Regional conflict has not derailed efforts to forge closer trade ties but has in fact signalled the need to accelerate a free-trade agreement, the European Union’s envoy to the UAE has said.
The UAE and EU are seeking to secure the first free trade agreement between the bloc and a Gulf country this year following the conclusion of a sixth round of talks.
“We haven't been derailed by the geopolitical shifts in the region,” ambassador Lucie Berger told The National in an interview marking Europe Day. “On the contrary, I think we are even more serious, if it was at all possible, about concluding the agreement,” she added.
The outbreak of the Iran war on February 28 and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted trade and have led to a surge in prices around the world. “It has had a very serious impact on the European economy and on Gulf economies. I really hope that we continue working together side by side, discussing and co-operating more when it comes to energy,” she said.
Iran has effectively blockaded the Strait of Hormuz in its war with the US and Israel. Ships crossing it have become caught in the conflict as both Tehran and Washington seize vessels. Both sides have also traded weapons fire.
Artificial intelligence, renewable energy and cybersecurity are among the main avenues of co-operation between the bloc and the UAE. Such a timeline to complete the agreement by the end of the year would be a striking departure from the EU's typically protracted negotiations.
“In the past we took 10 to 20 years to negotiate agreements and we would typically have one or two negotiating rounds per year. We are now touching the first year of the negotiations with the UAE and we had six rounds in one year,” Ms Berger said.
The ambassador said she was hoping a strategic partnership agreement between the bloc and the UAE would also include a chapter on defence and security that would include renewed co-operation in this area, particularly in light of the regional conflict.
“I feel that the potential is still huge,” she said of further expansion of ties. “There is still a lot that we can untap.”
The UAE is the EU's largest export destination and investment partner in the region, with bilateral trade in goods estimated at €57 billion ($67 billion). About 200,000 European citizens live in the UAE, the largest concentration in the Middle East.
She expressed solidarity with the UAE in the face of Iranian attacks and thanked the country for protecting Europeans.
Since the regional war broke out on February 28, the UAE has defended itself against 551 ballistic missiles, 29 cruise missiles and 2,263 drones launched by Iran. Despite a ceasefire in place, Tehran resumed strikes on the UAE this week.
“We co-operated very closely and very well with the UAE,” she said of EU support for the country as it was subjected to Iranian attacks. Ms Berger noted that the EU also conducted a number of high-level visits to show support, including by president of the European Council Antonio Costa, EU foreign affairs minister Kaja Kallas and special representative to the Gulf Luigi di Maio.
“I have to highlight how the UAE helped us because we had a very large number of tourists in the UAE and authorities were extremely helpful in repatriating them,” she said.
Tourists and transit passengers were left stranded in the UAE at the height of the regional conflict, after widespread airspace closures and flight cancellations. Accommodation for tourists in the UAE was extended and covered by authorities.
Tensions in the region have been high since Monday, when the US military began Project Freedom, a plan announced by President Donald Trump a day earlier to escort commercial ships trapped in the Gulf by the war through the Strait of Hormuz.
France on Wednesday moved its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea in an effort to show the US and Iran it was willing to help solve the Hormuz crisis. Ms Berger said the intention was de-escalatory.
She also raised the possibility that the EU's Red Sea naval force, Operation Aspides, could be replicated in the Gulf. “We are looking into a similar way of contributing in the Strait of Hormuz,” Ms Berger said but noted that ultimately, the hope was for a deal to materialise between the US and Iran amid talks mediated by Pakistan.
The EU is also seeking to expand defence co-operation with the UAE and Ms Berger described it as an area where new opportunities have emerged. The first EU defence technology forum was held in Abu Dhabi this week. “It was the first EU-wide forum on defence technology that we held outside of Europe and the interest in this initiative was extremely high,” she said.
“I saw so much potential and so much energy,” Ms Berger added.
The war has also presented an opportunity for further co-operation with Ukraine, particularly in countering Iranian drones.
Ukraine has sent experts to the Gulf to share knowledge on how to combat Iranian drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The Shahed drones used by Iran are the same type that Tehran sold to Russia in 2022 to use in its war on Ukraine.
“I think we are now kind of trilateral partners in this. Our defence sector is interlinked,” Ms Berger said of the EU, Ukraine and the UAE.
