BRUSSELS, 18 May 2022, (TON): High Representative and the European Commission adopted a Joint Communication on a ‘Strategic Partnership with the Gulf’ with the aim to broaden and deepen the European Union cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council and its Member countries.

Josep Borrell said “at a time of insecurity and significant challenges to the rules-based international order, aggravated by Russia’s war on Ukraine, the European Union and Gulf countries stand to gain from a stronger and more strategic partnership stretching over a number of key areas.”

He said “we need to work more closely together on stability in the Gulf and the Middle East, on global security threats; energy security, climate change and the green transition, digitalisation, trade and investment. We also need to strengthen contacts between students, researchers, businesses and citizens.”

A strengthened partnership is beneficial both for the EU and for the Gulf partners, with the EU being the world’s largest single market, a leader in research and innovation, an important security actor in the Gulf region and the leading actor on global challenges such as climate change and digitalisation.