Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister and foreign minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah told a joint press conference, at the end of the EU-GCC joint ministerial council here late Monday night, that "tomorrow we will be celebrating the 22nd anniversary of the establishment of the relationship between the GCC and the EU in this very city Luxembourg." "So this is a momentous event. Relations between the EU and GCC could not have been better," he stressed, speaking in his capacity as chairman of the GCC as Kuwait currently holds the rotating Presidency.
He noted that the action plan is something that will hold "us accountable by our constituencies in both regions." "We have to produce relations and we have to show that this is not an annual ritual but produces results for the two regions," said the Kuwait foreign minister.
"In our discussion today we have covered all the issues pertinent to the welfare of our two regions. We spent quite of bit of time on issues like weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, dialogue between cultures. We’ll continue our discussion on the Middle East peace process and other regional issues over the dinner," he added.
"This meeting confirms aspirations from both sides to have more strategic relationship: regional stability, counter terrorism, human rights, economic cooperation and will benefit from increased dialogue between the EU and the GCC," EU foreign and security policy chief Catherine Ashton the a press conference.
"Today we have made important steps in this direction. We have endorsed the joint action plan to strengthen cooperation. The action plan covers shared interests, global economic governance, education, energy and counter terrorism for example," she noted.
Ashton stated that "we had a constructive meeting characterized by friendly and fruitful discussions." They also exchanged views on a free trade agreement and Ashton said she hoped that "we will make a final political effort to conclude the negotiations.
