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Finance ministers and central bankers of the G7 (U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom) are found on Friday and Saturday in northern Canada (see below). As Barack Obama lashed out Wednesday at the undervaluation of the yuan, "matters relating to the Chinese currency (are) in all minds," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, suggesting that the subject would be treated by the G7.

Officially there is indeed no agenda, and contrary to tradition will be no statement issued after the meeting. "We want to rediscover the" spirit of Rambouillet "historic first G7 in 1975, and have a" chat by the fireside "freer," says one does in Paris.

There is also evidence that the G7 keeps all its usefulness, although the creation of the G20 seems to have finally stole the palm as an instance of global economic governance. The G7 countries are convinced that they have specific interests in common, as explained by a European central banker. "Our currencies are the only ones to be truly flexible, and also we can not forget that our economies have pushed capitalism to the brink!" Quipped the great European treasury.

Debt relief in Haiti

The G7 countries recognize the need to reorganize their respective banking systems, which – and alone! – Were behind the financial crisis of 2008.Mario Draghi, participate in debates with his two hats as governor of the Bank of Italy and Director of the Financial Stability Board, the international body created by the G20 to coordinate international regulation of all financial institutions, and not Only banks fast payday loans .

As for currencies, it is true that the G7 currencies are virtually alone, with few exceptions including the Swiss franc, which float freely, for better or for worse. The remarks made Wednesday by Barack Obama against the yuan, strangely overlapping language of Nicolas Sarkozy vis-à-vis the dollar."The price of currencies and their accuracy is one of the challenges we face on the international level to ensure that the prices of our products are not artificially inflated and those of their equally artificially lowered," said U.S. President.

Even if the G7 should lead to no decision, according to a spokesman for the German Finance Ministry, announcements could be made regarding Haiti. The U.S. Treasury first raised the issue of debt relief for Haiti. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF managing director and Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank participate in the Canadian meeting.

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During the worst crisis in the global economy since 1929, electronic commerce has continued to grow. The turnover posted by online merchants reached 25 billion euros, up 26% in one year. Growth continues at a speed so rampant: the activity has increased tenfold since 2002. Electronic commerce now weighs just over 4% of retail sales (excluding food and pharmaceuticals) business cards . And projections are optimistic, according to the Federation of e-commerce and distance selling (Fevad), who presented the results Tuesday, the amount could reach 46 billion by 2012. The increase in 2009 was fueled in particular the creation of 17,000 new commercial sites, two every hour!

Barely two months after the EU-Russia summit in Stockholm, the energy tensions resurface. Moscow may decide to deprive Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic of oil because of "unresolved issues between the Russian Federation and Ukraine," said the Slovak government in a statement Monday, citing a letter sent by the Russia to the European Commission.

In this letter, Moscow stresses the existence of a "trade dispute" with Kiev, confirmed a spokesman for the European Commission Figaro.fr. "Member states have been alerted to this note by the usual procedures. The oil price is a sensitive issue between the two neighboring countries, which have already been two "gas wars" in late 2005 and early 2009. If Europe is much less dependent on gas than oil from Russia, the prospect of closing the valve by Moscow worried.Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has convened an emergency meeting of the Security Council in the country on Monday, the government said.

Kiev wants "guarantees" on transit

The Ukraine has not responded. Sergui Zinkevitch, a spokesman for the Ukrainian pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta, told AFP that Kiev wanted to review the conditions of transit of Russian oil to the EU. "The current contract was concluded in 2004 for fifteen years, the Ukraine wants to make amendments." And seeks assurances from Moscow on the volume of oil transiting through the country. "Negotiations are continuing," acted as spokesman. According Sergui Zinkevitch, however, complaints from Moscow did not arise, the tariff issue has been resolved."A compromise satisfactory to both parties has been found," he said.

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While the inaugural flight of military transport aircraft A400M has just taken place, the boss of aerospace group reported ambitious goals, with the hope of doubling turnover in ten years alone. "We want to double the turnover of 43 billion currently to approximately 80 billion by 2020," says Louis and Welsh, president of the European group EADS, in an interview published Monday by the German newspaper WirtschaftsWoche.

Additions to the services area

Such growth can not be fully carried out internally and should pass through acquisitions, particularly in the services sector. "I see, for example, a potential for services generate 20 to 25% of turnover. Today we're at a little over ten per cent. There are services such as maintenance, training and repair.We want to add new services, "said Louis Welsh.

EADS CEO also said that no decision has yet been arrested for his participation in the tender for the renewal of the American fleet of refueling aircraft, which represents a potential market of 50 billion dollars. "We never said we should abandon the game, only that we had concerns about the current process of bidding," says he.

Northrop Grumman's partner, EADS, announced last week that he would not participate in the tender launched by the Pentagon, believing that the requirements of the contract favored Boeing in the current state of things.

EADS shares gained 1.5% to 12.55 euros on the Paris Bourse at about 11:00.

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