The summit will be the first major international gathering attended by France's new president Francois Hollande and will mark the G8 debut of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. This is the first G8 summit, which one of the core leaders (Vladimir Putin) chose willingly not to attend the gathering, due to speculative reasons.

The leaders will meet at a time of growing concern over Europe's plight, with the eurozone back in recession, and regional leaders demanding Greece stick to its debt rescue deal or risk exiting the euro.

The summit "will be an opportunity for the United States, with France, Italy and perhaps the UK to work on the Germans to be more flexible with respect to reflating their economy, letting their wages rise,"