No consensus on GCC expansion
Abu Dhabi, November 30, 2011
The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday there was no consensus yet among Gulf states on admitting Jordan and Morocco to the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
'We must learn from the experience of the European Union, which at some point accepted 10 countries to its membership and look now what happened with the euro,' Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan told reporters in Abu Dhabi, referring to the euro zone debt crisis.
'There is no consensus at the moment to include Morocco and Jordan,' he said.
GCC Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani in May said Gulf states were considering requests from Morocco and Jordan to join the Gulf political bloc.
Al-Zayani said GCC foreign ministers planned to meet with the foreign ministers of both countries to 'complete required procedures', but it was unclear what kind of membership they were considering for the two Arab, non-Gulf countries. - Reuters