Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to attend inaugural EU-GCC summit

The meeting takes place during widening conflict in the Middle East

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Press Agency

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is on Wednesday scheduled to attend in Brussels the first summit between the EU and the Gulf Co-operation Council, which is aimed at strengthening security and economic relations amid heightened concerns of war in the Middle East.

This will be the first time that the Saudi Crown Prince attends an EU summit in Brussels, joining the heads of state from the EU's 27 countries and leaders from the GCC's six members. The summit will be co-hosted by European Council President Charles Michel and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim, the current president of the GCC.

"Our message is clear: we are ready to act more and more together in facing common challenges," said the EU's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell as he arrived at a dinner of EU and GCC foreign affairs ministers on Tuesday evening.

"Both meetings, today at the ministerial level and tomorrow at the level of leaders, reflect the growing dynamics, the positive dynamics, between the Gulf Co-operation Countries and the European Union," he said.

EU and Arab officials anticipate that Israel's war against Gaza, and the recent escalation in Lebanon, will dominate the agenda of the summit. It has been under preparation since 2022, when the EU relaunched its strategic partnership with the Gulf.

“I expect the Middle East to be a central piece of the discussion, especially with the role that some Gulf countries are playing in trying to reach a ceasefire,” an EU official said. “We want to avoid a general conflagration, which is a fear on both sides.”

While discussions are under way to release a joint statement, its finalisation remains uncertain.

The UAE is scheduled to be represented by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. Also expected are Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad, and Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah. Oman will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister for International Affairs, Sayyid Asaad bin Tariq.

Europeans are keen to find a common language for international conflicts and to offset the energy imbalance caused by the war in Ukraine. But the mood in the GCC could be described as "sceptically optimistic", wrote the Dubai-based commentator Saeed Alblooshi for the British defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi).

"While GCC capitals share the European enthusiasm for strengthening relations, the shadow of double-standard measures towards the Middle East in comparison to Ukraine remains, and Gulf decision-makers are concerned about whether pragmatic results can be achieved from the summit," wrote Mr Alblooshi.

The EU official confirmed that the bloc wants to gain more support from GCC countries on Ukraine. “It’s important to engage with them and explain why it is key and existential for us,” the first official said. “If we have a member of the UN Security Council attacking a neighbour, it’s a real problem for everyone.”

Asked about Gulf concerns, Mr Borrell said that both sides shared a joint desire for peace. "The advantage of tonight's working dinner is that we are sitting among friends, people who know each other and trust each other," he said, responding to a question from The National. "In the end, the target, the purpose, the objective is the same: to have peace among people in Ukraine and in the Middle East."

The EU must work harder to listen to the Arab world, said Austria's Foreign Minister, Alexander Schallenberg. "We have to hear what the Arab world has to say on these conflicts. We are neighbours. They are affected. They have to be part of the solution."

Two-year-old strategy

Public statements from Gulf officials about the summit have so far been enthusiastic. There is a "mutual willingness to bolster strategic partnership to the highest levels and create communication channels aiming at ensuring regional and global security and stability", said Kuwait's ambassador to the EU, Nawaf Al Enezi, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported.

Qatar also has high hopes for the summit, said its ambassador Abdulaziz Al Malki. Mr Al Malki told Qatar's News Agency that leaders will "discuss aspects of co-operation and unifying visions on many issues, in a bid to develop a vision and an end to the crises in the region".

The summit comes two months after a tour of the Gulf by Mr Michel, who met President Sheikh Mohamed in Abu Dhabi on August 30.

The EU's 2022 strategic partnership with the Gulf included issues of shared concern, such as security and the green transition. In May 2023, it nominated its first EU-Gulf envoy, former Italian foreign affairs minister Luigi di Maio.

"We are now ready to go further in facing together the current challenges in the global arena," wrote the EU's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Christophe Farnaud, in an opinion piece published by the news website Arab News on Tuesday. "The EU-GCC summit will be a milestone in our relations," he added.

Earlier this year, the EU harmonised Schengen rule requirements for visa applications in an effort to encourage more Gulf students, entrepreneurs and tourists to visit the continent.

The EU regards the Gulf as a region that will gain importance economically and geopolitically in years to come, a second EU official said. “That's why we need to have much more strategic relations with that region.”

“Five years ago, the EU had only two EU delegations in the Gulf,” the official added. “Today, it has four. Five years ago, there was no real political dialogue with the Gulf, the GCC and individual countries.”

It is the EU's view that the Gulf region plays an important role as a broker in today's crises in part thanks to its geographic location, at the crossroad between Asia, Europe and Africa.

“The Gulf countries are dealing with exchanges of prisoners with Ukrainian children in Russia. Four of them [the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar] were in Switzerland for the [Ukraine] peace summit [in June]. And, of course, there is the crisis in the Middle East,” said the second EU official.

EU officials also said that they hoped the summit would enable the continent to increase trade relations with the Gulf. A regional trade agreement has been under discussion for 35 years, said the second official, adding that improving access to public procurement is one of the obstacles in the negotiations.

With talks stalled, trade and investment relationships will represent one of the most pressing issues at the summit, according to Mr Alblooshi. The GCC is the EU's ninth-largest trading partner, while the EU is the GCC's second-largest.

"Further strengthening trade relations will provide a solid foundation for deepening collaboration across the other strategic pillars entailed in the strategy, such as maritime security, people-to-people connections, energy and climate initiatives, and advancements in technology including AI," wrote Mr Alblooshi.

While the EU officials recognised challenges, they said that they were optimistic about the summit.

“I see a commitment from GCC leaders to attend. That shows readiness to engage, and when you have readiness, you might not achieve a perfect relationship, but at least you have a commitment, and you also see that on the EU side,” the first official said.