RIYADH: Senior EU officials held a press briefing in Riyadh on Tuesday to discuss the “ambitious agenda” of the upcoming Gulf Cooperation Council-EU summit in Brussels on Oct. 16.
GCC and EU leaders will address regional stability, trade, and people-to-people cooperation during the summit.
Regarding regional security, when asked by Arab News about the barriers to EU countries adopting a unified stance on recognizing Palestine in a two-state solution, a senior EU official said: “We agree on the two-state solution with the GCC, and it requires two interlocutors; the EU supports the Palestinian Authority.”
The official emphasized: “It’s a subject that we would like to stress also with the GCC countries together to support the Palestinian Authority.”
Another EU official discussed the recognition of Palestine by more EU nations, stating that recognition is a sovereign decision for each member state. While the majority of EU members recognize Palestine as a state, some do not.
During the press briefing, a senior EU official stressed that the summit topics are “three-fold.”
The first is the geopolitical situation, “and we need to make our relationship with the GCC more strategic, especially in light of the war in Ukraine and the Middle East,” the official said.
“The second is collaborating on global challenges, such as energy.
“The third focus is on ‘bilateral relationships,’ including trade, regional agreements, and visa-related people-to-people initiatives. That is the global framework,” the official added.
“We don’t see eye-to-eye on all topics, and negotiating a statement with this region is not always easy. However, with our 27 member states, I believe we can achieve good work,” the official said.
“We have a common language and shared efforts within the UN, so we will continue working on this.”
During the briefing, EU senior officials emphasized that the summit will feature “a very ambitious agenda.”
Beyond regional stability, the summit aims to “increase cooperation in trade and investment, green and digital transitions, energy, education, research and innovation, gateway projects, digital infrastructure, and fostering people-to-people relations.”
While it was not disclosed which officials would attend, an EU official confirmed a “high level of attendance on both sides.”
Regarding global geopolitical challenges, the official said: “Our concerns about the region are shared, and the security of the region is our security, and vice versa.”
Speaking on the historical ties between the GCC and the EU, a senior EU official noted: “Five years ago, the EU had only two delegations in the Gulf; today, it has four.”
He added that there was no real political dialogue with the GCC or its individual member states back then.
