11/12/2025 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 11 December, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, and the State Minister for Political Affairs, and Envoy of the Foreign Minister to the EU of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lana Nusseibeh, officially launched negotiations for a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the EU and the UAE. “We want to step up our cooperation on priorities of shared importance for both the EU and the UAE - including digitalisation, artificial intelligence and connectivity, research and innovation, energy, environmental protection, the green transition, and people-to-people contacts”, said Ms Šuica in a statement. The agreement should also strengthen collaboration with a view to promoting peace and regional stability and preserving multilateralism and international law. At the same time, the EU and the UAE are negotiating a free trade agreement. (CG)