We use cookies in order to ensure that you can get the best browsing experience possible on the Council website. Certain cookies are used to obtain aggregated statistics about website visits to help us constantly improve the site and better serve your needs. Other cookies are used to boost performance and guarantee security of the website.
With your permission, we will use AT internet and Hotjar cookies to produce aggregated, anonymous data about our visitors’ browsing and behaviour on our website. We will use this data to improve your experience on our website.
To get more information about these cookies, how and why we use them and how you can change your settings, check our cookies policy page.
European Council
Council of the European Union
At a virtual summit hosted by Saudi Arabia, the G20 leaders expressed their strong commitment to coordinated global action, solidarity, and multilateral cooperation. They committed to working together to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, restore growth and jobs, and build a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.
Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, represented the EU at the two-day event.
At the end of the summit, the G20 leaders adopted a declaration:
President Michel and President von der Leyen issued a joint press release following the summit.
The EU leaders stressed the need for strong multilateral cooperation in the fight against the pandemic. They called on the G20 to provide, before the end of the year, $4.5 billion for mass procurement and delivery of COVID-19 tools. This amount is urgently needed for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) and its COVAX facility.
The G20 leaders committed to sparing no effort to make sure that all people have affordable and equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.
They also committed to advancing global pandemic preparedness, prevention, detection and response. In this context, President Michel proposed an initiative to ensure a better global response to future pandemics.
An international treaty on pandemics could help us respond more quickly and in a more coordinated manner when pandemics occur. It should be negotiated with all UN organisations and agencies, in particular the WHO. The WHO must remain the cornerstone of global coordination against health emergencies.
The G20 leaders were determined to support the most vulnerable and fragile countries, notably in Africa, in their fight against the pandemic.
To this end, they committed to allowing countries eligible under the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to suspend official bilateral debt service payments until June 2021.
The EU leaders stressed that additional steps might be needed, and the summit endorsed the “Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI”, which is also endorsed by the Paris Club.
The G20 debt moratorium is a good step in the right direction, and it might have to be extended beyond mid-2021.
The EU leaders urged all G20 members to work towards the full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.
They stressed that the EU is leading the way to climate neutrality by 2050 and welcomed the fact that many G20 partners had taken the same commitments.
They also promoted a recovery based on green, inclusive, sustainable, resilient and digital growth in line with the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.
The G20 leaders reaffirmed their support to the WTO reform process in the lead-up to the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference. They recognised the contribution that the Riyadh Initiative on the Future of the WTO has made.
The leaders also agreed to strive to find a consensus-based solution for a globally fair, sustainable, and modern international tax system by mid-2021, built on the ongoing work of the OECD.
On the digital economy, the G20 leaders expressed their support for fostering an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment and for protecting and empowering consumers while addressing the challenges related to privacy, data protection, intellectual property rights and security.
Let us use this window of opportunity to shape together the 21st century global economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, safe and more resilient. We owe it to the future generations.
The summit follows an earlier, extraordinary G20 leaders’ video conference that was held on 26 March to coordinate action to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
At their meeting on 26 March, leaders expressed their determination to spare no effort, both individually and collectively, to:
During the meeting, President Michel and President von der Leyen underlined the European Union’s commitment to international cooperation in tackling this pandemic, and stressed that the EU will continue to assist vulnerable countries and communities around the world, especially in Africa.
Under the overall theme of “Realising Opportunities of the 21st Century for All”, the Saudi Arabian G20 presidency focuses on three areas:
The G20 members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. Spain is a permanent guest.
The last physical G20 summit took place in Osaka, Japan, in 2019.
If you are not a journalist, please send your request to the public information service.
Subscription options
Is there something wrong with this page?
We want to hear your feedback about our website.
This will help us improve your experience.
Please take a few minutes to complete a survey at the end of your visit.
About the secretariat
Corporate policies
Contact
Email subscription
Sign up to receive our email and SMS alerts
About this site
This website is the official website of the Council of the EU and the European Council. It is managed by the General Secretariat of the Council, the body of staff responsible for assisting the Council of the EU and the European Council.
Follow us