Dubai: After two decades of tough negotiations, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has announced suspension of talks with the European Union for a free trade agreement (FTA).

The decision to halt discussions between the two regional economic blocs to sign the world's first region-to-region free trade agreement has come a week before a crucial summit by GCC leaders in Muscat.

"We are suspending the negotiations until the European side agrees to sign the (most recent) draft accord. We have made many concessions and responded favourably to the EU's many demands," GCC Secretary General Abdurrahman bin Hamad Al Attiyah was quoted by Khaleej Times as saying.

Al Attiyah said the trade balance between the two sides was largely in favour of Europeans because of the obstacles the EU imposed on the GCC exports. He also blamed the EU for imposing high taxes on the GCC exports and criticised its efforts to connect FTA and unrelated political issues such as human rights and counter terrorism.

GCC member country Qatar had last week warned that the trading block would suspend talks if an impasse in the negotiations continued. "Some day in the near future the GCC states will decide to suspend the talks which have so far had no result," Qatar s Prime Minister Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani had said.

The EU-GCC framework was initiated in 1988 and it came into effect in 1990, and thereafter followed a decade of dormancy. The negotiations restarted in 2003 following the implementation of GCC custom union in 2003.
Source : PTI