KUWAIT CITY, 8 April 2004 — The Gulf Cooperation Council chief yesterday blasted the European Union for stalling the conclusion of a free trade deal.
“Negotiations started one and a half decades ago. Unfortunately at each round of talks, certain political issues are raised (by the European Union). These have delayed the deal,” GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Atiyya told reporters. “Sometimes they talk about human rights and sometimes about weapons of mass destruction,” said Atiyya.
The GCC chief and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Muhammad Al-Sabah will visit Brussels on May 19 for talks with EU officials. “We will try to iron out differences... We must complete the deal,” he said.
“We want to sign the deal for which we have been negotiating for 15 years, but I think they are procrastinating,” added Attiya, who attended a one-day meeting here for GCC central bank governors.
“I hope the Europeans understand that the Gulf states do not want talks to continue endlessly,” he said.
A senior Gulf official, however, warned that the six-nation alliance “is likely to suspend negotiations if the new round of talks end in deadlock.
“If the Brussels meeting does not arrive at positive results, the GCC states are likely to suspend the negotiations,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
The GCC and the European Union have been unable to hammer out the agreement that would enhance trade between the two blocs.
Brussels has insisted that the GCC have its own customs union before it signs an agreement.
The GCC launched a customs union in January, and decided to set up a monetary union in 2005 and a single currency by 2010.
The 15-state European Union is the GCC’s principal market and its second top supplier after Japan.
EU exports to the GCC were worth around $25 billion in 2001, with imports amounting to $22 billion, according to Brussels.
Previous rounds of trade talks focused on exempting exports of agricultural and industrial products, as well as fisheries from customs duties.
