Parliamentary question - H-0224/2009Parliamentary question
H-0224/2009

Deadlock in negotiations to conclude a free trade agreement between the EU and the States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

ORAL QUESTION H-0224/09
for Question Time at the part-session in May 2009
pursuant to Rule 109 of the Rules of Procedure
by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou
to the Commission

After 20 years of negotiations, the EU and the GCC have still not concluded a free trade agreement and, last December, the GCC States unilaterally withdrew from the negotiations.

 

How does the Commission intend to rekindle the Gulf States' interest in the negotiations in order to conclude the agreement as soon as possible? Which particular matters are still unsettled and preventing an agreement being reached? How does it intend to involve the Gulf States more actively in deliberations on reforming the international financial institutions, in particular the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, given the fact that Saudi Arabia is taking part in the G-20 summit and has voiced its interest in reforming those institutions? What subjects will be dealt with, in particular, at the forthcoming 19th Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting between the EU and the Gulf States?

 

 

Tabled: 31.03.2009

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