The EU strengthens bonds with Gulf States
The European Commission has entered into a research project agreement with the Gulf Research Center (GRC) think tank targeting stronger relations and supporting the policy-making process between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This is the first agreement of its kind to be signed between the two regional blocs. 'The research project has been titled as "EU-GCC Al-Jisr Project for Public Diplomacy and Outreach" which will focus mainly on the EU and GCC-EU relations,' said Abdulaziz Sager, a Saudi businessman, who is the founder and Chairman of the Dubai-based GRC, an independent research institute. The Al-Jisr project will run for a period of two years and its objectives are three-fold. The first aim is to improve both the general public's knowledge as well as the professional's knowledge for understanding the European Union, its people, policies and institutions. Its second aim is to encourage dialogue and debate regarding EU-GCC relations and contribute to the future of policy-making between the two regions. Lastly, closer ties between the two will be fostered through the dissemination of information on the EU. The project will consist of five key components including training and workshop activities, and the translation of key textbooks on the EU into Arabic. Ultimately, a project website portal will be created and used for the dissemination of information about the GCC. According to the creators of the project, improving relations between the two blocs is critical for the future, especially when one considers the increasing inter-dependence between the EU and GCC in different sectors including, among others, defence, oil, commerce, science and culture. Despite this inter-dependence, however, the 40 million inhabitants of the six Gulf States have little knowledge of European life and its institutions. Therefore, this project is an important step towards rectifying this situation. 'This was an important step to further GCC-EU relations and that with the project announcement, the European Commission has provided a strong signal to explore areas that will be mutually beneficial for both sides,' commented Mr Sager. Besides GRC, 'the project is composed and promoted by a consortium of both Gulf-based and European institutions including the Riyadh-based Institute of Diplomatic Studies (IDS), which works under the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Belgium-based Center for European Policy Studies', he added. ''We now look forward to engaging in the various activities and to provide a real contribution to the enhancement of relations.' The GCC comprises the Persian Gulf States of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It is expected that Yemen will also enter the GCC by 2016. Together with Yemen, the GCC has joined the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA), an organisation similar to the early stages of the EU. Several other institutions, which will be associated with this research project, are: the European Institute for Asian Studies (Belgium), the Arab Reform Initiative (France), Sciences Po (France), the Bertelsmann Foundation (Germany), the National Technical University of Athens (Greece), the Istituto Affari Internazionale (Italy), Kuwait University (Kuwait), and the Fundacion para la Relaciones Internacionales y el Dialogo Exterior, (FRIDE of Spain).