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Context
The European Community is currently involved in trade liberalisation
negotiations at the multilateral level in the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), at the bilateral level, and with several
partners at the regional level. Among the regional negotiations
underway are those for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between
the European Community and the Cooperation Council for the
Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). As part of its commitment to
undertake SIAs of trade negotiations, the European Commission
(EC) has launched this SIA of the EC-GCC FTA.
The European Community and the Cooperation Council for the
Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) signed the EC-GCC Co-operation
Agreement in June 1988. This agreement provided the basis
for discussions leading the Parties to enter into trade liberalization.
The EC and the GCC Secretariat resumed negotiations on the
basis of a working document in March 2002. A GCC Customs Union
has been in place since 1 January 2003.
The main objective of the FTA is to deepen existing relations
between the Parties on the basis of reciprocity and mutual
interest.
To this end, the FTA will:
- strengthen commercial and economic relations through trade
liberalisation and will reinforce and broaden cooperation
in related areas, by establishing a free trade area and progressively
eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers on substantially
all trade between the Parties;
- simplify requirements and procedures related to imports
and exports, based on international standards;
- provide for the progressive and reciprocal liberalisation
of trade in services aimed at assuring a comparable level
of market access opportunities;
- include liberalisation of public procurement aimed at ensuring
comparable and effective access to the Parties’ procurement
markets based on the principles of nondiscrimination and national
treatment;
- seek to effectively and adequately protect and enforce
intellectual, industrial and commercial property rights in
accordance with the international standards;
- include coverage related to customs and administrative
cooperation, standardisation and conformity assessment, competition,
current payments and capital movements.
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