The Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) decided today to open “a formal dialogue” with the Arab nations to discuss economic, technical and energy cooperation, informed sources reported. The nine foreign ministers reached the decision with surprising rapidity, shortly after today’s session opened.
Discussions between the nine Common Market countries and the 20-nation Arab League are expected to develop in three stages, beginning on the individual or ambassadorial level. The formation of mixed specialized work groups will then follow. If these are successful, a joint Euro-Arab foreign ministers’ conference is envisaged which may lead to concrete mutual cooperation agreements. French Foreign Minister Michel Jobert initiated the proposal for Euro-Arab cooperation.
In Bonn yesterday, West German Foreign Minister Walter Scheel is said to have assured U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger that the project for a Euro-Arab conference was not directed against the United States and was in no way in competition with America’s efforts to establish peace in the Middle East. Scheel also said the project was not an EEC rival effort to solve the energy crisis, which he said, must be resolved on a global basis.
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