The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) will co-chair the Think7 (T7) in 2026. The T7 is the official engagement group of the G7 for global think tanks and research centres. It aims at building a bridge between research and policymaking in a bid to produce fresh policy proposals for G7 countries.
This year, ECFR and IDDRI will involve over 50 think tanks, foundations and research centres, from all G7 countries, plus Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, Kenya, Switzerland and Spain.
The 2026 T7 will structure its work around four pillars – development finance, industrial policy, economic security and innovation/tech. IDDRI will lead on development finance and industrial policy, while ECFR will be in charge of the economic security and innovation/tech pillars.
As co-chairs, ECFR and IDDRI oversee the selection of T7 participants and the convenings of working groups that produce actionable, concrete policy proposals for G7 economies. Both think tanks will draft solution papers; organise briefings for G7 capitals around major moments of France’s G7 presidency; and prepare the final T7 communiqué ahead of the G7 summit that will take place in Évian on June 15-17th.
“In line with the ECFR’s DNA as a think and do-tank, our motto for the 2026 T7 is “actionable”: we will focus on producing targeted, concrete policy proposals on a wide range of topics that have become central for G7 economies – from economic security to the AI revolution and industrial policy”, says Agathe Demarais, the head of ECFR’s Geoeconomics & Tech team in charge of the T7 process.
"I want to emphasize the great diversity of think tanks that are joining the T7, both from G7 and from non G7 countries, that are large emerging economies. This is an opportunity for a deeper and I hope, constructive dialogue that our brutal world really needs", says Céline Kauffmann, Chief Programmes Officer and T7 lead at IDDRI.
ECFR’s Geoeconomics & Tech team will lead four working groups:
- Economic security pillar:
- Economic statecraft – lessons learnt from recent developments and challenges ahead
- Boosting economic security collaboration among G7 economies and like-minded allies
- Innovation/tech pillar:
- Innovation, investment and long-term growth
- AI for middle powers
IDDRI will lead five working groups:
- Coordinating new industrial policies
- Secure, responsible and equitable value chains for critical minerals
- Strengthening coherence between investment agreements and sustainable development commitments
- Financing sustainable development
- Towards a more effective and integrated Public Development Bank (PDB) system
- Enhancing insurability against natural disasters
- Standardising and strengthening accountability for biodiversity finance
For media inquiries or further information, please contact
Mireia Faro (Communications Officer at ECFR) at Mireia.Faro@ecfr.eu
Brigitte Béjean (Communications Director at IDDRI) at brigitte.bejean@iddri.org
You can find more information about IDDRI’s work on international relations and sustainability here, and ECFR’s experts and analysis on geoeconomics and tech here.
The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is an award-winning, pan-European think-tank. Launched in October 2007, its objective is to conduct research and promote informed debate across Europe on the development of coherent and effective European values-based foreign policy. ECFR is an independent charity and funded from a variety of sources.
IDDRI is an international think tank based in Paris, dedicated to sustainable development. Guided by the vision of a society that ensures prosperity for all—in both the Global North and South—while staying within the planet’s environmental boundaries, IDDRI identifies and promotes pathways to achieve this ambition through international cooperation and European policymaking. Grounded in science, the institute fosters dialogue among stakeholders and works in partnership with a wide network of organizations around the world.
