RIYADH, April 14: Talks between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council on a free trade agreement are now very close to a conclusion.

European Commissioner for External Affairs and Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who is on a regional visit, says she was hopeful a deal could be signed this year.

“The negotiations so far have tackled a substantial number of topics and are quite advanced in most of them,” she said.

“The last formal negotiating round took place in Brussels in November and I feel that we are now very close to conclusion.

“Some work remains to be done on the last major outstanding issues, such as the prohibition of export duties and certain horizontal provisions of the agreement. Solving them will require flexibility on both sides.”

“The EU is highly-committed to concluding the FTA as soon as possible,” she said. “We trust that we can achieve this together. I am convinced that if we put the necessary political will, we can conclude this agreement still this year.

“I call upon the GCC countries to put all efforts and resources in these negotiations.”She said that EU economic links with the GCC were very strong and that it is currently the fifth largest export market.

The EU exports to the GCC have been increasing ever since the 1980s to reach 61 billion euros ($96.5bn) last year. In the same year, EU imports from the GCC amounted to around 30 billion euros.

“These numbers show that we are already very interlinked even before signing an FTA,” she said.

“Our exports to the GCC are diversified, but the main weight remains on machinery and transport materials, power generation plants, railway locomotives and aircraft, electrical machinery and mechanical appliances.

“The Gulf countries together are home to some 38 per cent of the world’s proven reserves of crude oil and approximately 22 per cent of the world’s reserves of natural gas and the EU currently imports around 20 per cent of its energy needs from the Gulf.

“Europe is an important client for the Gulf in terms of a stable energy demand. We hope to develop our relations in this important sector further.”

Ms Ferrero-Waldner is currently paying an official visit to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to explore the scope of further engaging both with the countries and with the region.