For the first time in the last three years, European leaders had found themselves out of firing line of the region's economy. This was during the Group of 20 summit attended by EU countries whose emerging economic troubles had taken the spotlight.

There were also several meetings held in Los Cabos, Seoul, Cannes and Toronto from 2010. The agenda of the meetings were usually about Europe's debt crisis. Leaders had talked about the impact of debt on financial markets and the global economy. However, signs of a turnaround were foreseen with growth and exports slowly picking up and consumer confidence increasing. US President Barack Obama also addressed Europe's debt issue at the start of his end-of-summit news conference.

According to Obama, "For the first time in three years, instead of an urgent discussion to address the European financial crisis, we see a Europe that has emerged from recession."