Second EU-GCC Summit Set for Riyadh on October 24th

Riyadh will host the second summit between leaders of the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council on October 24th, 2026, following the inaugural meeting held in Brussels in 2024.

Heads of state and government from the EU’s 27 member states will meet their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. European Council President António Costa will co-chair the meeting on the European side, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also representing the bloc.

The summit will focus on political and economic cooperation between the two regions, building on a relationship that has expanded significantly in trade, investment, energy and other areas.

The EU is currently the GCC’s second-largest trading partner. Trade in goods reached EUR 165.6 billion in 2025, including nearly EUR 110 billion in EU exports to Gulf countries and EUR 55.6 billion in imports. Over the past decade, goods trade between the two blocs increased by almost 30%.

Services have grown even faster, with bilateral trade more than doubling between 2014 and 2024 to EUR 84.4 billion. EU foreign direct investment stock in GCC countries stood at EUR 163.1 billion in 2024, while GCC investment stock in the EU reached EUR 189.8 billion.

The broader EU-GCC relationship operates under a cooperation agreement dating to 1989, covering economic relations, energy, climate change, the environment and research.