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G7 Taormina Recommendations Realized Report
Meredith Williams, G7 Research Group
February 28, 2018
G7 Recommendations Realized Reports identify the content and impact of the recommendations that world, business, civil society leaders and academics made to G7 leaders in the immediate lead-up to the annual summit as published in the "background books" produced by the G7 Research Group. These books are published in print and online on the eve of the G7 summits, and feature exclusive contributions from prominent figures in G7 and global affairs.
This report, prepared in reference to the G7 Taormina Summit on May 27-28, 2017, has two sections. The first is "recommendations made" to the G7 by the contributors to G7 Italy: The Taormina Summit 2017. The second is "recommendations realized." It identifies which recommendations were realized and to what degree they were realized in the leaders' summit declaration in the form of a public, future-oriented, politically binding, collective commitment. The recommendations realized component is scored according to the three-point scale created and used by the G7 Research Group for its assessment of members' compliance with their summit commitments. A score of +1 indicates the recommendation was fully realized, a score of 0 indicates a recommendation was partially realized and a score of −1 indicates a recommendation was not realized. Subsequent reports will assess how well the recommendations realized were implemented during the following years.
In the G7 Taormina book, 66 recommendations were made by 28 different contributors (see Appendix A).
Carlo Calenda, Italy's Minister of Economic Development, Italy made nine recommendations, the most of any contributor. His recommendations centred on cyber security, cyber risk mitigation and energy, and he suggested that guidelines be established for research and development for defending a global energy security strategy.
The second highest number of recommendations made were by three different contributors.
Pier Carlo Padoan, Italy's Minister of Economy and Finance, made six recommendations. Padoan's primary advice was on regional security, global instability and financial insecurity as it relates to economics and finance. Padoan's primary advice suggested the G7 needs to shift its focus on reducing inequality to enhancing the social cohesion of global financial systems.
Bander M.H. Hajjar, president of Islamic Development Bank Group, also made six recommendations, on regional security, and labour and employment reforms.
Italy's prime minister Paolo Gentiloni and host of the Taormina Summit made five recommendations. These were on regional security, terrorism, and the migration and refugee crisis in Europe.
Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer to the UK Government, made four recommendations on economic development and growth, and sustainable development.
David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, made three recommendations, addressing food security, investing in agriculture, the migration and refugee crisis, and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.
David Ramin Jalilvand of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Kristen Westphal of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik came next with two recommendations made on oil and natural gas in the Middle East and North African Region, focusing exclusively on the energy industry.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, made two recommendations on gender equality, highlighting women's empowerment.
Julia Kulik, Director of Research for the G7 Research Group, also made two recommendations on gender equality.
Dario Franceschini, Italy's Minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, made two recommendations, one on development and one on cultural growth.
Irina Bokova, Director General of the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, made two recommendations on labour and employment within the digital revolution.
UK prime minister Theresa May, made one recommendations on the migration and refugee crisis in Europe.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau made one recommendation on world market integration and clean energy innovation.
Vincenzo Boccia, President of Confindustria, made one recommendation on labour and employment.
Gary Hufbauer, Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, also made one recommendation on free trade and the need for the G7 to play to their economies' strengths to prevent increased protectionism and a global downturn.
Paul Simons, Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, made one recommendation on energy, calling for G7 leaders to preserve supplies of critical resources.
Angel Gurría, Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, made one recommendation on development and inclusive growth.
Gilbert Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, made one recommendation on the importance of investing in food and agriculture.
Dr. Joachim Breuer, President of the International Social Security Association, also made one recommendation that G7 leaders should focus on sustainable development to maintain universal social protection.
Chiara Oldani, Professor of Monetary Economics at the University of Viterbo, made one recommendation on economics and financial regulation.
Brittaney Warren, Researcher for the G7 Research Group, made one recommendation on climate change.
William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organization for Migration, made one recommendation on migration and refugees.
Beatrice Lorenzin, Italy's Minister of Health, made one recommendation on health.
Graziano Delrio, Italy's Minister of Labour and Social Policies, made one recommendation on labour and employment.
James Hospedales, Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency, made one recommendation on health.
Fred van Leeuwen, General Secretary of Education International, made one recommendation on education and development.
Noah Gottdiener, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Duff and Phelps, made one recommendation on macroeconomics and financial development.
Apart from government leaders, the contributors included civil society leaders and academics at the forefront of global governance.
The most recommendations made were on fostering development, with 12. Next came labour and employment with seven, followed by energy, macroeconomics, health and regional security with five each (see Appendix B). Gender equality and financial regulation had four each. Food and agriculture, migration and refugees, the digital economy and innovation, and cyber security had three each. The less popular issues included climate change and education with just two recommendations made each. Trade had only one. No recommendations were made on the issues of inclusive growth, human rights or tax.
Of the 66 recommendations made, four (4.1%) demanded money be mobilized. These called for an increase in funding and investment of resources to implement new programs and regulations. Two recommendations called for self-monitoring, and two called for other international organizations to help achieve the G7's priorities.
How well were these recommendations realized in the G7 leaders' collective concluding communiqué?
To answer, the G7 Research Group analyzed the degree to which these 66 recommendations were realized in the 180 commitments made by the G7 leaders communiqué produced at the 2017 Taormina Summit (see Appendix A). Overall, of the 66 recommendations made in G7 Italy: The Taormina Summit 2017, 37 (56%) were realized at Taormina (see Appendix C). There were 18 recommendations realized in more than one commitment, 20 recommendations realized in only one commitment and 28 recommendations not realized in any commitment. In total, 14 recommendations received a score of +1 for a full match and 23 received a score of 0 for a partial match; 29 received a score of −1 for no match.
Of the contributors, G7 member ministers had the most recommendations realized at 12 (see Appendix A). This was followed by 10 recommendations realized by international organizations. Seven recommendations were realized each by contributors from other international institutions, and seven were realized from G7 leaders. Two recommendations were realized by contributors in academia. There were no recommendations realized made by contributors who were leaders of countries that are non-G7 members or heads of non-governmental organizations, or that were heads of a business.
The contributor with the highest number of recommendations made at nine (Calenda) had just three realized. Of the two contributors who made six recommendations each, all were realized for one contributor (Padoan) and three were realized for the other (Hajjar).
Some contributors, while making fewer recommendations, had more of them realized as a percentage. Gentiloni made five recommendations with all of them realized. Beasley had 100% of his three recommendations realized. Jalilvand and Wesphal, Mlambo-Ngcuka and Kulik had 100% of their two recommendations realized. Several contributors had their one recommendation realized: May, Trudeau, Hufbauer, Simons, Gurría, Houngbo and Breuer.
Other contributors' recommendations were partially realized at 50% each, including Davies, Franceschini, Bokova and, as already mentioned, Hajjar.
The highest number of recommendations realized, at 100%, came on the issues of energy, food and agriculture, cyber security, terrorism, and trade (see Appendix D). Next came macroeconomics and gender equality with 80% realized. In the middle came migration and refugees at 66.7%, regional security at 60% and financial regulation at 50%. At the bottom came labour and employment at 42.9% and development at 41.7%. No recommendations were realized in the issue areas of climate change, health, digital economy and innovation, or education. The average number of recommendations realized was 62%.
Of the 66 recommendations made by 28 contributors, 37 were realized in the form of a politically binding commitment in the G7's communiqué produced at the 2017 Taormina Summit. Of these there was only a moderate connection to the Taormina Summit priority of addressing the migration and refugee crisis, with greater emphasis put on terrorism, evident in the stand-alone G7 Taormina Statement on the Fight Against Terrorism and Violent Extremism at the summit. There was a strong emphasis on gender equality, an uncontroversial issue among G7 members, including U.S. president Donald Trump, and thus one in which strong progress was made at the summit, also with the stand-alone G7 Roadmap for a Gender-Responsive Economic Environment. However, the other issues that received a dedicated document — G7 People-Centered Action Plan on Innovation, Skills and Labor — had fewer recommendations realized on jobs and none at all on innovation. On the most divisive issue at the Taormina Summit, climate change, neither of the two recommendations made were realized, as the G7 leaders failed to convince Trump of the real and present dangers of climate change, resulting in a historic poor performance on commitment making on this issue.
Future analysis will show how well the G7 has complied with the recommendations the world's experts made to the G7 Taormina Summit and, subsequently, how well the recommendations made to the 2018 summit that Canada will host on June 8-9 in Charlevoix, Quebec, will in turn be realized.
Contributor (N=28) | Title | Category | # recommendations made | # recommendations realized | % recommendations realized |
Pier Carlo Padoan | Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy | Minister (G7) | 6 | 6 | 100% |
Paolo Gentiloni | Prime Minister of Italy | G7 Member | 5 | 5 | 100% |
David Beasley | Executive Director, World Food Programme | International Organization | 3 | 3 | 100% |
David Ramin Jalilvand & Kristen Westphal | Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik | International Organization | 2 | 2 | 100% |
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka | Executive Director, UN Women | International Organization | 2 | 2 | 100% |
Julia Kulik | Director of Research, G7 Research Group | Academia | 2 | 2 | 100% |
Theresa May | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | G7 Member | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Justin Trudeau | Prime Minister of Canada | G7 Member | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Gary Hufbauer | Reginald Jones Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics | International Institution | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Paul Simons | Deputy Executive Director, International Energy Agency | International Institution | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Angel Gurria | Secretary General, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development | International Organization | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Gilbert Houngbo | President, International Fund for Agricultural Development | International Institution | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Joachim Breuer | President, International Social Security Association | International Institution | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Vincenzo Boccia | President, Confindustria | Association | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Dario Franceschini | Minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Italy | Minister (G7) | 2 | 1 | 50% |
Irina Bokova | Director General, UNESCO | International Organization | 2 | 1 | 50% |
Bandar Hajjar | President, Islamic Development Bank Group | International Institution | 6 | 3 | 50% |
Dame Sally Davies | Chief Medical Officer to the UK Government | Minister (G7) | 4 | 2 | 50% |
Carlo Calenda | Minister of Economic Development, Italy | Minister (G7) | 9 | 3 | 33.3% |
Chiara Oldani | Professor, University of Viterbo | Academia | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Brittaney Warren | Researcher, G7 Research Group | Academia | 1 | 0 | 0% |
William Lacy Swing | Director General, International Organization for Migration | International Organization | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Beatrice Lorenzin | Minister of Health, Italy | Minister (G7) | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Graziano Delrio | Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Italy | Minister (G7) | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Giuliano Poletti | Minister of Labour and Social Policies, Italy | Minister (G7) | 2 | 0 | 0% |
James Hospedales | Executive Director, Caribbean Public Health Agency | International Organization | 4 | 0 | 0% |
Fred van Leeuwen | General Secretary, Education International | International Organization | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Noah Gottdiener | CEO and Chair, Duff and Phelps | Business | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Total | - | - | 66 | 37 | 56% |
Issue |
# recommendations |
Development | 12 |
Labour and Employment | 7 |
Energy | 5 |
Macroeconomics | 5 |
Health | 5 |
Regional Security | 5 |
Gender Equality | 4 |
Financial Regulation | 4 |
Food and Agriculture | 3 |
Migration/Refugees | 3 |
Digital Economy/Innovation | 3 |
Cyber Security | 3 |
Climate Change | 2 |
Terrorism | 2 |
Education | 2 |
Trade | 1 |
Inclusive Growth/Human Rights | 0 |
Tax | 0 |
Total | 66 |
Note: Macroeconomic policy = includes references to economic growth, structural reform, economic security
Recommendations realized (N=66) | Issue area | Contributor | Degree of match breakdown | Degree of match | Average score | # matched commitments |
06: We need to implement measures of mutual trust, following a multilateral and comprehensive approach to conflict resolution, recognition of borders, and foster interreligious dialogue, and enhance economic cooperation in a perspective of joint exploitation of natural resources and make a difference in reaffirming the role and perception of the Mediterranean as a region | Regional Security | Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy | 1 | +1 | 100% | 1 |
09: We need to work together to drive energy innovation that will meet the world's future energy needs and create good, middle class jobs today | Energy | Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada | 1 | +1 | 100% | 1 |
10: Global instability and financial insecurity have helped to foster political discontent and a shift to populism. The G7 needs to focus on reducing inequalities of prospects, in order to enhance social cohesion | Development | Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy | 1 | +1 | 100% | 1 |
14: Reaffirming the goal to enhance tax transparency at the global level, all jurisdiction should ratify the organization for economic cooperation and development's convention on mutual administrative in Tax matters and implement the common reporting standards on the automatic exchange of information | Financial Regulation | Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy | 1 | +1 | 100% | 1 |
22: Effective policies are needed to enforce cybersecurity and train our communities to deal with cyber risks | Cyber Security | Carlo Calenda, Minister of Economic Development, Italy | 1, 1 | +1 | 100% | 2 |
38: We expect that G7 leaders at the Taormina Summit to reaffirm their strong commitment to enhancing international cooperation for both security and sustainable development | Regional Security | Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group | 1 | +1 | 100% | 1 |
55: G7 leaders in 2017 should endorse a strong energy investment agenda for clean energy technology, supporting both economic growth and the energy transition | Energy | Paul Simons, Deputy Executive Director of International Energy Agency | 1 | +1 | 100% | 1 |
60: For the G7 progress on gender equality to have a lasting impact, the issue should be woven into all the mainstream summit agenda | Gender | Julia Kulik, Director of Research, G7 Research Group | 1 | +1 | 100% | 1 |
61: The G7 members should work with international organizations to produce gender-disaggregated data in a timely manner | Gender | Julia Kulik, Director of Research, G7 Research Group | 1, 1, 1 | +1 | 100% | 3 |
11: Global recover y is progressing, yet growth remains to moderate and below potential, with the balance of risks still tilted down. Against this backdrop, G7 members must confirm their commitment to international economic and financial cooperation and their determination to use all policy tools – monetary, fiscal, and structural, to achieve the goal of strong and sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth | Macroeconomics | Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy | .5, 1 | +1 | 75% | 2 |
05: Our strategy should continue to include defeating the Daesh in the control of the territory and should continue to insist on the military campaign as well as in counter-narrative, increased exchanges among relevant intelligent agencies, and de radicalization, cooperation in this region is key | Terrorism | Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy | 1, 1, .5, .5, 1, .5, .5, | +1 | 71.4% | 7 |
08: We need to work together to find better solutions to the huge population movement we're seeing, so refugees don't have to risk their lives on dangerous journeys and so we control the unmanageable economic migration that is neither working for migrants nor for our own populations | Migration and Refugees | Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | .5, .5, 1 | +1 | 67% | 3 |
28: Supporting intercultural dialogue and building a common sentiment among nations are both fundamental instruments of cooperation, integrity, solidarity, growth, and sustainable development. Now more than ever this must become a strong commitment of the international community | Development | Dario Franceschini, Minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Italy | .5, 1, .5 | +1 | 67% | 3 |
35: It is necessary to design social safety nets to protect vulnerable populations and most importantly, create new opportunities | Regional Security | Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group | .5, 1, .5 | +1 | 67% | 3 |
04: We should continue to address the broader political and security challenges coming from areas of crisis around the Mediterranean with Libya at the top of our priorities, an inclusive political process could be safeguarded for the unity of the country and benefit the entire region | Terrorism | Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy | 1, .5, .5, .5 | 0 | 62.5% | 4 |
58: The G7 will not be able to accomplish its goals without addressing this imbalance and boosting the pipeline that propels girls and women out of poverty into fulfilling and valued careers | Gender | Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women | 1, .5, .5, .5, .5 | 0 | 60% | 5 |
01: We should continue to address the broader political and security challenges coming from areas of crisis around the Mediterranean | Migration and Refugees | Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
02: The gradual integration of economies in the regions of sub-Saharan Africa, the middle east, and north Africa should be pursued as a means to boost growth and job creation in the entire euro-Mediterranean region | Macroeconomics | Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
12: There is merit in discussing at the G7 level, the potential for a cyber insurance market | Cyber Security | Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy | .5, .5 | 0 | 50% | 2 |
13: Timely, consistent and widespread implementation of the base erosion and profit sharing package is crucial. All relevant and interested countries and jurisdictions should commit to implement it and join the inclusive framework | Macroeconomics | Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
15: Tax authorities should intensify their sharing of specialized and targeted knowledge and practices within the framework of existing international cooperation networks and rely more on joint risk analyses and audits | Financial Regulation | Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
18: Guidelines for research and development should be created to mitigate cyber risks | Cyber Security | Carlo Calenda, Minister of Economic Development, Italy | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
24: It is important to continue defending a broader energy security strategy to ensure that the different aspects of the globalized energy markets shared among energy consumers, producers and transit countries are taken into account | Energy | Carlo Calenda, Minister of Economic Development, Italy | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
31: Financing schemes, particularly those for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), should be set up to boost transnational partnerships and global supply chains | Labour and Employment | Vincenzo Boccia, President of Confindustria | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
36: Urgent reforms are needed in education and labour market regulations in north Africa and other Arab states | Labour and Employment | Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
41: The G7 's room for actions is rather limited, but should assist in the development of more effective social welfare systems as an important step towards reducing subsidies and thereby slowing the expansion of energy demand in the region | Energy | David Ramin Jalilvand, Freidrich Ebert Foundation, and Kirsten Westphal, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
42: The G7 should promote a sustainable energy agenda in line with the seventh united nations sustainable development goal | Energy | David Ramin Jalilvand, Freidrich Ebert Foundation, and Kirsten Westphal, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik | .5, .5 | 0 | 50% | 2 |
44: Addressing AMR is also integral to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 agenda | Development | David Ramin Jalilvand, Freidrich Ebert Foundation, and Kirsten Westphal, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
51: G7 members in Taormina should explore ways to invest in food security programmes | Food and Agriculture | David Beasley, Executive Director, World Food Programme | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
52: In the short term, G7 members need to commit the resources necessary to deliver adequate social support programmes, including food assistance, to displaced people as close to home as possible | Food and Agriculture | David Beasley, Executive Director, World Food Programme | .5, .5, .5 | 0 | 50% | 3 |
53: As the G7 members gather in Taormina for their discussions, they should explore ways to invest in food security programmes which enable the victims of hunger, war and poverty to rebuild their livelihoods as close to home as possible | Development | David Beasley, Executive Director, World Food Programme | .5, .5 | 0 | 50% | 2 |
54: Beyond averting an outright trade war or the spread of micro protection, the G7 leaders should chart a course of trade expansion. Current account surplus countries such as Germany and Japan should take the lead, but the actions asked of them should differ depending on the circumstances | Trade | Gary Hufbauer, Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics | .5 | 0 | 50% | 1 |
56: G7 governments should look at the bread and butter of fiscal policy, tax and spending, from an inclusive growth perspective. This means broadening tax bases, strengthening the progressivity of the overall tax system in countries where it has become low or diminished significantly, and crucially stepping up international tax evasion and avoidance. This also means stepping up infrastructure investment including social infrastructure, and introducing greater efficiency in public spending by prioritizing key interventions in education, health, social services and better targeting the people and places most in need. | Macroeconomics | Angel Gurría, Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development | .5, .5, .5, .5, .5 | 0 | 50% | 5 |
57: It was in 2009 that Italy's G7 presidency drew international attention to the importance of investing in agriculture and this year's meeting will continue to build on those foundations, as recent G7 presidencies have done. The time is now ripe for the G7 to turn its attention to putting concrete financial and action commitments on the table | Agriculture and Food | Gilbert Houngbo, President of International Fund for Agricultural Development | .5, .5 | 0 | 50% | 2 |
59: Women's collective voice in decisions that affect their lives is key in both the public and private sectors, including trade unions, political bodies and on senior management boards. Achieving this requires gender parity at all levels, which can be effectively promoted by G7 members, including through temporary special measures and timeframes for reaching gender parity in all institutions well ahead of 2030 | Gender | Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women | .5, .5, .5, .5 | 0 | 50% | 4 |
63: We must do everything to ensure the digital revolution is a development revolution for everyone and this calls for targeted policies – including G7 by members – to bridge digital divides, to widen access by marginalized groups, to empower girls and women especially, and to ensure everyone has the right skills to make the most of change | Labour and Employment | Irina Bokova, Director General, UNESCO | .5, .5 | 0 | 50% | 2 |
64: In line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, G7 governments should take decisive action to maintain or achieve the global objective of universal social protection | Development | Joachim Breuer, President of the International Social Security Association | .5, .5 | 0 | 50% | 2 |
Issue area | Recommendations realized |
Energy | 100% (5/5) |
Food and Agriculture | 100% (3/3) |
Cyber Security | 100% (3/3) |
Terrorism | 100% (2/2) |
Trade | 100% (1/1) |
Macroeconomics | 80% (4/5) |
Gender Equality | 80% (4/5) |
Migration/Refugees | 66.7% (2/3) |
Regional Security | 60% (3/5) |
Financial Regulation | 50% (2/4) |
Labour and Employment | 42.9% (3/7) |
Development | 41.7% (5/12) |
Health | 0% (0/5) |
Digital Economy/Innovation | 0% (0/3) |
Education | 0% (0/2) |
Climate Change | 0% (0/2) |
Total | 37 |
Average | 62% |
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