of using this summit to curb market speculation and to regulate tax havens, the G7 leaders will make decisions that would only perpetuate the crisis instead of solving it.”

“The economic uncertainty that the élite so fears is a direct consequence of the scoundrel practices that the European Commission encouraged. It's still not too late for Juncker and Tusk to reflect upon their actions where they put EU citizens at its heart instead of forcing through cuts, misery and wars.” says González.