Publication

This paper examines the growing importance of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and discusses options for the EU for deepened regional engagement. It provides an overview of EU-GCC relations, identifies economic and political developments and points to the GCC's changing international role. Subsequently, the author reviews the Arab world's share in global foreign direct investment, looks at the EU-GCC free trade agreement and underlines comparative advantages of the EU. The paper argues that in its relations with the GCC region, scope and nature of competition with Asia are not well understood in the EU.