EU Parliament hosts conference with Speakers from the Gulf Cooperation Council

October 13, 2026 by The Sting's Team Leave a Comment

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament.

On Friday, Parliament will host Gulf Cooperation Council Speakers and representatives to discuss strengthening strategic ties and parliamentary cooperation.

This Friday, 16 October 2026, President Roberta Metsola will chair a Conference of the European Parliament and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Speakers, of Shura, Representatives, National and Ummah Councils. The conference, taking place at the European Parliament in Brussels in advance of the EU-GCC leaders’ summit on 24 October, will feature opening addresses by President Metsola, Ahmed bin Salman Al Musallam, Speaker of the Council of Representatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain, on behalf of the GCC presidency, and by Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary-General of the GCC.

The conference will bring together parliamentary representatives from across the Gulf countries for exchanges with the European Parliament on how to advance the EU-GCC strategic partnership and parliamentary cooperation. Those participating will include:

Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament
Ahmed bin Salman Al Musallam, Speaker of the Council of Representatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain, on behalf of the GCC presidency
Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council
Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council, United Arab Emirates
Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sheikh, Speaker of the Shura Council, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Sheikh Abdul Malik bin Abdullah Al Khalili, Chairman of the State Council, Sultanate of Oman
Khalid Hilal Nasser Al Maawali, Chairman of the Shura Council, Sultanate of Oman
Hassan bin Abdulla Al-Ghanim, Speaker of the Shura Council, State of Qatar.

Exchanges are expected to focus too on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, energy security, the wider impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine, and shared interests including open trade and connectivity. The conference will be concluded with the adoption of a joint statement.

Background

Founded in 1981, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a regional organisation consisting of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

President Roberta Metsola last met with the Speakers of the Shura, Representatives, National, and Ummah Councils of the GCC countries in Abu Dhabi on 23 June 2025.

The European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula holds regular interparliamentary meetings with the Gulf countries. Parliament has called for the effective implementation of the EU’s Gulf strategy through tailored partnerships with the GCC as a whole and with individual countries in the region.

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