G

G-7: The G-7 is officially the title of meetings between the finance ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the USA, a practice that was established in Tokyo in May 1986. The term is also used more generally to describe the summit meetings of the heads of government of the same seven countries, which began at Rambouillet, France, in 1975 (although Canada did not become involved in the G-7 process until some months after the initial meeting). The European Union (EU) holds all the privileges and obligations of membership of the G-7, but does not have the right to host or chair a summit. The EU is represented at G-7 summits by the President of the European Commission and by the President of the European Council. Leaders of the USSR and, later, Russia were invited to attend the summits after 1991. Russia demanded equal representation and became a full member in 2002, thereby creating the G-8. Originally intended to discuss common economic problems, after 1989 the summit agendas became ever more political in tone and have sought to tackle issues such as trade with the Third World, global poverty, the environment, and, increasingly since 2008, the issue of taxation. In recent years these meetings of the world’s richest countries have increasingly become a target for protesters to express their anger at politicians over issues such as the environment and capitalism. In March 2014 Russia was excluded from G-8, owing to the controversy over its role in the secession of Crimea from Ukraine; G-8 therefore reverted to its previous name, G-7.