The first European Union-Gulf Cooperation Council summit to take place in Brussels
The first summit between the leaders of EU and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is scheduled to take place in Brussels on 16 October. The summit is an opportunity for the EU to develop a closer partnership with the GCC and its Member States (the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar and the State of Kuwait), who are geostrategic partners at a time of challenging geopolitical circumstances.
Today, the High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell will host a working dinner at ministerial level with EU Member States and the Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ahead of the EU-GCC Leaders’ summit on Wednesday. Ahead of the dinner the High Representative will do a doorstep in the Council, at around 19:00. You can follow the press remarks live on EbS.
Tomorrow, President von der Leyen and the High Representative Borrell, will participate in the first ever summit between EU and GCC leaders. The meeting will be co-chaired by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the Emir of Qatar, H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as the rotating President of the GCC. The Summit will be followed by a press conference later in the afternoon, co-chaired by the High Representative, which will be available on EbS.
The Ministerial and Leaders’ meetings will offer an occasion to discuss how the EU and GCC can further cooperate on common key global challenges; economic cooperation, including trade and investment; energy; sustainability and climate; connectivity; people-to-people contact. These high-level events are a confirmation of the shared commitment to develop EU-GCC cooperation and the Strategic Partnership between the two blocs.