Site navigation
Website content
Countries and regions
Gulf region
The EU is negotiating a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council. Negotiations were suspended by the GCC in 2008. Informal contacts between negotiators continue to take place.
Trade picture
Gulf Cooperation Council:
- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
The Gulf Cooperation Council is currently the EU's fifth largest export market. Meanwhile, the EU is the first trading partner for the Gulf.
- EU exports to Gulf Cooperation Council are diverse but focused on machinery and transport materials (46.5%), for example power generation plants, railway locomotives and aircraft as well as electrical machinery and mechanical appliances.
- EU imports from Gulf Cooperation Council are mainly fuels and derivatives (81.9% of total EU imports from the region in 2011).
EU-Gulf Cooperation Council "trade in goods" statistics
| Year | EU imports | EU exports | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 22.3 | 57.1 | 34.8 |
| 2010 | 35.0 | 65.0 | 30.0 |
| 2011 | 56.6 | 72.2 | 15.7 |
EU-Gulf Cooperation Council "trade in services" statistics
| Year | EU imports | EU exports | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 11.5 | 21.6 | 10.1 |
| 2009 | 11.0 | 22.0 | 11.1 |
| 2010 | 11.3 | 22.5 | 11.1 |
Foreign direct investment
| Year | Inward stocks | Outward stocks | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 37.7 | 51.0 | 13.3 |
EU and the Gulf region
EU-Gulf Cooperation Council trade negotiations
Negotiations cover, inter alia:
- Market access for goods, services and public procurement
- Common rules and disciplines for intellectual property rights
- Competition
- Dispute settlement
- Rules of origin
- Human rights
- Illegal immigration
- Terrorism
The EU-Gulf Cooperation Council negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement seek the progressive and reciprocal liberalisation of trade in goods and services. They aim to ensure a comparable level of market access opportunities, taking into account the countries' level of development.
A future EU-Gulf Cooperation Council agreement has been subject to a public sustainability impact assessment.
The current framework for economic and political cooperation is the 1989 EU-GCC cooperation agreementthat seeks to improve trade relations and stability in a strategic part of Europe's neighbourhood.
- The agreement created a Joint Council and a Joint Co-operation Committee which meet annually.
- At the 2010 Joint Council, a EU-Gulf Cooperation Council Joint Action Programme for the years 2010-2013 has been agreed.
All six Gulf Cooperation Council countries currently benefit from preferential access to the EU market under the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences.
Trading with the Gulf region
- The EU is present on the ground in the region (Delegations in Saudi Arabia)
- Trade relations are part of the EU's overall political and economic relations with the region
- Gulf Cooperation Council
- Sustainability impact assessment for EU and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) Trade Negotiations