Follow Hans von der Burchard on Twitter | Send tips and insights to hvdburchard@politico.eu Hi, Hans von der Burchard here, POLITICO’s senior politics reporter in Berlin, Germany, bringing you today’s Global Insider edition with a preview of this week’s big G7 gathering in Japan. FROM REYKJAVIK WITH LOVE COUNCIL OF EUROPE … WHO? Leaders from nearly 50 European countries gathered from Tuesday until today in a futuristic looking concert hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, for the fourth summit of the Council of Europe — a post-World War II body dedicated to promoting democracy, peace and human rights in Europe, not at least through its European Court of Human Rights based in Strasbourg. Not the EU: Despite its name, the Council of Europe is independent from the European Union, and is not to be confused with the European Council (the regular gathering of EU leaders in Brussels) or the Council of the EU (the meeting of various ministers from EU countries to discuss new laws). In other words, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attended the Reykjavik summit. You’re excused, however, if you haven’t heard much of the Council before … in fact, it hasn’t held such a big summit since 2005, and mostly made headlines in recent years for a corruption scandal and its exclusion of Russia (as well as suspension of Belarus) last year amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Holding Russia accountable: The Reykjavik summit was organized to deal with the fallout from that war, and the core agreement this morning was the decision to set up a register of damage caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The register, which will be based in The Hague for an initial period of three years, will serve as a record of evidence and claims on damage, loss or injury caused by Russia, which is supposed to pave the way for a future compensation of the victims. In his speech in the Reykjavik concert hall, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed the importance “of punishing the war crimes of the Russian occupiers and demanding accountability for the enormous damage that Russia is inflicting on Ukraine day after day.” Zelenskyy’s plea: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been visiting numerous European capitals in recent days, gave a virtual speech at the summit, doubling down on his plea to supply Ukraine with Western fighter jets. Noting the recent success of Ukrainian air defenses, which shot down numerous high-tech Russian missiles overnight Tuesday, Zelenskyy said that “we also need modern fighter jets, without which no air defense system will be perfect. And I am sure we will get there.” Reclaiming its role: The gathering in Iceland had yet another purpose though for the aging Council of Europe, which is to preserve it from descending into irrelevance. The arrival of a new kid on the block — the European Political Community (EPC) launched by French President Emmanuel Macron, and which will next meet on June 1 in Moldova — forced the Council, which hasn’t exactly been at the center of European debates in recent years, to defend its patch. “With questions raised about the value of so many pan-European bodies, the Council — which employs 2,200 people and has an annual budget of €479 million — is scrambling to justify its existence,” my colleague Cristina Gallardo reports. Also, the European Union is finalizing its bid to join the European Convention on Human Rights, a decades-old treaty setting human rights standards that’s already been ratified by 46 European countries. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel made the announcement together in Iceland today during a rare joint speech. G7 CALLING The big shots of European leaders (France’s Macron, the U.K.’s Sunak, Germany’s Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as well as European Commission President von der Leyen and European Council President Michel) only have a short break upon their return from Iceland before heading off to the next big gathering: the G7 leaders’ summit, hosted by Japan in Hiroshima from Friday to Sunday. Sanctions push: U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has been urging partners ahead of the summit to reverse their current sanctions strategy, which is to allow all exports to Russia except goods that are banned. Washington proposes instead that all exports to war-waging Russia should be banned, minus a few exceptions such as food stuff, drugs and medical equipment. Many EU countries like Germany, however, oppose that approach. EU balks at Russian gas pipeline ban: The G7 club is also mulling a measure that would bar countries like Germany and Poland from resuming imports of natural gas from Russia even if the Kremlin decides to turn the taps back on. Yet the EU is unlikely to back that approach either, report my colleagues Gabriel Gavin and Victor Jack. Nevertheless, new sanctions are likely: The EU is already preparing an 11th sanctions package that targets countries that are circumventing current Russia sanctions, and the G7 is expected to take further steps in that direction as well. “During the G7 Summit, the leaders will discuss implementing strict and stronger sanctions against Russia and promoting further support for Ukraine,” Noriyuki Shikata, Cabinet secretary at the Japanese prime minister’s office, told Global Insider, adding that the “G7 are committed to intensifying sanctions against Russia, coordinating and fully enforcing them, including through the Enforcement Coordination Mechanism launched in February.” China and economic coercion on the menu: G7 leaders will also deal with China as the world’s second biggest economy is showing an increasingly aggressive stance, not only when it comes to Taiwan but also when exercising trade restrictions, so-called economic coercion, against countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia or Lithuania when they’re clashing with Beijing’s interests. “When measured against the recent past, the G7 and EU are more strategically aligned in key economic and military matters,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel told Global Insider. “For example, never before has the G7 addressed economic coercion.” Tough language from Brussels: “Of course, we are competing with China. This means we have to strengthen our own economic vibrancy,” von der Leyen said earlier this week as she reiterated the EU’s readiness to step up export control under the framework of economic security. Asia focus: Broader security in the Indo-Pacific area will also be on the agenda, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Korean President Joko Widodo and Vietnamese President Võ Văn Thưởng attending the summit as special guests. After the G7, there will also be an EU-South Korea summit in Seoul on Monday, with EU leaders like Scholz also visiting the South Korean capital.
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