Brussels, 27/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - After their meeting in Luxembourg on 25 June for the 22nd session of the Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting of the European Union and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Qatar), EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton and the Saudi minister for foreign affairs, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, commended the progress in cooperation between the EU27 and the oil states of the Gulf on the 2010-2013 joint action programme in the areas of financial, economic and monetary cooperation; trade and investment; energy, nuclear safety and the environment; countering money laundering and terrorist financing; and patents and intellectual property protection. Ashton and Prince Al-Faisal also agreed “to inject greater strategic depth” into EU-GCC relations to guide the preparation of the next joint action programme 2013-2016 to promote peace and security, regional integration, economic growth, sustainable development, as well as to encourage people-to-people contacts.
The ministers held in-depth exchanges on the situation in the Middle East, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Yemen - subjects on which Ashton recognised that the EU and GCC “do not always have the same point of view”. While a common language was evident on the Syrian dossier, the GCC recalled that it wanted to reach a peaceful solution on the Iranian nuclear file, guaranteeing the rights of Iran and countries of the region to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in conformity with the principles of the IAEA. On the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the GCC singled out the negative impact of the continuation of Israel's policy of settlement building and border modification of the occupied Palestinian territories, and it recalled that conflict will only be resolved by a return to the 1967 borders of Palestine. By contrast, Ashton announced a convergence of views on global issues of common concern such as piracy, counter terrorism, and the promotion of human rights, rule of law and values of tolerance. Ashton and Prince Al-Faisal did not, on the other hand, tackle the file on negotiations for an EU-GCC free trade agreement, which were started a decade ago. The negotiations might nevertheless be close to conclusion, according to Gulf media, who this week relayed an interview with EU Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht indicating that the handling of export rights might now be the only question on hold in the negotiation (see EUROPE 10641). (EH/transl.fl)