Kemi Osukoya | G7 & GEOECONOMICS

French President Emmanuel Macron entered this week’s G7 Leaders’ Summit with a warning that advanced economies must address emerging geopolitical risks before they translate into energy shocks, supply disruptions and slower growth.

France currently holds the G7 presidency this year, the second time during Macron’s presidency and the seventh since the summit was first launched in Rambouillet, France, in 1975.

Speaking ahead of the summit’s opening sessions, Macron said the immediate challenge facing world leaders is turning the emerging U.S.-Iran peace agreement into a durable framework for energy security while maintaining support for Ukraine and securing access to the critical minerals underpinning modern industry.

“Our first priority is to ensure that this agreement becomes reality and that the Strait of Hormuz can reopen peacefully so that shipping traffic can resume,” Macron said early Monday in an interview with French television TF1.

“This is very important for our citizens because roughly a quarter of the world’s oil and gas production passes through this strait.”

His remarks place the world’s most important energy chokepoint at the center of this year’s G7 gathering in Evian, where leaders will confront a convergence of crises ranging from Middle East instability and the war in Ukraine to trade tensions and growing concern over the West’s dependence on China for critical minerals and rare earths.

Macron said France, alongside the United Kingdom and other European partners, stands ready to support efforts to secure commercial shipping through the Hormuz once the agreement is finalized and receives international backing.

“Together with the British, we have established a mission,” Macron said. “Several nations are already present in the area—the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom and France. We are prepared to act very quickly by deploying aircraft, a frigate, mine-clearing vessels and our aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, which remains in the region and can be deployed within two or three days if the agreement is confirmed.”

France could begin surveillance operations almost immediately, he added.

“As early as tomorrow, we could have fighter jets and aircraft conducting initial surveillance missions. We could have a frigate deployed tomorrow, and within two to three days, we could indeed have the Charles de Gaulle, mine-clearing capabilities and everything that accompanies the carrier strike group.”

Macron stressed that any deployment would occur only within an internationally agreed framework.

“None of this makes sense unless there is an international agreement. That is what we will be working toward.”

He also rejected any suggestion that Iran could impose transit fees on vessels using the waterway.

“If that is the case, it would not represent a return to the previous situation,” he said. “It is certainly not what we want because it would set a dangerous precedent.”

“There are many strategic straits around the world. If countries begin charging passage fees, the consequence is obvious: prices rise for everyone,” he underscored.

He stated that the immediate goal is to allow hundreds of tankers and container ships currently delayed outside the strait to resume movement.

“The next few hours will be critical. We need to see the first ships begin transiting the strait again.”

While reopening Hormuz remains the short-term priority, Macron argued that governments must also reduce dependence on a single maritime chokepoint by investing in alternative energy corridors linking Gulf producers to Mediterranean and global markets. “The objective is to reduce dependence on one strategic waterway. That requires infrastructure investment, and that is one of the commitments the G7 is discussing.”

Beyond the Middle East, Macron identified critical minerals and rare earths as one of the summit’s most important economic priorities.

“One of the major outcomes I expect from this G7 is an agreement on critical minerals and rare earths,” he said, noting that “these materials are essential for the devices we use every day, our defense industries and artificial intelligence technologies. China currently controls a significant share of supply, creating strategic dependencies.”

The issue carries growing significance for Africa, which has become central to Western efforts to diversify supplies of copper, cobalt, lithium, manganese, graphite and rare earth elements needed for energy technologies, advanced manufacturing, defense systems and artificial intelligence.

Countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia hold some of the world’s largest reserves of these resources, placing the continent at the center of an intensifying competition to secure future supply chains.

For G7 governments, access to those resources increasingly depends on infrastructure investments that connect African mineral producers to global markets.

Among the most significant projects is the Lobito Corridor, the U.S.- and European-backed rail and logistics network linking the copper belts of the DRC and Zambia to Angola’s Atlantic coast.

The corridor has emerged as one of the West’s flagship economic initiatives in Africa, designed to accelerate exports, lower transportation costs and provide alternative routes to mineral processing and trade networks long dominated by China.

Macron framed the broader initiative as an effort to avoid the supply shortages that exposed vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We all need critical minerals and rare earths to manufacture the equipment you see around us, the tools that allow us to communicate, support our defense capabilities, power our industries and, of course, drive artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies,” Macron said.

“If we can reach an agreement that allows us to cooperate, diversify our access to these resources, pool our efforts, prevent disruptions among ourselves and establish shared priorities, then I believe we will succeed.”

He noted that while it may sound technical, “the goal is to avoid repeating what we experienced during COVID with shortages of masks, tests and vaccines.”

Ukraine Remains a Test of Western Unity

Despite the diplomatic focus on Iran, Ukraine remains a central issue for G7 leaders. Macron said maintaining U.S. engagement remains essential even as European governments shoulder a growing share of Kyiv’s financial support.

“The United States remains an ally,” he said. “It is an ally that once believed the war could be ended quickly but has since recognized the complexity of the situation.”

While Europe is financing much of Ukraine’s defense effort, Macron noted that Washington “continues to provide weapons, intelligence and operational support.”

Ahead of meetings with President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Macron said one of his objectives is to reinforce a united Western position toward Russia.

“What I want is for the United States to say clearly: ‘We are with you. We will continue supporting Ukraine. We will increase pressure on Russia.'”

He also called for stronger action against Russia’s so-called shadow fleet used to evade sanctions and finance Moscow’s war effort.

“A successful peace negotiation would involve Ukraine and Russia at the table, with Europeans and Americans participating as well,” Macron emphasized.

Digital Regulation and Social Media

Macron also highlighted a growing international push to restrict social media access for children under 15, legislation France expects to implement beginning in September.

“The best experts have demonstrated that social media is harmful to children and adolescents,” he said, citing isolation, harassment risks and developmental impacts. More than half of EU members now support similar restrictions, with the U.K and Canada joining the initiative as momentum builds for coordinated digital regulation.

Digital regulation, artificial intelligence and trade are also expected to feature prominently in discussions between Macron and President Trump during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit.

That engagement carries added weight given Trump’s past pattern of leaving multilateral summits early, including last year’s G7 summit in Canada, a dynamic Macron and other European leaders are conscious of as they seek to secure continuity this week through the full three-day program. 

Macron said his objective is to ensure sustained participation through the summit’s final sessions, which he sees as essential to securing consensus across energy security, critical minerals and Ukraine

“If G7 countries do not cooperate,” Macron warned, “everything can become blocked.”