Brussels, 17/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - In an interview with Reuters on Monday 15 December, French Secretary of State for Overseas Trade Anne Marie Idrac said the EU was unlikely to be able to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar) before the end of the year, as it had hoped. “An EU-GCC FTA has been in the preparation for 17 years. I hoped for a moment that we were going to make it. Unfortunately, it would seem that we will not be able to bring it about. It would seem to me that, if we have not been able to make use of the French Presidency, the esteem in which Nicolas Sarkozy is held and the political drive he has given the EU in every area, it will only be more difficult to find an agreement now,” Idrac said. As well as encouraging trade and investment flows between the two regions, the EU-GCC FTA was to have addressed more political issues, such as human rights, immigration and combating terrorism. Idrac regretted that the point on which discussions between the EU and its Gulf partners hinged was “protectionism”. (E.H./transl.rt)