Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

This file concerns the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It contains correspondence and background briefs on:

• The role of the GCC in defence, oil policy, economic and political cooperation, with a summary of regional events from November 1984 to February 1985
• The fifth Supreme Council meeting of the GCC held in Kuwait in November 1984, and a sixth summit planned for Muscat
• A Foreign Ministers-level meeting in Riyadh on 17 to 18 March 1985
• A proposed GCC-European Economic Community (EEC) meeting proposed in correspondence between the Secretary General of the GCC Abdulla Bishara and the President of the European Commission Jacques Delors, and European Commissioner Claude Cheysson
• A visit by Mr Bishara and his delegation to the European Commission
• A visit to the Gulf in April 1985 by Jos Loeff of the European Commission
• Access to the EEC for petrochemicals from Gulf nations; a second round of preliminary talks held in Bahrain on 1 to 2 March 1985
• The question of whether EEC-GCC trade can be developed on a ‘preferential’ or a ‘most favoured nation’ status
• The question of whether to establish EEC representation in the Gulf; and a possible office in Riyadh
• The possibility of pricing oil in European Currency Units (ECUs)
• A proposed US-GCC free trade area and an offer of formal talks
• A visit to the UK by Mr Bishara; a lunch meeting with Minister of State Richard Luce, with a guest-list of UK businessmen
• Biographical information on Mr Bishara and delegation members Mahmoun Kurdi, Dr Abdulla Al Quwaiz and Kuwait Ambassador Ghazi Mohammad Amin Al Rayes
• Relations between the GCC and Japan
• The Peninsula Shield Force and a proposal to establish a rapid reaction force in the Gulf
• A proposed defence staff college and a regional coastguard operation to be set up in Bahrain
• Proposals to develop transport infrastructure linking Gulf countries
• The hosting by Muscat of youth and sports clubs in a ‘Second Cultural Competition’
• GCC mediation in the Iran-Iraq War
• GCC concern over India-Pakistan tensions.