Valdis Dombrovskis,
Executive Vice President, An Economy that Works for People, and Commissioner for Trade
European Commission
B-1049, Brussels
Our Ref: 06.11.2024 No 6-2/2808-1
Dear Mr Dombrovskis,
Allow me to address one of the rather urgent trade policy issues.
Estonia has always been a supporter of a systemic approach to trade policy and trade negotiations. From that aspect having FTA negotiations with the GCC, giving us the 6 countries comprising the GCC as a result in a unified and systemic manner would be best.
However, the experience of the last years has shown that the negotiations with GCC are not advancing, due to the fact that GCC-s different members seem to have substantially diverging views on the content and urgency of the possible agreement.
With this in mind, it seems to Estonia as well, that we should move forward with negotiations with more flexible partners from GCC. It is my impression that for example the United Arab Emirates is interested in proceeding in a more advanced pace. The fact that UAE is concluding other bilateral agreements adds another level of urgency to our a decision making process.
May I assure you that Estonia would be most happy if progress could be achieved on a bilateral track.
With best regards,
Erkki Keldo
Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry
Märt Änilane
+372 5596 9641
[email protected]