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ACTUALITÉS DU MOYEN-ORIENT
ET DU MAGHREB
n°13
décembre
2009
GCC-EU Relations at the turn
of the century
By Arwa Al-Munajjed,
Sciences-Po Paris student,
Master in International Affairs / International Security
Directed by Barah Mikail,
Research Fellow at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations
(Institut de Relations internationales et stratégiques, IRIS)
1
GCC-EU Relations at the turn of the century
By Arwa Al-Munajjed, Sciences-Po Paris student, Master in International Affairs / International Security
Directed by Barah Mikail, Research Fellow at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (Institut de
Relations internationales et stratégiques, IRIS)
While it is only very recently that we began to notice any major shift in the relations between the
twenty-Seven Countries of the European Union (EU) and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC),
their cooperation dates back to 1988. The Gulf Cooperation Council consists of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, the State of Qatar, the state of Kuwait, and Sultanate of
Oman.
This friendship began twenty-one years ago when the European Economic Community (ECC), which
is now recognized as the EU, and the GCC realized the importance of forging an alliance. This realization was
later recognized by the Cooperation Agreement1 signed by both parties in 1988. The Agreement aimed to
strengthen the stability of their relationship and facilitate future economic and political relations. It intended to
enhance all sorts of economic and technical cooperation with respect to energy, industry, trade and services,
agriculture, fisheries, investment, science, technology and environment. The agreements also foresaw annual
meetings between the presidents of the ECC and the members of the GCC. 2
In 1990, the free trade negotiations3 were initiated. However, while both parties seemed to agree on
the conditions, they seemed to stall the final agreement. Therefore in 1999, both parties re-initiated the
agreements after the GCC declared a creation of a Customs Union. Yet, this too also soon came to a
standstill. In 2002 those negotiations began once more, and have advanced at an accelerated rate, especially in
2007. Since then we have noticed many economic, financial and security accords built between the two
regions.
In 2001, the world was in complete turmoil. Any agreements or trade between the East and the West
was based on how the countries dealt with "the terrorists of 9/11." The GCC countries, feeling the heat and
pressure of the United States government, strategically decided to start diversifying its resources and enlarging
its trade agreements with other powers and regions. Since then, the GCC countries, together and separately,
turned to make cooperation agreements with the growing economic powers like India and China. They also
decided to re-initiate the stalled agreements with the EU.
The EU viewed this as a chance to gain as many allies as possible against the terrorists. However, the
EU was also trying to assert itself as a growing power and desired to diversify its trading practices so that it
could distance itself from the United States. The need to develop closer economic and political relations with
other regions of the world was therefore evident. In this case, the EU looked to the GCC, a region rich in oil
with much potential for development that needed only the expertise of the EU in order to pursue their goals
fully.
The EU4 and the GCC5 are relatively recent powers to emerge in the world. Therefore, achieving and
maintaining internal stability is of the utmost importance. The question that stands now is: how can those two
powers equally benefit from the international relations with each other?
This report will focus on the most prominent issues that link the EU with the GCC with respect to
economy, security, and the interdependency demonstrated by each in their quests for greater international
strength. The first part will show the reciprocal nature of the relations between the EU and the GCC. As the
GCC fulfilled its need for the EU’s expertise and financing in order to increase development, the EU was able
to emerge from two years of financial crisis. The second part will address how both regions can cooperate
with each other in terms of defense strategy in order to guarantee their own security. Additionally, the report
1 Cooperation Agreement text.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:21989A0225(01):EN:HTML agreement text
2 European Commission- external relations website. the EU and the GCC
http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/gulf_cooperation/index_en.htm
3 EU trade with the Gulf.
http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/bilateral/regions/gcc/index_en.htm
4 History of the EU concept. http://europa.eu/abc/history/index_en.htm
5 History of the GCC : http://www.gcc-sg.org/eng/index.php?action=Sec-Show&ID=3
2
will treat how each benefited from having a partner from whom they could benefit in order to gain political
independence.
An economic ‘equality’ based on interdependence.
I.1 GCC: the European need for liquidity
Since the free trade negotiations agreements in 1988, the economic relations between the EU and the
GCC have been relatively dormant.6 In 2003, the negotiations restarted following the creation of the GCC
Custom Union. However, this accelerated rapidly in late February 2007 when the EU Trade Commissioner
Peter Mandelson visited the GCC, and based on a number of sources, it is believed to reach its final stages by
the end of the year 2009. If it does reach these final stages, this trade agreement will be one of its kind to deal
with inter-regional cooperation.7
Since then, many things have occurred: the United States’ invasion of Iraq, the rise in oil prices, and
the financial crises of 2007. These events pushed these two regions to finalize the terms of their agreement. By
analyzing how each region benefits from the other financially, economically, and with regards to development,
the equality of their trade practices and the extent to which the two regions are in fact interdependent will
become evident.
Until 2003 and the Iraq invasion, the European Union needed the Gulf region’s energy products (oil
and oil related products). In return, the GCC received agricultural and technological imports. Yet, while this
trade was incredibly important for each region, economic relations were still considered to be dormant at the
time. However, after the financial crisis of 2007 shook the world economic systems, trade between the EU and
the GCC increased greatly as the Gulf was one of the regions least affected by the crisis.
In this section of the report, three examples will be presented to show how the GCC was able to assist the
EU.
In the first example, there were at least two instances when a GCC citizen was able to buy a football
team in order to save the team when the previous owner had fallen into debt. The Abu-Dhabi United Group,
headed by Sulaiman Al-Fahim, bought the Manchester City Football club on the 1st of September 2008 when
the previous owner was facing prison time and fraud accusations, according to the Guardian8 . Almost a year
later, on July 21, 2009 Al-Fahim did the same thing for the Portsmouth Football Club.9
The second example involves the Qatari Diar Investment Company10 that helped Monaco out of the
crisis by buying shares in their most known enterprise, the Société des Bains de Mers de Monaco11 for 400
million Euros; they now own 69.6% of the enterprise as stated by Reuters on July 6, 2008.12
In the third example, UBS13 and Barclays14 turned to the Gulf for help. UBS and Barclays needed to
raise over 4.5 billion British pounds and turned to the Qatar Investments Authority which invested 1.76 billion
pounds. The Qatari Royal Family, Al-Thani, also invested 533 million pounds.15 UBS however also made a deal
with the United Arab Emirates and ADIC, the Abu Dhabi Investment Company, who entered into a 50/50 joint
venture with UBS, as Gulf News stated on February 11, 2008.16
6Dean A. ROSA,David KERNOHAN, Measuring the Economic impact of an EU-GCC free trade agreement Center for
European Policy Studies working paper. Jul 2004. No. 206. P. 4
7 Syed A. BASHER, What lies beneath EU-GCC alliance? Gulfnews.com, published August 8, 2008.
http://gulfnews.com/business/opinion/what-lies-beneath-eu-gcc-alliance-1.125539 accessed Wednesday October 14 2009.
8 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/sep/01/manchestercity.premierleague accessed October 20, 2009.
9 http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/07/21/79393.html Accessed on October 20, 2009
10 Qatar Diar website http://www.qataridiar.com/
11 SBM Website, definition and history http://en.montecarloresort.com/History.html
12 Reuters Article on Qatar in EUR 400 mln stake talks with Monaco group.
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSL0641389820080706 Accessed on October 20,
2009
13 Union Bank of Switzerland, known as one of the world’s leading Financial firms. http://www.ubs.com/1/e/about.html
14 Existing since 1690, Barclays is a global british financial services firm. http://www.barclays.co.uk/
15 Taken from the Telegraph newspaper online written by Angela MONAGHAN on June 25, 2008 under the title:
“BARCLAYS TUNRS TO QATAR AS IT RAISES 4,5 BLN POUNDS.” Accessed on October 23, 2009
16 Himendra Mohan Kumar Addic Ties up with UBS for joint venture. from gulfnews.com. February 11, 2009.
http://gulfnews.com/business/investment/adic-ties-up-with-ubs-for-joint-venture-1.84210
Accessed on october 23, 2009
3
These three examples prove that the EU has been increasingly active in its relationship with the Gulf
region. However, while these examples show the need for cooperation and collaboration between the two
regions, this financial need is not the sole contributing factor for why the EU continues to create stronger ties
with the Gulf States. The report will address these other factors more in depth in the following sections.
As mentioned in the introduction, the EU realized that in order to win respect as a growing world
power, it had to first build its credibility in the eyes of other countries or unions. One of the ways chosen to
accomplish that was by solidifying economic and political relationships, hence the EU’s emphasis on finalizing
the FTA negotiations that had been dragging since 1988.
One might argue that the best way to gain independence and respect is by having a strong security
and defense model. This argument is true, and will be discussed in a later section of the paper. However, one
can also argue that without a strong dependable economy and without the support of allies, the defense and
security measures would become much more difficult to put in place.
Since the beginning of the FTA agreements, the EU (the ECC at the time) recognized that the Gulf
had a lot of potential and that they had a chance to help the region prosper in terms of development.
However, it was clear that as long as the customs regulations in the region remained complicated, it would be
difficult for both regions to establish a middle ground. In 2003, the negotiations recommenced because it had
become more important than ever before that they be financially and economically involved in order to survive
the crisis. Therefore, forming these ties was not only an impending need for the EU, but also served as a
critical opportunity for the Gulf to take advantage of.
This section has shown the importance of this relationship to the EU in their quest for international
power and recognition. This report will now address how the GCC reciprocally needs the European Union
and in which ways it benefits from the EU.
I.2 EU : The GCC need of European investments for long term development
From the GCC’s point of view, the EU’s involvement in Gulf investments was seen as important but
not crucial because the Gulf’s economy was strong and they had the luxury of carefully selecting their EU
investors. But with the pressure of 9/11, the Iraq War, and finally the economic crisis, the Gulf countries
realized the convenience of their European partners in both efficiency and expertise. This section of the report
will first show how Europe served as a strong partner to the GCC after the crippled US economy could no
longer meet the GCC’s need for financial stability, and secondly, how the GCC benefits from the development
contracts and projects that have been coordinated by the EU in the past six years.
Good economic relations must always carry good political friendships between allies and if either is
lost, there is usually a good chance that remaining relations might disintegrate as well. This can be illustrated
with the relations between the United States of America and the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia in particular.
When in 2008 the US reached the middle of its economic crisis, the GCC states considered
distancing themselves from the dollar. This idea was not elaborated on at the time, nor was it completely
ignored. However, this suggestion was a sign that the relations between the US and the GCC had begun to
deteriorate. The situation worsened when the Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal, former ambassador to the United
Kingdom and the United States, said that “Saudi patience is running out” on January 22, 2009.17 In the article, he
urged the United States to be more even-handed with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
These events pushed Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf States to look towards the European Union as
a better economic partner. This collaboration seemed to promise great potential: Europe needed GCC
resources and the GCC needed the EUs expertise on development issues. It was also a chance for the
GCC to begin diversifying its sources and international partners in case the situation with their original ally
in the USA worsened.
After the Iraq War, the Gulf States recognized the need to diversify their partners. However, the
financial crisis showed the Gulf countries, that even though they were well-protected from the egregious
financial consequences suffered by other world powers, they were not totally immune18 and they were forced
17 Prince Tukri Al-Faisal, Saudi Patience is running out. http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/articles/2009/specialreports/
090123-turki-us.html
18 Saudi Gazette Staff,GCC urged to adopt proactive policies to shield from shocks Nov. 2, 2009.
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009100250419
4
to notice that they had no choice but to diversify their economic ties. The EU offered the perfect opportunity
to forge a relationship that had incredible potential for future growth.
One may wonder why the Gulf States did not turn towards China or India, and the GCC has, in fact,
pursued trade with these countries; the East Asian countries’ relations with the GCC are still very new but are
growing rapidly. The reason the GCC chose the EU as a main partner during their time of economic growth is
because the European Union’s countries have extensive experience of developing, building infrastructure, and
researching. This section will address three main projects generated from the GCC’s partnership with the EU.
The first is the EU’s role in joint research endeavors in the nuclear and oil sectors. In 2008, France
agreed to help Saudi Arabia research the possibilities of obtaining nuclear energy just as the United Arab
Emirates had done with the US in 2007. This will be examined in more detail in the latter part of the paper.
Concerning oil, on November 30, 2005, the GCC and the EU agreed to form a joint team for petroleum
projects. The team launched their work in 2006 with a group of twelve specialists representing both regions.
The goal was to study the different phases of oil production, learn how to modernize them, and possibly find
more uses for petrol. This project was also carried out as a way to assuage the fears of Europeans that the
region would run out of oil.19
The second joint venture between the EU and the GCC sought to demonstrate their newfound
economic cooperation in terms of development. Therefore, a “train a grandes vitesses,” more commonly
known as TGV, was constructed beginning in the south of Saudi Arabia and continuing along the Red Sea
Coast, linking Riyadh to Al-Qassim. A line was also created from Jeddah that passed through Riyadh and
continued towards Saudi Arabia’s eastern Region, eventually crossing all of the GCC states, spanning from
Kuwait all the way to Oman. The mere construction of the railway tracks cost at least six billion dollars.20 The
idea was born in 2005 when the Gulf Region realized they needed more than one bridge linking Saudi Arabia
and Bahrain if they wanted to create a more efficient economic and social system among their states. The TGV
would arguably be the best way to travel the GCC by train and the states therefore decided to adopt the
project. Currently, a railway is being built linking Makkah with Al-Madinah, and it is estimated that travelers will
be able to reach their destination in a maximum of one and a half hours.
The final joint cooperation project that this report will treat is Al-Jisr, meaning The Bridge. Al-Jisr
Project was created mainly by the Gulf Research Center in July 2008 and is meant to be a two year project.
Al-Jisr Project also holds the name “Public Diplomacy and Outreach Devoted to the European Union and EUGCC
Relations Project.”
The project is supported by the European Union. In the Al-Jisr Project’s own words,
The project’s main objectives are threefold. First, it aims to enhance public and well as professional knowledge
and understanding of the European Union, its policies and institutions, among GCC citizens. Second, it strives
to strengthen reflection and debate about EU-GCC relations and contribute to the future of policy-making
between the two regions. Finally, closer links between the EU and the GCC will be ensured through the
dissemination of information on the EU.21
The project aims at illustrating how the GCC can benefit from the European Union and how the
European Union can also work with the GCC to reach end results that are economically and politically helpful
to both parties.
From the information presented in these two sections, it seems that the relationship between the
GCC and the EU is fairly equal. Both powers seem to be receiving what they need: the GCC is bolstering its
development efforts and the EU is emerging from the economic crisis with an improved economic safety net
for its people.
Creating this relationship between the EU and the GCC is bound to enhance relations politically, so it
is possible that this cooperation will push both parties to finally conclude the negotiations for the FTA. In fact,
as people are socially seeking change and cooperation, it seems inevitable that negotiations will be finalized and
both current and future projects will become more extensive.
Yet, while the economy is a very important aspect of every country or union’s stability, without a
defense project, a union might still be very vulnerable to outside threats. The second part of this paper will
discuss the security cooperation taking place between both unions in order to increase their power and safety.
19 Article written on November 30, 2005. “GCC, EU Agree to Form Joint Team for Petroleum Projects”
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/317102/gcc_eu_agree_to_form_joint_team_for_petroleum_projects/index.html
20 Arab News, P.K. AbdulGhafour. “Saudi Arabia to Study $6bn GCC Railway Project “ June 22, 2005
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=6§ion=0&article=65780&d=22&m=6&y=2005
21 Al-Jisr Project website. http://www.aljisr.ae/
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EU-GCC : What cooperation over security and defense ?
The EU and the GCC are two regional powers as in they each have the respect of their composite
countries. The European Union has proven to be able to avoid wars within its borders because the countries
in the union are so economically and socially intertwined. However, the EU lacks two things: political and
military power in the eyes of other world powers. The GCC is an economic and resource powerhouse, but it
lacks institutional unity. Both regions, therefore, have threats today from which they need to protect
themselves.
The GCC must currently recognize several threats both inside and outside of the GCC’s borders.
Externally, there is Iran, Iraq, and Yemen. Iran first poses a nuclear threat to the region. Second, its hostile
attitude towards the West could hinder the Gulf region’s relations with the USA and therein make it more
vulnerable to threats by not having global support. Iraq also poses a threat due to its general instability.
Furthermore, the Shi’ite populations of Iraq as well as Iran may present the opportunity for conflict with the
Sunni Gulf Monarchies. Yemen, the third threat and lying to the south of the Gulf States, is the only country in
the Arabian Peninsula not part of the GCC. The presence of general instability and terrorism adds to its
already economically weakened state in it posing a threat to the whole region. As for internal threats, the
GCC is a very new concept to the world, created only in 1981, and therefore is still addressing instability
within its own borders. Two examples of these threats are Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the presence
of an extensive network of Iranian spies in the Gulf region.22
In contrast with the threats faced by the GCC, the EU does not encounter threats directly from
specific countries. Illegal immigration is the first example of this, whether it be from other European countries
that are not part of the EU or from countries in northern Africa. Furthermore, illegal immigration could pose a
severe security threat to the EU since many immigrants come from countries where terrorism is either
present within their own borders or is present within surrounding countries. Another threat that the EU is
facing is the growing rate of international crime in human trafficking. According to the European Commission,
several thousands of human beings are trafficked within Europe. In Germany alone in 2008, more than 800
victims were found. The drug trade is also a significant threat but has been minimized significantly over the
years.23 Finally, there is the geopolitical ambiguity posed by Russia as the two powers determine their
international political strategies towards the other in a post-Cold War era.
These threats to each regional power add another layer of complexity to the analysis of to what
extent the EU and the GCC can cooperate, both as institutions and as aggregates of countries, to diminish this
sense of ‘geopolitical danger.’
II.1 The EU example : soft power and diplomacy is preferred to hard power
Since 1945, the Gulf has been under the military protection of the US as well as Western Europe.
Today the principal problem in the region is Iran. However the military weakness of the Gulf States is not
sufficient to confront Iran in order to improve security in the region. The present scenario that would involve
a regional disengagement of the Unites States would leave a security vacuum. Therefore it becomes necessary
to analyze how soft security combined with some elements of hard security may provide the GCC with the
level of security it strives for.
It has been said that the major problem for the USSR during the Cold War was France, as it was a
second source of nuclear deterrence in Europe that did not act according to the expectations of either the US
or the USSR. Therefore, the first point that must be analyzed is to what extent a diversification of military
power can work to benefit the GCC.
The European forces in the GCC region have been the United Kingdom since 1956 based in Bahrain24
and the new French military base to be built in the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi.25 The presence of
these countries can be very useful in balancing the power of the American Fifth Fleet in the Gulf region. By
22 Alarabiyah, Iran has 40,000 spies in Arab States : Ex-Agents. Published october 5 2009.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/10/05/87087.html
23 Ekaterina Popova and Ivailo Anguelo,Human Trafficking in Europe Outweighs Drug Smuggling Published april 13 2009.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/15305/
24 Cambridge University Archives. http://www.cambridge.org/us/archive_ed_pdf/9781852075002.pdf
25 Le Figaro. Isabelle Lasserre, “Moyen-Orient: La France se donne les moyens de riposter.” June 16, 2009.
http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2009/06/15/01003-20090615ARTFIG00291-moyen-orient-la-france-se-donne-les-moyens-deriposter-.
php
6
increasing the number of active foreign powers in the region, it will be less likely for a state, like Iran, to act
aggressively towards a GCC country as means of antagonizing a Western power.
In 2007, NATO held a one day summit in Qatar discussing the possible insertion of NATO in the Gulf
region under the NATO Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (NICI). Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and
Kuwait signed the initiative. Saudi Arabia and Oman, however, have not and a NATO base cannot be built
without the consent of all six Gulf States.2627 While there are many reasons to explain the skepticism of Saudi
Arabia and Oman in having a NATO center headed by the USA, the center could prove to be a very important
means of regulating US presence in the Gulf with very specific and clearly articulated terms of cooperation.
As for the training of military officers or legal counselors, the EU has great expertise from which the
GCC could benefit. For example, a group of Saudi military forces has recently completed air force trainings
run by the French military28 in return for trainings on counter-terrorism provided by the GCC military. Here,
both powers can reinforce their own territories by learning and cooperating with one another.
While the European Union cannot provide the GCC with strong military protection, it is able to offer
a possible model of economic integration in the region. There are three main things that the GCC should do
or is already doing which the EU should support.
First, the GCC should develop itself into a stronger defense unit with a higher capacity for defending
itself. If the EU were to help reinforce the GCC military, update its arms, and provide advice on the creation
of the united currency due to come out in 2010, the Gulf will have more credibility and more strength to fight
against the possibly growing threats of Iran, Iraq, and Yemen.
Second, the GCC should avoid stigmatizing Iran and try to serve as an intermediary link between the
US and Iran throughout periods of political tension. Due to geographical proximity, it would be advantageous
for the Gulf to remain on good diplomatic terms with Iran. The EU can also serve as a Western intermediary
to prevent any large-scale reactions to Iran by United States.
Third, if the GCC would like to ameliorate the situation with Iraq and the Shi’ia population there, a
basis of common culture and social traditions will have to be used to create a new foundation for their political
relationship. This endeavor could be well served by being overseen and guided by the EU.
II.2 The GCC : an international partner of unique characteristics
This last section will analyze how both regions can be served by cooperating in terms of defense.
The GCC can strengthen the world view of the EU’s political and military power and could likewise benefit
greatly from having the EU as an official partner as it aims to strengthen its own position in the global arena.
Many European countries have historically maintained a Pro-Arab Policy where they have consistently
taken the side of the Arabic countries during a time of crisis. The Gaza War of 2008 is an example of this.
What does this suggest for how the GCC can help secure the EU’s borders? The GCC could become a strong
partner in working against illegal immigration and trade in many ways: creating more stringent controls on its
maritime sphere, investing more in the economies of African countries so they are less vulnerable to illegal
practices, and by micro-financing projects to improve the standard of living in Africa so that illegal immigration
seems like a less tempting option.
Both the EU and the GCC are vulnerable to the same terrorist threats and are targeted mainly by the
same groups of extremists. The GCC could, therefore, further help the EU by cooperating with their counterterrorist
agendas and advise them on how to find or deal with these terrorists.
Finally, assuming that both the GCC and the EU share a common interest in stabilizing the Middle-East
and also assuming that the Gulf region is respected by the rest of the Arab world, the cooperation of these
two powers working as one could create some sort of stability in the region. Stability could be reached in
many ways such as finding a political balance in Lebanon by reconstructing the south and by helping with the
de-stigmatization of Syria so that it may reopen its diplomatic relations with the world. This increased stability
in the region could ultimately also bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict closer to a resolution.
These examples mark the starting points for more in depth cooperation between the EU and the
GCC so they can work towards their common interests for the Middle East. This last and final part will
26 NATO article on GCC-Nato ties http://www.nato.int/ici/articles/english/2008/080129_en_qatar_qatartribune.pdf
27 GulfNews, ” GCC States don’t need NATO center.” Published May 22, 2007 http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/gccstates-
don-t-need-nato-centre-1.179362
28 Saudi Gazzette, Abdullah Al-Ahmari, “Saudi Ambassador to France commends cooperation.”
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009100951007
7
address the long-term benefits for both powers in creating a sound international partnership based on the
notion of security.
A first example deals with Pakistan. According to the World Security Network,29 it is crucial that the
EU works with the GCC in stabilizing Pakistan.30 It names these two powers in particular because the
European Army is known for its unarmed humanitarian approach and because the GCC can approach
problems with an understanding of the religious aspects involved. By giving aid and simultaneously
demonstrating an understanding of the religious culture of Pakistan, the GCC and the EU could succeed in
establishing a greater stability in the country and in Central Asia as a whole.
Concerning the issue of energy, the EU is heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas. However, the
current political climate has suggested the need for the EU to partner with the GCC in order to secure a
constant supply of oil should a future rupture in EU relations with Russia prevent sufficient trade of the fuel, as
took place with Ukraine in 2008.31
Last but not least is the issue of security. This is not accomplished purely on the basis of hard power.
Creating security through soft power may also prove to be very effective. Educating the emerging generations
about other countries and their cultural and political traditions may nurture a better sense of understanding in
the world and eventually help to build stronger links between countries and people. The governments of the
EU and GCC are beginning to work towards this goal by exchanging their students for periods of schooling or
research. However, the proportion of Gulf students studying in Europe is currently much higher than the
proportion of EU students traveling to the Gulf for similar work. These exchanges serve as one way of building
the EU-GCC alliance through a policy of soft power.
It may be safely concluded that while the relations between the GCC and the EU started slowly, they
have certainly increased over the years. Currently, their relationship has seen the creation of an everincreasing
number of projects and both powers are benefiting fairly equally from their work together. This
does not mean, however, that there is does not remain much room for future improvement. As was
mentioned in the second section of this paper, it is still necessary for the two powers to sign the FTA
agreement to show the dedication of both sides to sustaining the partnership.
The growing importance of the EU in the world and in the UN can be incredibly advantageous for the
GCC if it has the EU’s support. Not only would the GCC gain credibility in the world, but it would also gain a
powerful ally without having to depend solely on the US to fill that role. Stronger relations between the EU
and the GCC would not only benefit both powers in their struggles for global recognition, but would inevitably
change the face of international relations to create a more internationally integrated economic and political
system.
29 World Security network: About us. http://www.worldsecuritynetwork.com/corp/index3.cfm
30 Why the EU and the GCC should work together.
http://www.worldsecuritynetwork.com/showArticle3.cfm?Article_ID=17337,17148,17221,15962,17336,17338
31 Taken from the Heirtage Foundation a prominent think tank in the USA. By Ariel Cohen. “Europe’s strategic
dependence on Russian Energy.” published November 5, 2007 http://www.heritage.org/Research/Europe/bg2083.cfm
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