A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***On Oct. 16, leaders from the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council held their first summit in Brussels, where they discussed a wide range of issues, including economic cooperation and conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. The summit came after a year of progress in relations between the two organizations, but significant differences remained as a new E.U. Commission began work on Dec. 1. We asked four experts to consider the importance of the summit and assess the state of relations between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council.Silvia Colombo Researcher and Faculty Advisor NATO Defense CollegeAfter 36 years of arguably mixed results in multilateral relations between the European Union and Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the new summit confirms the more vocal interest by the European Union to boost relations with its partners in the Arabian Peninsula. The final joint statement underscores that the two sides have made good progress on two fronts. First, they are accelerating trade liberalization by investing in a less stringent multilateral trade deal accompanied by more specific bilateral agreements between individual Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the European Union. This would help overcome some of the typical obstacles, such as human rights and public procurement issues. Second, the two sides have underscored the importance of strengthening their cooperation on regional security issues, such as maritime security, the fight against terrorism, and the long-term impact of regional crises, as well as energy and climate. In this regard, and in spite of all the controversies surrounding the Gulf Cooperation Council countries’ efforts in these matters, the global energy transition lies at the forefront
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A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***On Oct. 16, leaders from the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council held their first summit in Brussels, where they discussed a wide range of issues, including economic cooperation and conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. The summit came after a year of progress in relations between the two organizations, but significant differences remained as a new E.U. Commission began
