UAE - EU trade talks lag as non-trade demands stall progress
The UAE's free trade negotiations with the European Union are advancing more slowly than talks with other partners, with the bloc's insistence on including non-trade issues identified as the key obstacle, the country's foreign trade minister has said.
The seventh round of negotiations with the EU has concluded, minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi said this week, adding that the EU's approach of linking trade deals to corporate sustainability reporting and labour standards "will not work with us." Several other countries, including the US, have raised similar objections to the EU's stance.
"The slow pace stems from the EU insisting on including non-trade matters," Al Zeyoudi said, a position that has drawn criticism from multiple trading partners engaged in separate negotiations with Brussels.
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Muhammad Ali Bandial