Schäuble: Statement on the 2015 German G7 Presidency

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Summits > Road to the 2015 Elmau Summit

Statement on the German G7 Presidency

Wolfgang Schäuble, June 29, 2014
[Video]

Germany has assumed the Presidency of the G7. The G7, that's the group of seven leading industrialised nations and alongside Germany, comprises the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada. The Heads of State and Government meet regularly, as do the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. Our objective is to make the global economy more dynamic, make the financial system more stable, and make international taxation fairer. That's what people rightly expect. We have three working priorities:

Making the global economy more dynamic: The global economy has recovered fairly well from the global financial crisis. Now we need to consolidate this recovery. That means all countries, especially the G7, have to play their part. We need sustainable growth, not a brief success. Sound public finances and less debt are crucial in achieving that. We need even more investment and, in particular, structural reforms.

We have to close remaining gaps in financial market regulation. Globally, many rules have been agreed, especially within the G20, to apply the lessons from the financial crisis. They must be implemented rigorously. We G7 countries have a special responsibility in this regard. In some areas we still have a great deal to do, such as in the area of controls on so-called shadow banks. This is the only way to ensure we are better protected against financial crises in future.

And we need closer international cooperation in tax matters. Taxes are the basis for sound public finances. We want to see internationally agreed rules that prevent large corporations from avoiding appropriate taxation by understating or shifting profits. We also need to make the exchange of tax information across national borders even more effective so that we can combat tax evasion more efficiently. Only if everyone contributes their fair share to the funding of public budgets will people retain their trust in our tax system.

I am confident that, together with our partners, we will make progress towards these objectives during our Presidency and I look forward to our working together.

Source: German Federal Ministry of Finance

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