EU-GCC Cooperation

In recent years, IAI has been developing its relations with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in view of broadening its traditional focus on the Mediterranean and the Levant to this strategic area.

In this framework, IAI participated in a two-year research project on public diplomacy and outreach devoted to the European Union and EU-GCC relations. The project, called the “ Al-Jisr project for GCC-EU Relations”, is carried out by a consortium of institutes from the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council and is coordinated by the Gulf Research Centre (GRC) in Dubai. The project is funded by the participating institutes and the European Commission on a fifty-fifty basis.
In addition to participating in the activities of the research network, such as providing teachers for the training activities and publishing relevant papers, IAI organised a seminar on “The Mediterranean: opportunities to develop EU-GCC relations?”, which was held in Rome on December 10-11, 2009. The aim of the seminar was to provide a thorough assessment of the new possibilities for cooperation between the EU and the GCC stemming from the increase in GCC investments in Mediterranean countries and the potential for strengthening the EU’s Mediterranean policies after the launch of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). The project was concluded in July 2010.

Publications:
Roberto Aliboni (ed.), The Mediterranean: Opportunities to Develop EU-GCC Relations?, Rome, Istituto Affari Internazionali, June 2010, 79 p. (IAI Quaderni English series ; 18)

See also: Documenti IAI0933, IAI0935, IAI0936, IAI0937 e IAI0938.