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AGCC suspends FTA talks with EU

MUSCAT — The Arab Gulf Cooperation Council has suspended talks with the European Union over a free-trade agreement, the Arab bloc’s secretary-general said yesterday.

“We have informed the European side of the suspension of negotiations on a free-trade accord,” said Abdulrahman Al Attiyah said here yesterday.

“We are suspending the negotiations until the European side agrees to sign the (most recent) draft accord,” he said, adding that the Gulf states had “made many concessions and responded favourably to the EU’s many demands.”

The decision came as no surprise, with member nation Qatar warning on December 15 that a suspension was in the offing if an impasse in the 20-year-old negotiations continued.

“Some day in the near future the AGCC states will decide to suspend the talks which have so far had no result,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani said in Singapore.

The AGCC has been in talks with the now 27-member EU about a free trade agreement since 1988.

“Every time we start a round of talks, the European party surprises us by raising new questions or by mixing politics and trade,” Attiyah said.

“The AGCC is ready to sign the accord when the European side accepts the few final propositions made by the Gulf countries. If not, the AGCC is not prepared to resume negotiations.”