On Monday 21 February ministers from EU Member States and their counterparts from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries called for closer cooperation. This was the first Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting since 2016.
According to the joint declaration of the two presidencies adopted on this occasion, ministers agreed on the importance of strengthening GCC-EU relations in a wide range of areas, including political dialogue, regional security, counterterrorism, trade and investment, energy, climate change, education, health and cyber security, and of strengthening coordination in multilateral fora. The two parties approved a Joint Cooperation programme for the period 2022-2027.
Ministers also underlined the “strategic importance of close coordination” between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council on a number of issues of common interest, including the Middle East Peace Process, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Lebanon and Iraq.
According to EU High Representative Josep Borrell, while the EU is the largest investor in the Gulf and its second largest trading partner, its political “outreach” and “engagement” are “not high enough”.
Earlier in the day, the High Representative announced that the EU would appoint a special envoy for the Gulf region. “We know that security issues in this region - in the Middle East in the broadest sense - are very important to us”, Borrell said.
In addition, in the margins of the Council, EEAS Secretary General Stefano Sannino and Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Soltan Bin Saad Al-Muraikhi signed the agreement on establishing the new EU delegation in Qatar. The opening of the delegation, which was announced by the EU High Representative at the end of September (see EUROPE 12802/13), is planned for this year.
See the joint statement: https://aeur.eu/f/fe (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)