The 24th G7 Speakers' Meeting
Dr. MORI Eisuke, Speaker of the House of Representatives, attended the 24th G7 Speakers' Meeting, which was held in Paris, France on 11 September (local time).
Mme. Yaël Braun-Pivet, President of the National Assembly of the French Republic, began by welcoming the participants and delivering her opening remarks. Ms. Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, and Dr. Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and a guest of the meeting, then delivered their opening addresses.
The agenda for the first session was "Building a vibrant democracy: Open Parliament, citizen trust and participation," at which the Rt. Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, the Hon. Lorenzo Fontana, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic, and the Hon. Francis Scarpaleggia, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, delivered keynote addresses, followed by the presiding officers exchanging views.
Speaker Mori shared his thoughts on the issues of the declining trust in parliamentarians and national governments' policies. He stated that even though some call for the partial implementation of direct participation even in democracies based on indirect representation, the issue is not indirect democracy itself but rather how to boost citizens' trust in it.
At a working lunch under the agenda, "How artificial intelligence challenges Parliaments," the presiding officers exchanged views. Speaker Mori explained how AI is being used at the House of Representatives and expressed concerns that the wider use of AI could have a greater impact on academia than on politics, with more academics skipping the process of developing intellectually through research in their professional fields.
In the second session, "What role should Parliaments play in foreign and defense policy in a context of global crises?," the Hon. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America, in a video message to the meeting, Ms. Julia Klöckner, President of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Dr. Mori delivered keynote addresses, followed by the presiding officers exchanging views.
Speaker Mori stated in his keynote address that foreign affairs and defense are not the concern of the government alone and stressed the importance of parliaments, as representative bodies of the people, exercising democratic control over those matters. He shared an example of how Japan's National Diet oversees the operations of the Self-Defense Forces by voting on budgets and legislation and having related committees question the government.
Dr. Mori noted that a national crisis in one country could affect another country's economy, energy and local communities. He stated that parliaments have a mission to help the government make better decisions by presenting the insights of parliamentarians, who come from a host of backgrounds and have accumulated a wide range of expertise to broadly represent the voices of different regions, age groups, and industry sectors. He also noted that interparliamentary exchange at multiple levels, including continuous exchange between parliamentary friendship leagues, would help strengthen bonds of trust with other countries and that such parliamentary diplomacy plays an important role in helping support governments' work in foreign relations.
The meeting was concluded with the adoption of the declaration to be issued.(Declaration(PDF:135KB))
Speaker Mori and the other presiding officers also met with H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, on the day of the meeting.
Dr. Mori had a bilateral meeting with his French, Canadian, German, British and Ukrainian counterparts (names below).
Mme. Yaël Braun-Pivet, President of the National Assembly, France
Hon. Francis Scarpaleggia, Speaker of the House of Commons, Canada
Ms. Julia Klöckner, President of the Bundestag, Germany
Rt. Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, UK
Dr. Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine
Participants
| Japan | Mori Eisuke, Speaker, House of Representatives |
| Canada | Francis Scarpaleggia, Speaker, House of Commons |
| France | Yaël Braun-Pivet, President, National Assembly |
| Germany | Julia Klöckner, President, Bundestag |
| Italy | Lorenzo Fontana, President, Chamber of Deputies |
| UK | Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker, House of Commons |
| USA* | Mike Johnson, Speaker, House of Representatives |
| * He sent a video message to the meeting. | |
| EP* | Roberta Metsola, President, European Parliament |
| * The European Parliament is a permanent observer of the meeting. |
Guest
| Ukraine | Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman, Verkhovna Rada |
Speaker Mori also visited the construction site for the ITER nuclear fusion reactor in southern France on 9 September prior to the G7 Speakers' Meeting.
