Brussels, 10/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - Technical discussions are currently taking place in Brussels between the European Commission and countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in an attempt to conclude negotiations for a free trade agreement. They began on 9 January and could go on to Thursday 11 January.
Negotiations between the EU and the GCC have been dragging on for a long time and even if both sides provide assurance that most of the chapters (especially the oil derivative product access regime, aluminium, fishing products, establishment of competition rules, public procurement etc) have ended with a principled agreement, different aspects are still pending.
According to sources close to the GCC, remaining difficulties can be found in the final wording of the text. Comments from non-official sources also indicate that the main obstacle is due to increased political unwillingness to conclude such an agreement. Certain Member States of the GCC have opted for bilateral external relations, particularly with the US with whom countries of the region (notably Bahrain) have concluded bilateral free trade agreements. (fb)