The first-ever summit between the EU and the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) wrapped up on Wednesday with commitments to strengthen co-operation on trade, energy and regional security despite diverging views on key geopolitical issues.
At the landmark summit, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell emphasised the historic significance of the meeting, calling it a “powerful message” to the world that the EU and the GCC are ready to build a strategic partnership in the 21st century.
He emphasised that while both regions face challenges, they have taken “another important step” towards strengthening their partnership.
At the summit, the leaders discussed trade, energy, climate change and security, with a particular focus on addressing “current political challenges” such as the war in Ukraine and escalating conflicts in the Middle East. Borrell said, recognising areas of agreement and difference:
Although we don’t have the same positions on every issue, on many we see eye to eye.
The GCC was established on May 25, 1981 as a platform for interaction between states in the region.
The EU’s interaction with the Gulf states is mainly economic. The EU Council website states that the EU is the second most important trading partner of the GCC countries, and mutual trade in 2023 is estimated at €170bn. In addition, Brussels notes that since 2020, energy imports from the Gulf countries to the EU have more than tripled due to changes in supply chains after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine (in 2023, GCC countries accounted for 75% of energy imports).
