The Mediterranean: Opportunities to Develop EU-GCC Relations?

December 10 - 11,  2009
Hotel Ponte Sisto, Rome, Italy,

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The Istituto Affari Internazionali and the Gulf Research Center organized a workshop focusing on opportunities between the EU, the GCC and the Mediterranean .The Gulf has emerged as the new leading player in the Arab world in the 21st century. The GCC complained of not being consulted by the EU over the Union of the Mediterranean, but has failed to offer MENA countries an equivalent alternative. The GCC is undoubtedly the only part of the Middle East with the resources to mitigate rising political and economic pressures that afflict the region through increased and more efficient allocation of development funds and investments to foster job creation. To succeed, Gulf donors need completely to rethink their engagement in the region, moving away from merely facilitating loans and grants towards in-country development assistance programmes. The event brought together 30 policy officials and specialists to deliberate on questions such as: Can the Mediterranean become a field of cooperation between the EU and the GCC countries? If so, in which perspective should Mediterranean EU-GCC cooperation be developed? Should the Mediterranean become a dimension in the EU-GCC political dialogue or should it be a separated framework? What could the political and security rationale of EU-GCC cooperation in/on the Mediterranean be? Is it possible to consider possible issues of cooperation (e.g. the Arab-Israeli conflict; Lebanon; Western Sahara; social and cultural issues linked to migration; counterterrorism; maritime security, etc.)